top of page

Upcoming Online Events

The Agora Foundation is a nonsectarian 501(c)3 non-profit endeavor, providing great books seminars and other educational opportunities to those who are busy with careers, families, and daily responsibilities yet are seeking to further their education. The goal of these offerings is to provide an understanding of the ideas that shape civilizations and to promote civil discourse on complicated subjects. The Agora Foundation has facilitated over 1,650 great books seminars and teacher trainings, covering a wide variety of topics including literature, philosophy, political science, theology, history, art, psychology, and more, featuring ancient and modern texts from around the world. In addition to seminars, since 2014 Agora has produced 39 panels, gatherings, and video interviews, promoting civil discourse on controversial and complicated subjects. Hundreds of these events can be freely viewed and listened to on this website.

 

Generously funded by The Ahmanson Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Shanbrom Family Foundation, the Ventura County Community Foundation, the WRG Foundation, the Constance Eaton and William Hart Fund, the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Ojai, CIty of Ojai, and private donations, the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program provides training to high school teachers in this engaging approach to learning, and The Ojai Chautauqua provides panels promoting civil discourse on controversial and complicated subjects. 

Upcoming Regular Events

agora-foundation-monday-night-poetry-group.jpg
agora-foundation-hafix-free-community-seminar.jpg
days-and-nights-in-a-forest-agora-foundation-film-seminar.jpg

Online Seminar Series

Monday Night Poetry Group

Monday, July 13

5:00-6:00PM PDT

Join us as we explore, through close reading, what makes a poem. Each online session will focus on a single poem or two shorter ones. We'll examine how language becomes art, taking note of everything from forms and sound patterns to imagery and word order. No preparation is required— we’ll read aloud and discover the poems together. Each of the seminars is self-contained, so join for any or all that interest you.

​

July 13 Reading:

Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley

​

Schedule:

5:00 - 6:00PM PDT

​

Tutor:

Carol Seferi

​

Location:

Online. Register to receive the link.

Onsite Free Community Seminar Series

Eastern Classics - Sufi Poetry

Tuesday, July 14

1:00-2:00PM PDT

Hafez Shirazi (c. 1325–1390) was a legendary Persian lyric poet. His Divan explores themes of love, spirituality, and a critique of religious hypocrisy, deeply influencing Persian culture and Western writers like Goethe and Emerson. We invite you to join us once per month to explore his poetry together.

​

July 14 Reading:

All the Hemispheres by Hafiz

​

Schedule:

1:00 - 2:00PM PDT

​

Tutor:

Andy Gilman

​

Location:

Ojai Library

111 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai, California

Onsite Film Series

Days and Nights in the Forest - film by Satyajit Ray 

Saturday, August 1

9:30-3:00PM PDT

Days and Nights in the Forest (Bengali: Aranyer Din Ratri) is a 1970 film by Satyajit Ray, based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel. It follows four wealthy, Westernized men from Calcutta who escape to a tribal forest in Palamu for a holiday. Their journey becomes a poignant, sharply satirical study of masculine privilege, class divisions, and self-discovery. ​

​

Schedule:

9:30-10:00AM - Continental Breakfast

10:00AM-12:00PM - Film Showing

12:00-1:00PM - Lunch

1:00-3:00PM - Seminar

​

Tutor:

Peter Rainer

​

Location:

417 Bryant Circle

Ojai, California

View the Free Onsite Ojai Chautauqua Panel Series
The Future of Ojai - What is Special About Ojai? -
What should be nurtured, protected, or expanded? 

Thursday, July 31, 2025

​​The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua project is embarking on a series of onsite panel discussions that will take place in 2025 and 2026, entitled The Future of Ojai. The goal of the project is to bring together knowledgeable and varied points of view in the spirit of learning, shared inquiry, and civil discourse. Panels will take place about two months apart with each focusing on a different topic such as housing, our economy, sustaining our environment, the state of education, the arts, and more. Events will have different moderators and panelists, representing our diverse community. As with all of our prior events, we hope to bring thoughtful conversation to complicated areas that affect us all, both today and in the future.

 

All panels will be free and open to the community. This is the first event in the series, intended to set the stage for future offerings.

​

Location: 

El Roblar Hotel

122 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai

Panel Moderator: 

Kimberly Rivers - Journalist and Editor

 

Panelists:

Emily Ayala – Co-Owner of Friend’s Ranch

Andra Belknap - Journalist and Commentator

Atticus Ford-Reyes - Board President  of Ojai Unified School District 

Andy Gilman - Mayor of Ojai and Agora Foundation Director

Saw Naing - Co-Owner of The Dutchess and Joplin’s

Fabiola Sosa - Mother and Ojai Community Farmers Market team

​​

Schedule:

5:30-7:30PM PDT​

​

The event is at capacity:

While the event is free, seating is limited. If desired, please add your name to the waiting list below. The panel will be recorded and posted.

An Introduction to The Agora Foundation. What is liberal education? 

An Introduction to The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua Panels.

bottom of page