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
Online Seminar Series
Monday Night Poetry Group
Monday, August 3
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.
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August 3 Reading:
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Schedule:
5:00 - 6:00PM PDT
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Tutor:
Carol Seferi
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Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Wednesday, August 5
12:30-2:00PM PDT
A story with no real beginning or end, the work has come to assume a preeminent place in English literature. Published in 1939, the book would take Joyce two decades to complete. Join us as we read this text a few pages at a time, every other Wednesday afternoon.
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August 5 Reading:
Book Three - Chapter Three of Finnegans Wake (page 503, Line 4),
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Schedule:
12:30 - 2:00PM PDT
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Tutor:
Barry Rabe
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Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Online Seminar Series
The World as Will and Representation by Schopenhauer
Thursday, August 6
12:00-1:30PM PDT
Schopenhauer argues that reality has two distinct sides. The "world as representation" is the phenomenal world of our experience, shaped by space, time, and causality. Beneath this illusion lies the "world as will," the true, unified essence. This series continues a broader series on epistemology. Please join us even if this will be your first seminar in the series.
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August 6 Reading:
Volume 1, First Book
Prefaces, pp. xii-xxviii
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Schedule:
12:00 - 1:30PM PDT
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Tutor:
Carol Seferi
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Location:
Online. Register to receive the link.
Onsite Ojai Chautauqua Panel Series
The Future of Ojai - Our Rising Generation -
Are we planning thoughtfully for the youth of the valley?
Sunday, August 30, 2026
The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua project is pleased to continue its series of onsite panel discussions on 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.
When we plan for Ojai’s future, how do we directly include the voices of our young people? What are their biggest concerns? What excites and inspires them? What do they most value about living in Ojai and want to protect? What would they like to see changed? Is our current education system preparing them for the current world? These questions and more will be addressed by a panel of local high school students and recent graduates from our public and private schools. We invite you to join us, and bring your questions, as we consider what is most essential for Ojai’s sustainable future.​
This panel is free and open to the community. Then event will be recorded and seating is limited.
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Panel Moderators:
Tom Krause and Andy Gilman
Schedule:
4:30-6:30PM PDT​
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Location:
130 West Ojai Avenue in Ojai
An Introduction to The Agora Foundation. What is liberal education?
An Introduction to The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua Panels.