As announced earlier in this space, The Objectivist Center will be hosting a distance learning course on Objectivism. Entitled “Objectivism from the Source: Ayn Rand’s Philosophic System,” this weekly seminar will teach a systematic understanding of Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, through a careful reading of core texts in which Rand explicates and applies it. It is open to students, activists, scholars, and club members who want to deepen their grasp of the key elements of the philosophy and will meet by a toll-free teleconference.
More information and the application are available from The Objectivist Center website.
Category: Events
Block Debates Eminent Domain at U Chicago
Rand-influenced economist Walter Block will be participating in a debate over eminent domain at the University of Chicago next Monday:
The debate revolves around the question: Should government have a right to take anyone’s property for less that what the owner would freely and voluntarily agree to accept as payment? Or, more formally: Is the state’s power of eminent domain necessary in a free society?
The announcement for the event includes an interesting bit about Block’s background with Ayn Rand:
Block, too, is believed to have never shied away from a good debate. As a senior at Brooklyn College in 1963, Block found his way to a luncheon honoring novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, and proceeded to the head of the table. He poked his head between Rand’s and that of her companion, psychologist Nathaniel Branden, and announced that there was a socialist present who wanted to debate someone on economic issues pertaining to capitalism. They politely asked him, “Who is this socialist?” and Block declared that it was him. Branden graciously took Block aside and agreed to debate, not only right then and there, but also thereafter, continuously, until one of them had changed the other’s mind on the merits of capitalism and socialism.
Today, Block is pleased to admit that he lost that debate.
His debate with Chicago Law School professor Richard Epstein will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10th at the Law School, and is sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. For more information, see the full announcement on the UChicago web site.
TOC Summer Seminar Early Registration
The Objectivist Center is reminding folks that the early registration deadline for The Center’s 15th Annual Summer Seminar is approaching. The seminar takes place the week of July 3-10, 2004 at The University of British Columbia.
On May 6th, the conference fee increases from $845 to $945. The conference fee includes your choice of over 60 hours of scheduled presentations, participant sponsored sessions, Seminar materials, lunch from Sunday through Friday (except Wednesday), coffee breaks, the opening cookout, and the closing banquet and dance. And, if you can’t make it for the entire week, this year there is a daily option being offered so that you can tailor the Seminar to fit your schedule. The $160 daily fee includes all scheduled presentations, participant sponsored sessions, seminar materials, lunch, and coffee breaks that day.
Jamie Dorrain, TOC’s Conference Director, says in an announcement about the early registration deadline:
We have an excellent program this year that includes lectures, courses, and workshops in philosophy, politics, art, and personal applications of Objectivism. Once again, the Seminar will feature two morning courses. Shawn Klein will teach a basic course, “The Basics of Objectivism,” and William Thomas will teach a new course “Analyzing the Harmony of Interests.” The seminar will feature lectures on political, ethical, and cultural topics. There will also be practical workshops in self-awareness, nutrition, acting, and physical fitness. And, as always, participants can look forward to insight and enjoyment of the arts: music, film and drama, poetry, literature.
For a brochure, call Erin Hill at The Center (800-374-1776). Brochure, secure online registration and more information are also available at TOC’s website.
TOC Summer Seminar Deadlines
The application deadline for The Objectivist Center’s Advanced Seminar in Objectivist Studies and the Student Scholarships for the 2004 Summer Seminar is April 23.
The Advanced Seminar in Objectivist Studies offers participants the opportunity to take part in the exciting work being done at the frontiers of Objectivist theory and to hone their skills at philosophical analysis and argument. It will be held June 30 – July 2, 2004 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Visit the TOC web site for more information and an application for the Advanced Seminar.
For students wishing to attend The Objectivist Center’s Summer Seminar, scholarships are available to help full-time students who could not otherwise attend. Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of merit and need. Visit the TOC web site for more information and a scholarship application for the summer seminar.
TOC Spring Conference Deadline Extended
The Objectivist Center has announced that the early registration period for the Spring Conference: The Values of Capitalism will be extended to Friday, April 9. After this date, the conference fees will increase.
The Values of Capitalism conference will celebrate and explore capitalism in the heart of Las Vegas on April 17, 2004 at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
Program information and secure, online registration are available from The Objectivist Center website or by calling 800-374-1776.
TOC Spring Conference Deadline
The Objectivist Center has announced that conference fees for the Spring Conference will increase after April 7. The regular fee increases to $130 and the student fee increases to $100. (Student scholarships are available)
The Values of Capitalism conference will celebrate and explore capitalism in the heart of Las Vegas on April 17, 2004 at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
Program information and secure, online registration are available from The Objectivist Center website or by calling 800-374-1776.
Social Change Workshop for Graduate Students
We’ve reported before in this space about the free but valuable IHS Summer Seminars.
Will Wilkinson particularly recommends the Social Change Workshop for Graduate Students. From his comments:
Let me start here… I got an email a while back from one of last summer’s faculty–it was her first time teaching at the workshop. She told me that the workshop was like she’d always hoped grad school would be, but sadly wasn’t (having gone to Harvard for grad school and Berkeley for law). And that’s really it. That’s why I love it. At the Workshop you’re surrounded by brilliant people. It’s like the united nations of smart. Chinese students from Yale, Russians from Chicago, Poles from Oxford… Africans, Mexicans, you name it, and from some of the best grad programs in the world. (Interestingly, most of the european students come from central/eastern post-communist europe, and not France, Germany, etc, although we get those too.)
Will’s entire discussion of this subject is worth reading, if you think you (or a graduate student you know) might be interested.
Graduate Seminar in Objectivist Philosophy
As announced earlier in this space, The Objectivist Center will be hosting a Graduate Seminar in Objectivist Philosophy and Method. The Graduate Seminar is a week of lectures, discussions, and workshops designed for graduate students, junior faculty, and post-doctoral scholars of philosophy and related fields such as history and psychology. It will be held July 31?August 7 at Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, near TOC’s offices.
The seminar is free of charge to qualified student and professional scholar participants. A limited number of travel stipends will also be available. Early application and travel stipend application deadline: May 15, 2004. Late applications accepted through July 12 as space permits.
More information and the application are available from The Objectivist Center website.
Student Scholarships for TOC Spring Conference
The Objectivist Center has announced two student scholarships to attend their Spring Conference: The Values of Capitalism on April 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Each scholarship consists in a waiver of the $75 student early registration fee. Applications received after April 7 will reduce the student’s registration fee to $25.
More information and the application are available from The Objectivist Center website.
'We the Living' in San Francisco
If you live in Northern California, don’t forget about seeing We the Living on the big screen, tonight and tomorrow night.
See our earlier announcement for more details.