Salons & Cultural Retreats
Upcoming Salons & Cultural Retreats
Past Salons
Disappointment
Salon conversation
Visions & Illusions of the Self
Salon conversation
What is a Beautiful Soul?
Salon & Book Launch with author Justine Kolata as speaker
Musical performances by mezzo-soprano Olympia Hetherington, baritone Michael Temporal Darell,
and concert pianist Louis Schwizgebel
Envisioning Alternative Political Systems
Salon conversation
Constructing Reality
With author and musician Gary Lachman as speaker
The Ethics of Pornography
Salon conversation
From Imitation to Creation
With pianist and pedagogue Pascal Nemirovski as speaker
The Philosophy of Tragedy
Salon and Piano Recital
Schubert Salon
Salon conversation on the topic of “Loneliness” and a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise
with tenor Ben Johnson and pianist Louis Schwizgebel
The Bon Viveur
Salon conversation
Viral Culture
Salon conversation
Jealousy
Opera soirée, wine tasting, and salon
With a performance by Baritone Michael Temporal Darell and pianist Louis Schwizgebel
Obsession
Classical concert and salon
Intellectual Awakenings
Dinner party and salon
Online Movements
Salon conversation
Anger
Salon conversation
Modern Questions in Medicine
Salon conversation
Sweetness
Dinner party and salon
Perspectives on Child Poverty
With Geeta Venkadakrishnan, NGO leader, as speaker
Narcissism in the Age of Social Media
Dinner party and salon
The Morality of Genetic Editing
Salon conversation
Monogamy & Polyamory
Salon conversation
Symbols
Salon conversation
Miracles & Inexplicable Phenomena
Salon conversation
The Vulgar & the Grotesque
Salon conversation
Perspectives in Pyschotherapy
With psychologist Bob Walters as speaker
Empathizing with the Enemy
With probation officer, Steph Ransome as speaker
Metamorphosis & Rebirth
Salon conversation
Eccentricity
Salon conversation
The Psychology of Games
Salon conversation
Death
Salon conversation
Eureka! the Nature of Discovery
Salon conversation
Altruism & Self-Interest
Salon conversation
Nihilism
Salon conversation
Urban Architecture
With Robert Sadleir, Director of Bureau Haus Ltd, as speaker
The Philosophy of the Self
Salon participants share a personal story
The Power & Politics of Comedy
With comedian, Alexis Dubus, known for his French alter ego Marcel Lucont, as speaker
The Illusion of Reality
Picnic in Hyde Park and salon
The Philosophy of Ecstasy
With philosopher Jules Evans, author of The Art of Losing Control: A Philosopher's Search for Ecstatic Experience as speaker
Islamophobia and Beyond: The Future of American Islam
With Dilara Hafiz, author and Humanities lecturer at Jacksonville University and Flagler College, as speaker
Kultur: A German Obsession
With Dr. Martin Ruehl, Lecturer in the Department of German & Dutch, at the University of Cambridge, as speaker
Mathematics & Society
With Dr Piers Bursill-Hall, History of Mathematics Professor , University of Cambridge, as speaker
The Psychology of Sex and Desire
With Susan Quilliam, psychologist, as guest speaker
Modern Love: Salon Dialogue
Salon conversation
The Authentic, the Fake, & Truth in the 21st Century
With David Henty, one of the greatest living art forgers, as speaker
Salon at the House of Beautiful Business
During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
The Necessity of Truth
With Federica Coppola, Ph.D. researcher in Law at the European University Institute, as speaker
The Essence of Being
With Jaleb Clovis, clinical psychologist at the University of Bergen, as speaker
The Fate of Cities
With Suzan Christiaanse, researcher at the University of Groningen, as speaker
The Philosophy of Translation
With Dr. Jürg Berthold, Professor of Philosophy at Universität Zürich, as speaker
The Philosophy of Mind
With Dr. Norman Sieroka from the ETH Chair of Philosophy and the Turing Center Zurich, as speaker
The Virtue of Etiquette
Salon conversation
Capitalism, Contradictions, & Ideology
With Clara Mattei, Assistant Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research, as speaker
Our Significance in the Cosmos
With Professor Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, as Speaker
The Firebird in Literature and Art
Salon conversation
The Evolution of Religion
With Alexander Görlach, public intellectual and Harvard visiting scholar, as speaker
The Aesthetic State: The Poetics of Politics
Salon and poetry reading with poets Ilyas Kassam, James Messiah, and Muj Hameed, presenting their work
The United States Election
A debate in which we argue our opposite political view
Perception & Empathy
With Bruce Parry, award winning BBC documentarian and indigenous rights advocate, as speaker
Free Will
A surrealist dinner salon
The Future of the European Union
A special salon at the Oxford Cambridge club
Art & Subjectivity
With Dr. Peter de Bolla, Professor of Cultural History and Aesthetics at the University of Cambridge, as speaker
Life & Story
With Rowland Smith, philosopher, as speaker
Artificial Intelligence in Art & Human Creativity
With Margaret Boden, Professor of cognitive science, as Speaker
What We Cannot Know
With Marcus Du Sautoy, Professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, as speaker
After Evidence
With Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, Professor of philosophy at CUNY-City College, as speaker
The Good Life
With Dr. Thomas Pogge, Professor of philosophy at Yale University, as speaker
In Search of Ourselves
With Nicholas Humphrey, psychologist and author, as speaker
The Politics of Utopia
With Natalie Bennett, British politician who led the Green party, as speaker
The Philosophy of Pain & Suffering
With Dr. Jessica Frazier, Faculty of Theology and Religion at The University of Oxford, as speaker
Dumas’s “The Lady of the Camellias”
Literature salon
Kierkegaard’s “Either/ Or”
Literature salon
Public Space, Aesthetics, and Intellectual Encounters
With Dr. Tag Gronberg, department of Art History at Birkbeck, University of London, as speaker
Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”
Literature salon
The Philosophy of Love
With Dr. Simon May, Professor of philosophy at Kings College, London, as speaker
The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness
With Murray Shanahan, Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London, as speaker
The Philosophy of Wonder
With Caspar Henderson, author of "The Book of Barely Imagined Beings," and journalist as speaker
Culture & Empire
With Dr. Hans Köchler, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, as speaker
Capital Flows & the Environment
With Dr. Frederick Mulder, philosopher and art dealer, as speaker
The Other & I- Existential Philosophy
Film screening and salon
What Does “Europe” Mean?
With Juwelles Mendelsohn, lawyer, philosopher, as speaker
The Refugee Crises
With Mathias Hamann, Manager/ Leiter Notunterkunft für Flüchtlinge der Berliner Stadtmission, Aarash D. Spant, Lawyer, Refugee and Asylum Law, and Lilli Afua Amoah, Center for Middle Eastern and African Politics as speakers
Racism & Eurocentrism
With Dr. Norma Romm, Professor at the University of South Africa, as speaker
Alternative Approaches to Education
With Andre Broetz, Die Lernwerkstatt co-founder, as speaker
Cities of the Dispossessed and the Politics of Hope
With Dr. Alan Kolata, University of Chicago, Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology, as speaker
The Philosophy of Leviathan
Film screening and salon
Inequality & the Role of the State
Museum excursion and salon
The Nation & the Question of Political Activity Today
With Dessislava Kirova, consultant, political expert, as speaker
The Philosophy of the Soul
Salon conversation
The Philosophy of Transformation
With Francois Rossier, upcycling furniture designer, filmmaker, as speaker
Success & Failure
With Philipp Hofen, philosopher, filmmaker, and Oskar Brown, actor, as speakers
Animal Ethics
With Eva Wunderbar, philosopher on animal ethics, as speaker
Privacy
Salon conversation
The Philosophy of Work
With Jerry Guo, journalist and restaurant owner, as speaker.
The Philosophy of Birth
With Darius Moeini, entrepreneur and Shanay Hall, doula and birthing professional, as speaker.
The Evolution of the Human Face
With Dr Adam Wilkins, evolutionary biologist, Humboldt-Universitat Berlin, as speaker
Ideas, Space, & Emotions
Salon conversation
Past Salon Festivals & Special Events
Salon Festival at 18th Century Pineapple House, Scotland
Three day festival of salons and classical concerts at an eccentric 18th century summerhouse
Salon Festival at Woodcote Park, UK
Three day festival of salons, classical concerts, and nature walks
Salon Festival at Maloja Palace, Switzerland
Three day festival of salons, classical concerts, and nature walks
Salon Festival at Schloss Wartin, Germany
Three day festival of salons, classical concerts, and nature walks
Salon Festival at Smedmore House, UK
Three day festival of salons, classical concerts, and nature walks
Salon Gala at the Ritz
Salon Gala at the Oxford Cambridge Club
Still Life Drawing Salon Series
Still life drawing and salon conversation
Salon Film Screening Series
Film screenings and salon conversation
Salon Cultural Excursions Series- Opera Viewing
Viewing of live opera performances and salon conversation
Music Salon Concert
The debut of a new piece of salon music and a conversation with the composer
Musical Dual Soirée
An evening of music, dance, and conversation
Art Salon Series with October Gallery, London, UK
Exhibition viewing and salon conversation with the artists and curators
Salons at “How the Light Gets In” Festival, UK
Our salons at the largest philosophy and music festival in the world
Philosophical Fashion House
Showcasing designers’ work and salon conversation on the ideas behind their designs
Salon Play Series
Participants put on different plays and perform them in the salon