This informal group meets on the last Tuesday of every month from 7:30 - 8:30 pm in the student lounge area at the south end of the second floor of Science Building 2 at Portland State University. (Be sure you go to the second floor rather than the first... there's a basement so depending on where you enter the building, you might feel like you're on the third floor. You'll know you're in the right place if you see animal skeletons on the ceiling and walls, and lots of chairs with soft cushions :-) Here's a map of PSU - we're at E 3 on the map.)  The general theme of discussion is the question, "What does it mean to be human within this vast universe as we currently understand it?" There's no set agenda - just bring something you're reading that's relevant to the topic, and start talking about interesting ideas as they come up in what you're reading or what other people are discussing.

The idea is to create a very informal, undirected space that doesn't require much planning for anyone amidst our busy schedules...but the forum is always available when we do have time to attend, and we'll get to learn about what everyone else is reading and likely discover new books, articles, and ideas of interest. And in case you're ever the only one there (so far every meeting's always had at least 2 people :), at least you have something good to read and  time carved out of your day to sit in a comfy place and read it for awhile! This online forum is also available for continued discussion of topics that come up in the meetings, or to post ideas when you can't make the meeting.

Background Resources - feel free to add in your own suggestions

Favorite quotes

“There are many windows through which we can look out into the world, searching for meaning…Most of us, when we ponder on the meaning of our existence, peer through but one of these windows onto the world. And even that one is often misted over by the breath of our finite humanity. We clear a tiny peephole and stare through. No wonder we are confused by the tiny fraction of the whole that we see. It is, after all, like trying to comprehend the panorama of the desert or the sea through a rolled-up newspaper.”

- Jane Goodall, Through a Window, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, p. 10.