Real Talk @ 5 Linden
In collaboration with students, the Bureau of Study Counsel is hosting a Friday afternoon student salon beginning September 14. The idea arose out of students telling us that they would welcome more occasions for reflection and conversation in their lives — occasions which they say can be all too rare in this intense environment where they find themselves racing from one context to the next with few opportunities for contemplation or integration of experience.The Bureau has collaborated with students to create a venue where they can gather to talk about ideas and experiences — perhaps “free form” with no agenda, or perhaps in response to some sort of low-key programming that students themselves determine (such as viewing a TED talk together, discussing a Crimsonarticle, or having a cross-generational conversation with a guest professor or other member of our community). The idea is to create a space for open conversation across conventional boundaries — across concentrations, cultures, years, extracurriculars, etc.
The students have come up with the following description:
Do you ask yourself questions like What drives me? Is there an ultimate meaning to life? How much are we a product of our environment? and Can people change?
Topic for September 14: CreativityAre you ever itching to have philosophical conversations about these sorts of questions? Do you like talking about ideas and experiences and hearing about others’ thoughts and perspectives? If so, Real Talk @ 5 Linden is the place for you.
Through the back gate of the Bureau of Study Counsel, across the courtyard, and up the back staircase you’ll find Real Talk @ 5 Linden – a salon where Harvard students gather for down-to-earth, come-as-you-are conversation about ideas and life every Friday from 4-5:30 p.m. Each week, we use a TED talk, quotation, short excerpt of a reading, or other prompt as a jumping off point and then let the conversation move in any direction.
Come with your friends or come by yourself, and start the weekend with Real Talk over a cup of tea and cookies. You will definitely learn through conversation – and, who knows, you just might make some headway in solving life’s deepest mysteries.
We had over 400 people sign the happiness pledge!
