Each course is limited to 8-10 participants, overseen by 2 facilitators
The group needs to be large enough to allow for diverse conversation but small enough to allow for intimacy and vulnerability. Facilitators prepare the course materials for the participants and assure that conversations stay close to the path.
The course is conducted through 8 sessions scheduled regularly across 8 weeks
The course is designed such that each session builds upon previous sessions, and a core goal of the course is to build community. Therefore, participants need to commit to allotting time and space to be present at each of the sessions. We recognize and be accommodating to the fact that the best laid plans are just plans, and that situations may come up where it will be necessary for attendees to miss a session. In these cases, the material in each session can be ‘made-up’ by reviewing the videos online and through use of the handouts, but this is not ideal for the participant or the group.
Each session is 90 minutes long and broken up into three sections:
Discernment & Epiphanies
- A chance to share results of personal reflections from the previous session and the previous weeks’ exercises.
Selected TED Talk video
- One or two TED talks curated to address the session’s specific topic.
- The videos are generally no more than 20 minutes long and feature great presentations and presenters.
Group Discussion
- The focus is primarily on sharing personal stories, with discussion.
- No “fixing” people or problems. No debate. No judgement.
Between sessions, there is homework
Each participant is given homework at the end of the session in the forms of Questions for Discernment and Exercises. Which of the exercises you choose to do is optional, and there is no review or grading; the homework is meant to keep you engaged on the week’s topic between sessions. There are also “Side Trails” of additional TED Talks that you can investigate as desired.