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Content of Convenings

Loyola University Chicago 2018 Cohort Dates: February 2&3, March 2, and April 13, 2018

The Public Voices Greenhouse is a radical experiment in knowledge, meaning, and what it takes to become influential on a large scale. We endeavor to test the best existing research, learn from live experiments, tackle big philosophical questions, cultivate a spirit of fellowship across wide-ranging thinkers, create an environment that is highly creative and wildly generative of ideas, and produce concrete results that light up the world.


1. KNOWLEDGE
 (1st Convening):

What do we know, why does it matter, and how can we use it? In the first convening we use games, high-stakes scenarios and live experiments to explore the concepts of expertise and credibility, to examine the elements of powerful argument and persuasion (including evidence, how to address opposition and building consensus), and to challenge participants  to think in new and bigger ways about what they know and why it matters. We also reflect on the obligation that comes with knowledge.

2. CONNECTION (2nd Convening):

How can we speed the pace of cross-pollination, and thereby develop better ideas that increase our value and relevance in the world? In the second convening we connect the dots between disparate ideas, fields, geographies, and time periods. We play games that explore the source of truly innovative thinking (where do good ideas come from?) and test our ideas of timing and timeliness. We discover unlikely yet authentic connections across people, time and space - and new ways in which our knowledge intersects with public events.

3. CONTAGION & LEGACY (3rd Convening):  

Why do some ideas travel farther and faster than others?  What are the mechanisms and hallmarks of contagious thinking?  The third convening explores the underpinnings and philosophical implications of a rapidly changing media landscape - in which ideas rise and spread in radically new ways. We work with multi-media platforms including TV/video, public speaking, TED and TED Ed, social media, and more. We also consider how teaching platforms can scale ideas across generations. In addition, we revisit our ideas around purpose and legacy. Why do we do what we do? And what is the enduring impact we wish to leave behind? In the fourth convening we use elemental questions to explore our individual ideas around purpose and legacy with a telescopic lens. What impact can we leave behind not simply on the day we die, but hundreds of years into the future, through our ideas? Participants leave with a physical record of their motivations and accomplishments and with blueprints for the future.

Please note: all editorial statements published by participants of the Public Voices Greenhouse Project represent the opinions of the individual authors and do not represent the opinion or stance of Loyola University Chicago.

Loyola University Chicago 2018 Cohort Dates: February 2&3, March 2, and April 13, 2018

The Public Voices Greenhouse is a radical experiment in knowledge, meaning, and what it takes to become influential on a large scale. We endeavor to test the best existing research, learn from live experiments, tackle big philosophical questions, cultivate a spirit of fellowship across wide-ranging thinkers, create an environment that is highly creative and wildly generative of ideas, and produce concrete results that light up the world.


1. KNOWLEDGE
 (1st Convening):

What do we know, why does it matter, and how can we use it? In the first convening we use games, high-stakes scenarios and live experiments to explore the concepts of expertise and credibility, to examine the elements of powerful argument and persuasion (including evidence, how to address opposition and building consensus), and to challenge participants  to think in new and bigger ways about what they know and why it matters. We also reflect on the obligation that comes with knowledge.

2. CONNECTION (2nd Convening):

How can we speed the pace of cross-pollination, and thereby develop better ideas that increase our value and relevance in the world? In the second convening we connect the dots between disparate ideas, fields, geographies, and time periods. We play games that explore the source of truly innovative thinking (where do good ideas come from?) and test our ideas of timing and timeliness. We discover unlikely yet authentic connections across people, time and space - and new ways in which our knowledge intersects with public events.

3. CONTAGION & LEGACY (3rd Convening):  

Why do some ideas travel farther and faster than others?  What are the mechanisms and hallmarks of contagious thinking?  The third convening explores the underpinnings and philosophical implications of a rapidly changing media landscape - in which ideas rise and spread in radically new ways. We work with multi-media platforms including TV/video, public speaking, TED and TED Ed, social media, and more. We also consider how teaching platforms can scale ideas across generations. In addition, we revisit our ideas around purpose and legacy. Why do we do what we do? And what is the enduring impact we wish to leave behind? In the fourth convening we use elemental questions to explore our individual ideas around purpose and legacy with a telescopic lens. What impact can we leave behind not simply on the day we die, but hundreds of years into the future, through our ideas? Participants leave with a physical record of their motivations and accomplishments and with blueprints for the future.

Please note: all editorial statements published by participants of the Public Voices Greenhouse Project represent the opinions of the individual authors and do not represent the opinion or stance of Loyola University Chicago.