Frequently Asked Questions

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• When and where does Chautauqua take place?
• Is there an assigned reading for each meeting? If so, where can I get it?
• Do I have to be a member of the honors program to participate?
• Can I invite a friend or a professor?
• Is Chautauqua a debate club?
• How is a typical Chautauqua meeting conducted?
• Am I required to speak if I attend? What if I just want to listen?
• Are the Chautauqua discussion topics limited to literature, philosophy, and current events?
• Is the topic for each week chosen solely by the director?

We usually provide a reading to get people thinking about the stated topic. Of course, if we’re going to discuss a short story, you probably should do the reading. It’s okay to show up even of you haven’t done the reading. Remember: Chautauqua is not a class, so it’s not like you’re being graded or judged.

When we do have a reading to aid in discussion, which is about 90% of the time, it will be available on this website under schedule and archives and in the honors lounge about week before the next meeting.

No. Although the activity is a division of the honors program, you will be perfectly welcome, honors student or not.

Of course! It’s always nice to see new faces and get new points of view. If you can get one of your professors to come, that’s great!

Absolutely not! Chautauqua strives to be an environment where students and professors listen to each other and where people can work as a team to investigate an issue. When Chautauqua becomes a debate, people cease to feel comfortable and they leave full of anger (whether they lose or win). Furthermore, they leave with the same ideas that they came with. As everyone knows, nobody wins an argument because each side never manages to convince the other of the superiority it’s own position.

Having a debate assumes that people already know the best answer to the question being investigated. The problem with this is that one comes to Chautauqua to find answers and learn in a conversational format, not to relentlessly argue a possibly tenuous viewpoint simply for the sake of winning. This isn’t to say that there’s never division among the ideas presented at the meetings. It just means that everyone’s views are considered equally. Of course, as one of the purposes of Chautauqua is to find out what’s best, that’s usually evident by the end of the discussion without requiring any sort of fervent debate. See the Philosophy of Chautauqua for more information.

The meetings usually begin with introductions. Getting to know everyone’s name is always important if you’re going to have a conversation with them. After that the director will introduce the topic and the discussion will begin. Nobody is compelled to speak, but, for the most part, everyone has said at least one thing through the course of the discussion. It often happens that we deviate completely from the original topic, which is okay and, sometimes, pretty exciting. In any case, we always try to end the night on a good note.

If you just want to listen, that’s fine. We won’t pressure you too much to speak.

Of course not!

While the director usually makes the final decision concerning the topic for the week, many of the topics are determined by students and professors who attend the meetings. Actually, Chautauqua is not limited to discussions of text. We might do a field trip to a play, museum, etc., and discuss that as well. Please email me if you have suggestions.