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Merlin Awarded $1,250 Grant from PLATO for “Building Community through Laughter” Project
GRANT AWARD for public philosophy “BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH LAUGHTER” project An interactive public philosophy program with philosopher and comedian, Rodney Norman, that explores the relationship between comedy, community, and the good life. We are so…
Philosophy Shorts: the Virtues of the student
What are the qualities of an excellent student? Or, as ancient Greek philosophers would put it, what are the virtues, or excellences, which belong to students in general, and especially to students of philosophy? In…
Doubletree by Hilton Helena Downtown Supporting Community & Philosophy in 2026
Thank you to General Manager John Lytle & his team for partnering up with us for a fourth year in a row…supporting community and philosophy. We are honored for your community sponsorship!
Meet Our 2026 High school Student Scholar Fellow Gavin Payne
We’re excited to announce and introduce to you our first ever high school Student Scholar Fellow, Gavin Payne. Learn more otu gavin and what we’ll be working o together this year!
Meet Our 2026-2027 Student Scholar Fellow Jess Holmes
STUDENT SCHOLAR FELLOW U of M PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDED 2026-2027 FELLOWSHIP We are delighted to announce and introduce you to our 2026-2027 Student Scholar Fellow, Jess Holmes. Over the next year, Jess will be…
Merlin Awarded $900 Grant Award from HACF for “Building Community Through Laughter” Project
Merlin awarded $900 grant from HAF for “Building Community through Laughter” project coming to the Ming Theater in Spring 2026. Learn more here!
Our Community Hubs Project Gets its Wings!
Inspired by our love of community & our belief in the importance of good reasoning, our Community Hubs project re-envisions the academy by re-centering the community as a place of learning. We are delighted to announce that this…
Building Community through Laughter: Comedy & the Good Life
An interactive public philosophy program that explores the relationship between comedy, community, and the good life. Featuring a live comedy performance & post-performance talk-back with professional comedian and philosopher Rodney Norman, audience members will be…
2025 Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Highlights
2025 Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Highlights 2025 marked the second year of our live music & community-oriented summer series in historic Reeder’s Alley. Check out some of the highlights below. Our…
Storyelling & Animals
A storytelling event for youth that featured heartwarming tales starring animals such as coyote, raven, wolf, and more. Weaving story, song, dance, and community together, our storytellers — Louise Fischer & Shane Doyle — invited…
On Growth, Wildlife & the Environment
In this mini-symposium facilitated by community philosopher we talked with guest panelists and authors Christopher Preston & Robert Frodeman about growth policy, wildlife, and the environment. The symposium was a collaborative project sponsored & co-hosted…
On Story & Meaning: Experiencing the World through an Intepretive Lens
In this walk led by philosopher Evelyn Brister we explored environmental science and conservation through a philosophical lens. Inspired by Evelyn’s current reserach and the question “what do we owe the biosphere?,” we considered questions…
On Policy, Philosophy & the Environment
In this mini-symposium we talked with guest panelists and authors Evelyn Brister & Travis Brammer about policy, philosophy, and the environment. The symposium was a collabvorative project sponsored & co-hosted by community partner Lewis &…
Conservation & the Environment through a Philosophical Lens
In this walk led by philosopher Evelyn Brister we explored environmental science and conservation through a philosophical lens. Inspired by Evelyn’s current reserach and the question “what do we owe the biosphere?,” we considered questions…
Merlin Awarded $2,000 Grant Award from PLATO for “Art as Transformation” Project
GRANT AWARD for public philosophy “art as transformation” project An innovative public philosophy program exploring the role of art in society & our everyday lives. Featuring a unique blend of live music, story, performance &…
Merlin & Teach Different to Co-Facilitate Workshop at Plato’s 7th Biennial Philosophy Conference in Boston
We’re delighted to announce that Merlin & Teach Different have been selected to co-facilitate a workshop called “Improving Civil Dialogue…One Conversation at a Time” at Plato’s upcoming philosophy conference at Tufts University in Medford, MA…
2024 Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Highlights
2024 Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Reeder’s Alley Summer Series Highlights 2024 marked the inaugural year for our live music & community-oriented summer series in historic Reeder’s Alley. Check out some of the highlights below. Our…
Philosophy Workshop: What is Virtue?
Philosophy Workshop What is Virtue? (More than Just Ethics!) with Community Philosopher David Nowakowski Workshop description & what we explored The notion of virtue holds a central place in classical theories of what it means…
Art as Transformation: ART & THE GOOD LIFE
An innovative public philosophy program exploring the role of art in our everyday lives. Featuring a unique blend of live music, story, performance, art, and community conversation, the program invites people to consider and experience…
Re-Indigenizing Public Lands
Philosophy Walk Re-Indigenizing Public Lands with guest scholar Shane Doyle Walk description & what we explored In this walk led by Dr. Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke nation) we reflected on the significance of public lands as…
On Travel
Philosophy Walk On Travel with community philosopher David Nowakowski Walk description & what we explored According to urban legend, some famous novelist (maybe Tolstoy or Dostoyevski?) once quipped that there are only two stories: “A…
On Courage
Philosophy Walk On Courage with community philosopher David Nowakowski Walk description & what we explored Most of us are inclined to praise courage in a variety of contexts, from soldiers and first responders going boldly…