Ready to Start a Stoa?
Join a global network with hundreds of other leaders around the world
who have started Stoic communities. You'll get resources, insights, and
tips on leading a Stoicism group with help from The Stoic Fellowship
along the way.
Have you already started a Stoa?
Join the Stoic Fellowship's global network.
Quick Guide to Starting a Stoa
Step One // Find People By:
-
Fill out this form to indicate
that you're interested in starting a community
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Search the
Stoic Registry
for people in your area to guage interest and register yourself, too
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Start a Stoic meetup on
meetup.com (note:
this costs money, so do it only if you're willing to pay the fee for 6
months - you can always cancel if it doesn't work)
-
Post on the
largest Facebook Stoic group
and ask if there are any people in your area willing to meet up in
person
Step Two // Find a Decent Place to Meet:
Generally noisy places don't work for obvious reasons, and restaurants
aren't great, either, since you'll have to chat between food orders. Some
places that work for other communities include:
- Outdoors (hiking or sitting, weather permitting)
- Indoor public atria
- Reserving a room in a library, university, community center, etc.
- Quiet coffee shops or bars without table service
- Members' homes
Step Three // What to Do in Your Community:
Our member Stoas do a lot of different things, so there's no one fixed way
to run a meeting. There are two general points that do apply to many
groups, though:
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Do what your members want! Ask if they prefer readings, practice groups,
or something else
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It helps to have a point of focus at each meeting, whether it be a
topic, a type of format that you repeat, or a reading. Open formats tend
to wander and feel unfocused.
Here are some ideas for topics or formats to get you started for your
first several months:
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Stoicism 101 - for your first meeting, give a brief talk and discussion
on your understanding of Stoicism, then open it up for discussion
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Read and discuss the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's
entry on Stoicism, which is a fairly easy read and a good introduction to Stoicism
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Focus on readings or videos from our
resources section. Don't bite off
more than you and your attendees can chew, though! You can digest a book
together over several months.
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Euthydemus - Socrates does a good job in this dialogue explaining why
Wisdom (close to virtue) is the highest good, which makes for an
excellent introduction to Stoicism. The NYC Stoics have excerpted the
relevant portion of the dialogue
here. It's a great intro to a major concept in Stoicism
-
Massimo Pigliucci has a solid Stoicism 101 essay
here
or read
Donald Robertson's Collection. You could also get lots of material from Massimo's essay collections
here.
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Have a "topic of the month" for discussion, where you give a brief
introduction to a common problem many people may have, and talk about it
from a Stoic perspective. Topics can include anger, anxiety, friendship,
and more.
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The Stoic Fellowship activities committee's goal is to provide guidance
for meeting topics for your community, and has themes they can provide
you which can guide you in running your community
If you've already started a community,
join the Stoic Fellowship's global network
and we'll list your group to attract even more members, as well as provide
you with guidance along the way.