Think Olio x Thought Gallery Summer 2016
Top professors, drink specials, and an intimate cafe setting. Think Olio and Thought Gallery team up to create a haven for New York’s intellectually curious.
Think Olio and Thought Gallery announce a collaboration that will highlight a series of history, poetry, and philosophy classes taught by some of New York’s top professors in the tea room of Round K Cafe on the Lower East Side. Beginning with “Comedy as Social Action: Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, and Eddie Murphy” on June 20th, Think Olio will bring weekday evening classes to Round K cafe throughout the entire summer. Other classes include: “Culture of Desire: The Oedipus Myth and Modernity” and “Dharma and Desire: Persephone and the Ramayana.”
Think Olio is a one-year-old organization, founded by CUNY students Chris Zumtobel and David Kurfirst, that brings the best professors into the community to hold classes on whatever they love. What began in a living room has expanded into a growing community of lifelong learners and passionate teachers, taking root in Crown Heights and quickly expanding across NYC.
Professors value Think Olio at a time when universities can offer limited intellectual freedom in the classroom. Professor Riley’s course on the Jazz Age at Baruch was cancelled after only two semesters, though it filled on the first day of registration each semester. Professor Riley said, “As charming and pleasant as the Olio evenings are, there is important intellectual, cultural, educational and even political work going on. I am completely grateful to Think Olio for furnishing a wonderful opportunity to pursue my interests especially in a forum that is so stimulating.”
Think Olio: How college should be. Think Olio provides professor-led programming at handpicked venues for the price of a movie ticket. Starting just over one year ago, Think Olio has held over 90 classes at more than 20 venues. Their ethos: high-level learning with the best professors should be commonplace.
Thought Gallery: The best of brainy New York. As the only site dedicated to the intellectual life of NYC, Thought Gallery provides a unique resource for getting a handle on smart NYC, whether your passion is art, science, literature, or the city itself. TG’s weekly email newsletter, the Curriculum, seeks out the city’s signs of intelligent life and delivers them to the inboxes of a dedicated group of subscribers.
