“It Feels Like Freedom”: Philosophy and Literature Behind Bars
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF May 5, 2025
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: “It Feels Like Freedom”: Philosophy and Literature Behind Bars
Speaker: Dr. Judith Norman
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday, our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
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Welcome Members, fellow Rotarians, friends, and guests. Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
The Forgotten Name
Two old friends met by chance on the street.
After chatting for some time one said to the other, "I'm terribly sorry, but I've forgotten your name. You'll need to tell me".
The other stared at the first thoughtfully for a long time, then replied, "How soon do you need to know?"
INSPIRATION
This week's speaker sees in literature and philosophy the possibility of redemption. For our inspirational video, let's get in that head space, with this short TED talk from Damon Horowitz.
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
How It's Made
Medicines!
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PROGRAM: “It Feels Like Freedom": Philosophy and Literature Behind Bars
SPEAKER: Dr. Judith Norman
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
The Philosophy and Literature Circle provides learning opportunities for scholars incarcerated in prisons and jails in South-Central Texas to engage with and create works of literature and philosophy. The program draws on the strengths of humanistic inquiry and engagement to redress the isolation and exclusion central to U.S. punishment cultures. The mission of the Circle is to cultivate collaborative learning communities so that people in prison and beyond can thrive and build trust across divides. The vision of the Circle is to foster a world filled with thriving communities of trust and accountability that embody commitments to justice, peace, and freedom. Program content and structure seek to bring such a world about through critical, compassionate, and creative engagement with texts, ourselves, one another, and our worlds.
Our speaker, Judith Norman, has been engaged with community organizing for 20 years. She has worked with movements for economic justice, anti-militarization, educational justice, and the liberation of Palestine as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. In 2020 she helped start the Philosophy and Literature Circle at the Torres Unit, a learning circle that brings undergraduate students together with incarcerated scholars to read, write, and discuss works of philosophy and literature.
Judith is a Murchison Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Trinity University. Her research focuses on the history of philosophy, and German philosophy in particular, and she has published numerous articles on the subject. She has translated the works of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and teaches classes in the history of philosophy as well as indigenous philosophy and the philosophy of art.
Members and guests, please welcome Judith Norman!
To learn more, go to:
To make a donation to the Classroom on the Inside program (UTSA):
https://giving.utsa.edu/thecircle
To learn more, go to:
https://www.trinity.edu/news/classroom-inside
To read Mary Oliver's Wild Geese:
https://www.empoweredstl.org/courageinactionblog/k8yuhtr76c6s58w3368kamhw0mxit2
The Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network and the words we use:
https://ficgn.org/our-pledge
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
http://rotary.cool
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Or you can click below for this week’s speaker:
The Weekly Rotarian
Inspiring Solutions
And our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Development Success Stories
Our third podcast features success stories about economic development from around the world. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can click below.
UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
We have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeup.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.
For all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!
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