Course & Discourse Newsletter #4

A new table setting

This month looked a little different. The dinner scheduled for the April 11th, Church and State: Organized Religion in the United States Today, didn't come together as planned, not for lack of interest but for lack of availability. Enough people wanted to come that I'm keeping the topic on the longer-term calendar. Some conversations are worth waiting for the right room, stay tuned!

The time turned out to be useful. I've spent the last few weeks thinking about what Course & Discourse is becoming, and what it could offer beyond the monthly public dinners. The result is a new section of the website: Partner with Us.

The same concept that makes our dinners work — a thoughtfully facilitated conversation, a menu that earns its place at the table, a room of people who leave thinking differently than when they arrived — translates. To a leadership retreat. To a policy roundtable. To a historic home tour or an embassy reception or a post-show conversation at a theater. If you have the people, the theme, or the space we’ll fill in the gaps and create a Course & Discourse with you.

There are three new offerings: Bring Your People, for companies, nonprofits, and teams looking for team and retreat facilitation, something substantive that isn’t just a workshop; Bring Your Topic for think tanks, academic institutions, and policy organizations hosting roundtables or stakeholder dinners; and Bring Your Space for historic homes, museums, embassies, theaters, vineyards, and anyone with a space to gather.

If you work with or lead an organization that convenes, builds culture, or brings people together around something that matters, I'd love to tell you more. The full details are on the website, and my inbox is always open at hello@courseanddiscourse.com.

One more thing worth mentioning: Course & Discourse is now on Instagram at @courseanddiscourse. If you've been following along by email, Instagram is where I'll share what goes into these evenings — some history of DC dinner parties, the questions we're turning over before each dinner, and the occasional glimpse of the table before guests arrive. Come find us if that sounds like your kind of feed.

The next dinner is May 2nd — The Missus: Beyond the Roles, Norms, and Stereotypes. Invitations start going out this week. As always, space is limited and guest lists are curated, so if you haven't already expressed your interest, the reservations page is the place to do it. And it's worth adding hello@courseanddiscourse.com to your known addresses, some invitations have been landing in spam.

Further out: More Than the Game: Sports Diplomacy on June 13th, and Fear in the Age of Uncertainty on July 11th. Both are on the calendar and I'm already thinking about the menus.

More soon —

India