Among the many things for which Thomas Jefferson was renowned are his “Feast of Reason” dinners, where people gathered at Monticello to respectfully discuss the civic issues of the day. Inspired by this precedent–and given the current polarized and inflammatory state of civic dialogue in our country–Carpenters’ Hall, in partnership with the Dialogue Institute at Temple University, will host a “Feast of Reason” dinner series reimagined for our time. Over a family style meal, participants will be guided through a brief history of our evening’s topic, followed by a respectful and thoughtful discussion, guided by experts. Each meal will include 16 participants and will be held at Carpenters’ Hall from 6-8 pm.

A short reading will be sent out before each gathering. Although we encourage you to read it beforehand, it is not required.

Our next dinner will be held on October 1 and will address free speech. We will discuss the question “What are the most important rights and responsibilities of free speech?”  Angel Eduardo from Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression will be present to help provide context to and guide the conversation.

If you applied for our previous dinner held in September, and were not accepted, but would like to be considered for this dinner, please email Alyssa Constad at alyssaconstad@carpentershall.org.

Subsequent dinners will be held on November 12th, and December 10th. More information on those topics will be forthcoming.

An application is required to ensure that we have a multitude of political backgrounds and prospectives present at the meal. If you are chosen to participate in our October 1 meal, you will be notified on Monday, September 28. If you accept, you will be invoiced $40 for dinner including alcohol or $30 for dinner without alcohol. Please reach out to Alyssa Constad with any questions, alyssaconstad@carpentershall.org.

Thank you to The Kauders Foundation for their generous support of this project.