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  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are going to discuss Plato's dialogue Phaedrus for this meeting. If you don't already have a copy of this dialogue, it is readily available online. Project Gutenburg (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1636) has…

  • Philosophy Study Group (session 2)

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are turning to the topic of philosophy of science with an examination of a book considered a classic in this field: The Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl Popper.…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will conclude our book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. This will be an opportunity to forget the busyness…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will start reading one of the most influential books written by a native of Minneapolis, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974), by Robert Pirsig. This…

  • Board Meeting

    Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116
  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    Our new book is 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (2006) by Charles C. Mann. This book can be had for around $15 in paperback and $14 as an ebook.…

  • The Romansh in Minnesota

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    Among the mid-19th century waves of immigrants from northern Europe to the U.S, and Minnesota, the Romansh people from Switzerland were a small but influential group, Often counted with Swiss…

  • Philosophy Study Group, Session 1

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    The next MISF Philosophy Study Group meeting will be in two sessions. Session 1 will be on Monday, January 28, and session 2 will be Wednesday, January 30. Both will…

  • Philosophy Study Group, Session 2

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    The MISF Philosophy Study Group scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 6. It will be at 7:00 pm at Curran's Restaurant in Minneapolis. We will…

  • Philosophy Study Group, Session 1

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    The MISF Philosophy Study Group will once again meet in two sessions. Session 1 will be on Monday, February 18, and session 2 will be Wednesday, February 20. Both will…

  • Philosophy Study Group, Session 2

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    The MISF Philosophy Study Group will once again meet in two sessions. Session 1 will be on Monday, February 18, and session 2 will be Wednesday, February 20. Both will…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will conclude the book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (2006) by Charles C. Mann. This has been a really great book. I can think of one-thousand-four-hundred-and-ninety-one reasons you…

  • The Power of Landscape Art

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    Minnesota Public Radio frequently mentions the power of classical music. Bob Brusic will adapt this theme and talk about The Power of Landscape Art.  He will discuss the various ways…

  • Board Meeting

    Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116

    MISF Members welcome!  

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are going to dip our toe into Martin Heidegger's seminal work, Being and Time. First published in 1927, Being and Time is considered one of the most important philosophy books of the 20th century. This…

  • Ignatius Donnelly: Ultimate Independent Scholar

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    Ignatius Donnelly; poet, promoter, politician, orator, and author; was arguably the most interesting figure in Minnesota history. Although today he is largely dismissed as a crank, Donnelly was an indefatigable…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    There were two books which were tied for second among those nominated and voted upon by our members. Of these two we chose Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We have decided to try a different tack into the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and examine his idea of phenomenology. He disagreed with Edmund Husserl, the person who is most…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are continuing through our list of member-voted books by reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, John Adams (2001) by David McCullough, starting with Part I. This book can be had for…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are going to be returning to Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. We will read the first three chapters of Division I of Part I, (through “The Worldhood of the…

  • The Writing Life

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    As someone who has been an active writer for more than half a century, I have benefited from the prestige and authority conferred on the general culture by the invention…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    For the next couple of meetings we will be reading a book you may already have in your library, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. If you don't have it, you can find it…

  • Board Meeting

    Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116

    MISF Members Welcome!

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are are going to move on to Part II of John Adams by David McCullough. This is a typical McCullough book: engrossing, thoughtful, and penetrating. Just like the MISF History Study…

  • What is Poetry?

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    For those who are wondering what poetry truly is, Evelyn Klein will examine its nature, perspectives, and renditions as they developed over the centuries.  She will answer the question of whether…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will finish our reading of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. By the time we're done you should be in tune with nature, in the present moment, and ready to become the next…

  • Board Meeting

    Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116

     MISF Members welcome!

  • Scholars without Walls:  How our book came to be and why

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    We will introduce our new book, Scholars without Walls: The History of the Minnesota Independent Scholars' Forum.  The book, which will be available for purchase at this event,  tells how a group of…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

      We will discuss Part III – the last part – of John Adams by David McCullough. We will celebrate finishing the book by evaluating Mr Adam's life, comparing it to our…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will continue our discussion of modern Stoicism by reading the rest of chapter five and chapter six in A New Stoicism by Lawrence Becker. Chapter five completes his discussion of norms…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are in the process of reading A New Stoicism by Lawrence Becker. He is continuing his arguments that virtue is the only good, at least for psychologically healthy people. Alas, there's…

  • MIA Book Tour (**date changed**)

    Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404

    One of the most popular gallery walks at the Minneapolis Institute of Art is called a Book Tour.  That is, a book of fiction or social commentary is selected for…

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are going to read the book The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and the American Political Tradition (2017) by Linda Gordon. This book is…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We will conclude our reading of A New Stoicism by Lawrence Becker. This includes chapter 7, “Happiness,” and a couple of appendices. We are especially interested in having people come who consider…

  • MISF Annual Picnic!

    Cherokee Park Picnic Shelter Chippewa and Winona Streets, St. Paul, MN

    Come join us at the small picnic shelter in Cherokee Park in St. Paul's West Side neighborhood for our annual picnic. We will start gathering at 11:30 with serving beginning…

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are turning to a classic book this time: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. This is a book that should have lots of used copies floating around, or you can…

  • Board Meeting

    Highland Park Library, 1974 Ford Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55116

    MISF Members Welcome!

  • History Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

      We will finish reading The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings by Lars Brownworth. If the author has done his research properly, this book should end somewhere near Alexandria, Minnesota.

  • Philosophy Study Group

    Curran's Restaurant, 42nd and Nicollet in Minneapolis

    We are finishing the book The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. While Pollyanna and Dr Pangloss might have some problem understanding Camus' point of view, they – and anyone who feels…

  • The Woodcut Art of Wolfgang Klein

    Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419

    The program will introduce the topic with a brief description of the history of creating woodcuts. It will then focus on Wolfgang Klein’s art of creating woodcuts from their inception…