Opening dialogue encourages the exchange of ideas and opinions, and breeds fresh perspectives. And for University of Guelph-Humber (U of GH) students who are part of the Agora Fellowships, that’s exactly what happened during their intellectual retreat to Ottawa this fall 2025.
The theme of this semester’s retreat was freedom. Led by Psychology Chair Dr. Alice Kim and Associate Vice-Provost, Academic Dr. George Bragues, the group of six students from varying U of GH programs discussed several books they read ahead of time in a Socratic seminar format (led by students), with everyone having a turn to share their opinion, while also having the opportunity to explore Canada’s capital.
The retreat’s theme of freedom was complex and layered. Sub-topics included political and economic freedom, free will vs. determinism, as well as the experiences of women and marginalized peoples seeking freedom. These were engaging discussions for fourth-year Business Administration student and Agora Fellow Ivtej Mann, who was drawn to the Agora Fellowships because of how he could connect topics of discussion to what he has learned in the Business program. The debates also covered subject matter that was new to students, as there were also topics unrelated to their academic programs.
“It taught me to want to know more,” second-year Psychology student and Agora Fellow Christabell Zalwango said of her experience, who enjoyed hearing different intellectual schools of thought from her peers.
The students, Dr. Kim, and Dr. Bragues spent their mornings on this four-day trip discussing the texts at the hotel’s meeting centre, then would spend afternoons on enriching adventures, exploring the city’s sights such as the Byward Market and Parliament Hill. It was a blend of stimulating conversations and learning firsthand about different places.
“It was a very eye-opening experience to read those type of intellectual books, and to listen and learn from other people's interpretations of what we read and comparing them to my own. I would say that was the main thing I learned, how we can take one sentence from one book, and it can be interpreted in six different ways,” Mann said.
The retreat gave the students the chance to bond as well, breaking out of social silos. Zalwango enjoyed spending time with students from other Guelph-Humber programs and getting to know her program chair, Dr. Kim, on a closer level.
“I got to know two of who I consider some of the greatest minds at Guelph-Humber [Dr. Kim and Dr. Bragues]. Watching them debate amongst one another was really inspiring,” she said.
The thought-provoking texts the Agora Fellows read are:
- On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
- The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
- The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
- The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
- The Dilemma of Determinism by William James
- Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky
Does this sound like an experience you want to have? Learn more about the Agora Fellowships here.
