2024 Reading Groups
For the ninth straight year, Los Altos Institute is proud to offer reading groups, open to all members at no fee. Our reading group chairs for 2024 are Avneet Johal, D’Arcy Pocklington and Kellie Anderson.
Marxism for Beginners
Chair: Avneet Johal
Meetings: Fortnightly (Tuesdays) at White Spot Downtown (405 Dunsmuir Street)
Start date: TBA
Avneet Johal will be chairing our fortnightly Vancouver reading group, which meets at the White Spot at Homer and Dunsmuir in Vancouver at 7:00pm on Tuesday nights. This selection of readings was curated by D’Arcy for his Commercial Drive reading group in 2021. It takes readers through the Marxist canon in a clear and organized fashion.
Although it might seem that this group is engaging many texts, these have been carefully excerpted to deliver readers one or two of each text’s most salient chapters. So, reading loads will be less than in the last several years.
To sign up, e-mail Avneet.
Thinkers on Sex, Sexuality and Gender
Chairs: Kellie Anderson, Stuart Parker
Meetings: Monthly (Thursdays) online via Zoom
Start date: TBA
To supplement the work of our Vancouver gender critical organizing and support monthly networking meetings, we are adding an online reading group co-chaired by Kellie Anderson and Stuart Parker. It will meet monthly, on the off-fortnights from the local Vancouver meet-up.
Kellie, founder of DeTrans Canada, is joining Los Altos as an active member for the first time to help us roll out gender critical programming for our members outside Vancouver. This group will not just be looking at gender critical texts but will begin by grounding members in a broader literature on gender and sexuality, to situate our work within a strong body of theory, following on our 2019 reading series on gender and identity. As with our flagship reading group, we will be excerpting most of the book-length pieces we read this year.
To sign up, e-mail Kellie.
Commercial Drive Film and Reading Group
Chair: D’Arcy Pocklington
Meetings: Fortnightly (TBA) at People’s Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial Drive)
Start date: TBA
Currently retooling over the winter, D’Arcy’s group will be returning to People’s Co-op Bookstore. As details of next year’s program emerge, they will be posted here.
To sign up, e-mail D’Arcy.
Cross-Partisan Gender Critical Monthly Meet-up
Co-chairs: Karin Litzcke, Amrita Parmar
Meetings: Monthly (TBA)
Start date: TBA
In 2022, Los Altos began hosting a different sort of event not so much as part of the Institute but as a service to a community, we are part of: the Vancouver gender critical community. This community is highly diverse, with members from the gay rights movement, feminist movement, conservatives, people of faith and free speech advocates. So, we have created a space where people from these different communities can network and obtain support over food and beverages.
