Facilitating discussions about old things

Natasha Herman facilitates meetings in the form of Socratic dialogues for professionals from all areas of cultural heritage care. During these meetings, we address a cultural heritage theme that is of particular interest to the group. These meetings take the form of a group of approximately 10 participants and can take place either online or in person.

The Practice

Socratic Dialogues provide formal structure to a group discussion so that the group can explore often dissenting and uncomfortable ideas in a challenging but cooperative way. As facilitator, Natasha creates a safe space for a group to collectively examine their thoughts, reasons and assumptions on topics of cultural heritage and - equally importantly - to listen more deeply to those of their colleagues and community. Think of these dialogues as an oasis in time for colleagues to come together in a metaphysical playground of ideas, leaving with a wider perspective on how to approach their daily work.

The Attitude

Friendly and fearless thinkers are welcome, working under Theodore Parker’s conviction that “the outer judgement often fails, the inner judgement never”.

Facilitation

Natasha co-facilitates dialogues with Socrafé, a group of amateur philosophers in The Netherlands. She has led dialogues for the Belgian-Dutch Bookbinding Association, the Dutch Royal Cultural Heritage Agency under the leadership of Bill Wei, the University of Amsterdam Heritage Conservation masters programme and the Dutch National Centre of Heritage Studies. She is a certified Socratic Dialogue facilitator under the tutelage of Kristof van Rossem at SocratischGesprek and Hans Bolton at Boltontraining.

Connect

If you are a member of an organization that focuses on cultural heritage themes and you would like to explore an idea, issue or dilemma with your group, please get in touch.