The centerpiece of the ATLAS collaboration is the annual Agora.
The Agora consists of a three-week academy, normally held every July. The inaugural Agora was held at Osgoode Hall Law School in July 2008. The 2009 Agora is hosted by the London School of Economics. The venue of the Agora will rotate annually amongst the founding partners. The total period for the Agora consists of three five-day teaching/learning weeks, and two weekends between weeks 1 and 3, plus a day or two on either side of this core period for purposes of settling in and winding down.
The value of the Agora for doctoral students from the partner institutions follows from the four organizing principles that animate all ATLAS programming. The specific benefits for Agora participants include:
- a singular opportunity to network and initiate lasting intellectual partnerships;
- with respect to one’s dissertation, focused feedback, through the Dissertation Research Seminar, on one’s work and ideas from peers and professors, as well as more informal opportunities over three weeks to reflect on one’s work and ideas in light of the diverse perspectives of other participants;
- also with respect to one’s dissertation, methodological advancement, both at the conceptual level and in terms of practical ‘how to’ knowledge; and
- beyond the dissertation, exposure to intellectually indispensable debates through the General Course in particular as well as, more selectively, through Occasional Seminars, Informal Discussion Evenings, and Distinguished ATLAS Lectures.
A virtual dimension of the ATLAS (Virtual ATLAS) experience consists of largely optional participation in Internet nodes – notably discussion threads, chat facilities and information-sharing facilities – that are designed to facilitate interaction amongst students. Just prior to the Agora, participants are invited to use the Virtual ATLAS to get to learn something about the other participants and their doctoral work. After the Agora, participants will be encouraged to use Virtual ATLAS to keep each other informed of their ongoing doctoral work and subsequent careers, and welcome to use the facility as a collaboration platform
