If you went to the Avast! event during Freshers Week, this is the hotly (right?) anticipated sequel.

If you didn’t go to Avast!, the basic premise is as follows:

Discussion inspired by various starting points (some examples from Freshers’ Week; “lab rats are people too”, “guns don’t kill people, video games do”), conducted ideally with strangers in smallish groups (4-5 to a table), with refreshments!

It sounds like a rather strange idea, and the first time can be scary, but it’s actually surprisingly fun. The idea is to avoid small-talk with the other people at your table and just talk about the matter at hand. The table will usually collectively choose 3 topics from the list of starting points, and be given about 5-10 minutes to discuss each one. Once this time is up you’re perfectly free to engage in small-talk. It’s a rather strange experience to know a person’s opinion on say, religion, before you know what course they’re studying. Strange and rewarding!

Disclaimer: Eva Mendes may not be present.