Study Discussion Groups (SDGs)
are the heart of what PLATO offers

Interaction.  Dialogue.  Questioning.  Inquiry.  No lecturing here.  This is learning at PLATO.

Member Created & Led,
Small Group, Courses

Each week a different member is responsible for leading the discussion. Our courses, no matter the subject, are discussion, not lecture-based, and depend on the active participation of all.

We Offer
Four Categories

  • Arts & Literature
  • Social Science
  • History
  • Science & Technology

Course Details

Three presentation formats: In-Person, Zoom and Hybrid (In-Person and Zoom)

Three terms : Winter, Spring/Summer, Fall

Twenty plus SDGs per term, each running between 7 to 14 weeks.

Our Current SDGs - Fall 2026

Monday

10am - 12pm

The Light Eaters: a new understanding of plant “intelligence”

Monday

10am -12pm

Of Boys And Men

Monday

10am - 12pm

Out of the closet: America's hidden queer history

Monday

1pm - 3pm

The European Middle Ages

Monday

1pm - 3pm

Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World

Monday

1pm - 3pm

Soviet Cinema from the Avant-Garde to the Cold War Era

Tuesday

10am - 12pm

Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America

Tuesday

10am - 2pm

George Bernard Shaw: His Plays, Philosophies and Life

Tuesday

10am - 12pm

An Empire of Food

Tuesday

1pm - 3pm

Echoes and Silences: Reading Ishiguro Across Time

Tuesday

1pm - 3pm

A Short History of Stupidity

Tuesday

1pm - 3pm

The Epic Story of Kit Carson, the Navajo Nation, and the American West

Tuesday

1pm - 3pm

The Fiction and Films of Daphne Du Maurier

Wednesday

10am - 12pm

The Joy of Films with Ambiguous Endings

Wednesday

10am - 12pm

Scandinavian Noir

Wednesday

10am - 12pm

Emperors in World History

Wednesday

1pm - 3pm

1929

Wednesday

1pm - 3pm

The Big Questions - Devising Your Answers

Wednesday

1pm - 3pm

The Finest American Women Playwrights

Thursday

10am - 12pm

4 Great Novels by 4 Eastern European Authors

Thursday

10am - 12pm

Capitalism and Its Critics

Thursday

10am - 12pm

Understanding Human Beings’ Most Basic Desire: Mattering