I’ve also had similar thoughts, but haven’t really thought about alternative names until now. Still, I’m not quickly thinking of obviously-great alternatives. Perhaps “EA Workshops” or “Seminars”?
Having said that, it’s worth pointing out that although “retreats” can often be used in religious contexts, there is plenty of usage in the sense of “corporate retreats.” So ultimately the label may not be that bad, it’s more a matter of how it’s framed and whether it involves a lot of people who are new to/unfamiliar with EA.
I think you get that vibe because, in Spanish, the word seminario can mean both seminar (“an occasion in which a group of people meet to study and discuss something”) and seminary (“a college for training people to become priests”).
Oops, thank you for the correction! My mistake. I still like “EA workshop” more, since attendees are thinking about their life plans and working on improving them.
I have never heard of “seminar” having a lot of religious overtones (but I’m in North America).
(Speaking from a North American perspective) “seminar” has some negative properties if you’re trying to describe a meeting where a lot of value comes from interactions between participants:
It gives connotations of teaching and being “didactive” (getting knowledge instructed to you by an authority).
In North America, there are also unlikeable hucksters that call things “seminars” (so just borrowing the name is bad if it’s not genuinely a lecture or instruction, there can be sort of an “uncanny valley” of “bad vibes”)
I’ve also had similar thoughts, but haven’t really thought about alternative names until now. Still, I’m not quickly thinking of obviously-great alternatives. Perhaps “EA Workshops” or “Seminars”?
Having said that, it’s worth pointing out that although “retreats” can often be used in religious contexts, there is plenty of usage in the sense of “corporate retreats.” So ultimately the label may not be that bad, it’s more a matter of how it’s framed and whether it involves a lot of people who are new to/unfamiliar with EA.
Seminar is also pretty religious. I very much like “EA workshops”
I think you get that vibe because, in Spanish, the word seminario can mean both seminar (“an occasion in which a group of people meet to study and discuss something”) and seminary (“a college for training people to become priests”).
Oops, thank you for the correction! My mistake. I still like “EA workshop” more, since attendees are thinking about their life plans and working on improving them.
I have never heard of “seminar” having a lot of religious overtones (but I’m in North America).
(Speaking from a North American perspective) “seminar” has some negative properties if you’re trying to describe a meeting where a lot of value comes from interactions between participants:
It gives connotations of teaching and being “didactive” (getting knowledge instructed to you by an authority).
In North America, there are also unlikeable hucksters that call things “seminars” (so just borrowing the name is bad if it’s not genuinely a lecture or instruction, there can be sort of an “uncanny valley” of “bad vibes”)
I have flown “seminar” by many people without religious perception. Do you think that you have this perception because of the Spanish seminario ?