On a Tangent is a reading-based conversation series.

Each session begins with a shared text, announced in advance allowing time for reading and reflection, and develops through open dialogue among participants, hosts, and invited guests. Discussions often move beyond the reading itself, creating space to reflect on broader cultural, political, philosophical, and personal questions.

See previous and upcoming sessions below.

  • OAT 02 – Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler

    First published in 1990, Gender Trouble challenged prevailing assumptions about gender, identity, and the relationship between social norms and lived experience.

    Through reading and conversation, we will explore some of the questions the book raises around identity, power, belonging, language, and the ways we come to understand ourselves and others. As always, discussions may drift beyond the text and into broader cultural, political, and personal questions.

    Bahar Mirteymouri is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Yale University. She previously studied philosophy at the National University of Iran, Western Sydney University, and KU Leuven. Her research engages the history of philosophy, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and feminist philosophy.

    Bahar will be part of our conversation as we explore some of the questions raised by Gender Trouble and their resonance with contemporary discussions around identity, power, belonging, and social life.

    July 12, 2026
    2:00–5:00 PM

    Rayat Magazine, Toronto
    Online participation available

    RSVP via Eventbrite.

  • OAT 01 – A Moratorium on New Construction by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes

    First published in 2024, A Moratorium on New Construction argues for a temporary halt to new building as a response to the environmental, social, and economic consequences of contemporary construction practices. Challenging assumptions about growth, development, and architectural production, the book asks what it would mean to build less, transform more, and reconsider architecture’s relationship to extraction, labour, and climate.

    Through reading and conversation, we explored some of the questions the book raises around responsibility, agency, care, sustainability, and the future of architectural practice. As always, discussions moved beyond the text and into broader cultural, political, and personal questions.

    Kearon Roy Taylor was part of our conversation. Kearon is a designer, researcher, and organizer whose work is grounded in architecture’s territorial ambitions and the political economy of urbanism. A Reyner Banham Fellow and former Associate Partner at Lateral Office, their practice spans built work in Canada’s North, research-driven installations, and critical mapping initiatives. They currently teach at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

    For continuity, OAT 01 is included in the On a Tangent archive. The session was originally organized through SHEEEP Readings in collaboration with the Toronto Book Club, and was hosted by Amirhesam Monshi, Reza Nik, Sam Sabzevari, and Adrian Layn.

    May 31, 2026

    BAAA! , Toronto
    Online participation available