Marsha is the President of The Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute and lead instructor of the “Great Connections” summer seminar for high-school and college students.

With an M.A. in psychology, she has written and spoken on a number of topics from research neuropsychology to contemporary culture.

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ATLAS SUMMIT

Q: What do you like best about the Atlas Summit?
A: Getting to meet so many interesting and intellectually active people.

Q: What will you be talking about at the Atlas Summit this year?
A: I will be conducting two shared inquiry seminars on Ayn Rand essays, "The Psycho-Epistemology of Art" and "Concept Formation". I'll also be on a panel about a relatively new Objectivism-influenced online magazine, The Savvy Street.

Q: Can you give us a sneak peek of your talk?
A: I won't be giving a talk. What I do is facilitate a deep discussion about Rand's essays with the evidence and reason-based methodology of shared inquiry which we use at the Great Connections seminar, which I run for students later in the summer.

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QUICK FACTS

Q: What is your favorite Ayn Rand book?
A: The Fountainhead

Q: Who is your favorite Ayn Rand character?
A: Francisco D'Anconia

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Q & A

Q: When were you first introduced to Ayn Rand?
A: In 1969, in a high school social studies class. My teacher, Gary Woll, had the so-called "Nolan Chart" apparently before David Nolan invented it (1970). At that point, Ayn Rand was in her own quadrant for full economic and personal freedom. My teacher asked us to read a novel from writers in two quadrants. I picked “The Shoes of the Fisherman” from the democratic-liberal quadrant and “The Fountainhead” from the all-freedom quadrant.

Q: How has Ayn Rand influenced your life?
A: She deeply influenced almost all aspects of my life, starting with formally introducing me to philosophy (I had been thinking philosophically previously but didn't know it) and many other subjects. Not only have I used her philosophy ever since to guide my life, but I have written extensively about her, about her ideas, about issues using her ideas as a taking-off point, and teaching them.

Q: What passion projects are you working on right now?
A: The Great Connections seminar which is a means to starting a new liberal arts college.

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A LITTLE FUN

Q: What do you enjoy reading, watching, or listening to other than Ayn Rand?
A: The poetry, plays, and novels of John Enright, the novels of James Clavell, Cameron Hawley, and Ken Follett, science fiction novels and movies, flamenco music and Gipsy Kings, all kinds of classical music, The Blacklist, Gotham, and New Girl TV shows, the movies El Cid, Bladerunner, Love Actually, and Back to the Future.

Q: If you could be the tycoon of any industry, which would you pick and why?
A: News - because objective reporting is so important and the way news is reported deeply affects the culture.

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Reason, Individualism, Freedom Institute: http://rifinst.org

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Marsha’s Gulch profile: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/marshafa...

Marsha’s Atlas Summit speaker profile: http://atlassummit2015tas25thanniversar....

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Past Atlas Summit speaker interviews:

Dale Halling (dbhalling) - http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/2d...

Vinay Kolhatkar (Vinay) - http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/2e...

Kim Sawyer (cksawyer) - http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/2f...

Bob Hayden (irrevo) - http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/32...

More Atlas Summit speaker interviews coming soon!

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Register for the Atlas Summit now: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/atlas-summit...

Remember, Galt’s Gulch members save 20%: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/2b...

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