Saturday Nov. 8 is shaping up as quite a weekend for the intelligentsia as two events centered on thinking unfold in Dallas.

In one corner is the Dallas Institute of Humanities First Annual Festival of Ideas. It features a slew of guest speakers, including David Brooks and Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former mayor Ron Kirk. Our own Krys Boyd of Think will moderate a panel discussion on global issues with local impact. It takes place in the Dallas Arts District.

If that weren’t enough, on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8, the Baker Idea Institute will present “What is an Idea?” a symposium that analyzes Dr. Paul Baker’s approach to arts-based idea generation. If Dr. Baker is unfamiliar to you, he’s a Dallas legend who served as the Dallas Theater Center’s first artistic director and was integral in the founding of Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts.

His daughter Robyn Flatt, who serves as executive artistic director of the Dallas Children’s Theater, hosted a happy hour on Monday to discuss the Baker Idea Institute event. Her event will also feature guests, but the format will be more of a conversation with all attendees involved. She says that her father is keenly interested in the way people learn and the Institute aims to bring together the business, educational and arts communities in an effort to rethink our modes of education.

Both events are open to the public but do have fees to attend.