About Domain
Listening is a
skill.
We teach it.
Domain started in 2019 as a small set of online lectures on empathy — the kind of subject that gets discussed often but rarely taught well. We focus on building real understanding between people, one clear session at a time.
What we actually do here
expanded over time
no commute required
Empathy is one of those topics that sounds obvious until you actually try to apply it. Most people have a rough intuition for what it means, but very few have spent time with the mechanics — why it breaks down, what restores it, how it differs from sympathy or agreement. Our lectures work through these questions in a structured way, without the motivational packaging.
Geography should not determine who gets access to good instruction. A student in Timmins and a student in downtown Toronto are working through the same material, at their own pace, with the same level of care put into each session. The online format is not a workaround — it is the whole point. Each lecture is built specifically for a screen, not adapted from a classroom recording.
The curriculum sits at the intersection of psychology, communication, and practical ethics. Sessions include listening exercises, real scenario analysis, and written reflection prompts. None of it requires prior academic background — only genuine curiosity about how people relate to each other and why those dynamics sometimes go sideways.
The people who put the lectures together
A small team with specific expertise — not a rotating roster of generalists.
Orlaith Devane
Lead InstructorOrlaith spent eight years running conflict mediation workshops across rural Ontario before shifting to structured online education. Her lectures draw directly from those sessions — specific, grounded, and free of the abstract language that tends to make empathy feel unapproachable. She writes every script herself.
Cormac Tilley
Curriculum DesignerCormac structures the learning sequence — how concepts build on each other, where the exercises land, and what order makes the most sense for a first-time student. His background is in instructional design, and he is fairly obsessive about pacing.
Brigid Hawthorn
Student SupportBrigid handles questions that come in after each module — not automated replies, but actual responses. She also collects feedback from students and brings patterns back to the team so the material keeps improving. Most of the exercise redesigns in the last two years came through her notes.
Questions about the platform or how the lectures are structured?
Reach out directly. There is no ticketing system — just a real inbox read by people who work here. We are based in Peterborough and respond within one business day.