Schlosser Course Notes

I.

I'd like to begin with the course evaluations. Julia will pick up the forms from outside my office and distribute them to everyone. As you probably all know, these evaluation forms are very important: I will read them closely to revise and improve the course; they will also be read by senior faculty when I go up for tenure in a few years. So take your time and please be honest and generous!

II.

I.

Here is my take-away from what we discussed last night (November 30) about using our next (and last) class on Monday,December 7.

1. Cookies!

2. Time for course evaluations.

3. Time to check-in with Joel about final projects.

4. Time to work on final projects.

5. Possibly more "political science" time.

Do y'all have anything to add?

I.

We'll take a few minutes to check-in about the final event as well as to discuss what would best serve your final projects in the next few days. Remember that we do not have readings scheduled for next Monday (12/7).

II.

As I described in my message over the weekend, I'd like to break into groups to present the four articles supplementing our readings of Olson & Davis as well as the Dean Spade & Reina Gossett conversations. As I wrote on Friday:

I.

[EDIT: We'll start with brief committee check-ins in preparation for the final event, with twofold goals: (1) to nail down a title; and (2) to select times for the events. Then we'll turn to the Coates quote.]

A quotation cum prompt for reflecting on Thursday and Friday at RCF as well as what we've been doing. This is from Ta-Nehisi Coates' recent book Between the World and Me. (He also wrote the piece on reparations that y'all read).

"The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books." (48)

And the question: How does this speak to your experiences at RCF and as learners both there and in this 360?

II.

I.

Our discussion of the Paris attacks engaged a number of important topics. I noted the following:

I.

I'd like to begin by taking some time to talk about the attacks in Paris on Friday. While this may seem afield of our readings and recent discussions, I think these events actually raise a number of themes we've been examining all semester: violence and force in society; forgiveness; the idea of prefiguration and non-violence; and, most generally, how logics of crime and punishment (and retribution) structure so much of our world. Think of the language in response: the attacks were "barbaric" according to Obama and Pope Francis; Francois Hollande, the President of France, declared that ""France will be merciless towards these barbarians.” 

If you have time, I'd suggest looking at the following two articles for alternative responses to the events:

I.

I'd like to pick up where we left off, thinking about education and challenge to society as a starting point. To return to the notes from last week: Thinking about education and empowerment, I'd like to start with this quote from James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers":

"Precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience, you must find yourself at war with your society. It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person."

How does this prompt you to think about what we've been doing in the jail? Or experiences of education in your own lives?

II.

I.

We opted to attend Mia Mingus's lecture during the first two-thirds of class. As it turned out, the lecture was hugely relevant to our discussions across the whole 360 cluster. A few highlights from my own notes (to which I'd love to hear your additions):

I.

To remind you where we've been, here are the notes from last class: /oneworld/arts-resistance/course-notes-monday-october-26. I think we really went deep into many of these questions and I hope we can build on our discussions of the specifics of SNCC as well as more general discussions of freedom, resisting the prison industrial complex, and inequality.

I. Orientation

I'd like to start again with some free writing in response to a prompt from Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom. Here's Ella Baker (quoted on p. 93):

“My basic sense of it has always been to get people to understand that in the long run they themselves are the only protection they have against violence or injustice . . . People have to be made to understand that they cannot look for salvation anywhere but themselves.”

Write in response, drawing on events and readings (and anything else) in the past week.

II. Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom