Class 7 Polanyi, "The Great Transformation"

Class 6 "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

1)The use of film has expanded our optical perception as much as psychoanalysis expanded our consciousness. What was once merely an impulse is now studied and examined in an isolated way. Through the use of camera techniques like close-ups and slow motion, we can examine minute moments in entirely new ways. The rapid speed at which we move through our daily lives doesn’t allow us to break free of the “prison”. Film lets us look more carefully and appreciate the details in ways not previously possible.

"The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses." (p. 237)

2) I thought about the science film of the mother interacting with her baby played at slow motion. The mother at normal speed looks like she is smiling, at slow motion she looks horrific. Is a further development in film the use of brain imaging to see how those impulses look in space and time with cameras that can see brain activity?

Class 5 "The Public and its Problems"

1) If you are communicating you are a community. In order to communicate you must be aware of the unintended consequences of your actions on others. These unintended consequences are far reaching. How does a society raise itself to consciousness of those unintended consequences of reciprocal activity? You begin to become a public then. Publics exist de facto of having become conscious of each other. Engaging in communication leads to the creation of symbols and signs which allows them to engage at higher and higher levels.

2) My experience in a new school community where the members cross cultures has certainly shown me examples. We co exist but are still developing the ability to interact with empathy and knowledge of the unintended consequences of our interactions.

Class 4 'The Information Society'

1) Danger of social exclusion, personal isolation and loss of shared meaning in large networks. How can individuals assert themselves in a system of networks. In increasingly diverse communities there is a need for shared memory and culture. Cities are cooperating not competing, individuals need local identity.

Meta (magic)- ideology in Lanier. Protests magical belief in network. Gatekeeper is still a person. Let’s look back and who we honor and respect. Most were crucified in their own times, not valued and respected, living in constant rebellion and conflict. Those individuals were not the product of collective acceptance. Historically, collectivity did not create greatness- individuals without respect did.

2)This resonates for me when thinking about school governence. Small districts with local community based systems are better able to respond to the needs of the students rather than large systems. But some sharing of resources and intelligence is neccesary for educational equity. Local decision making with equal opportunity for funds and support.

Class 3 A historical approaches to contemporary problems. Poverty, Genocide, and the Environment.

1)As a democratic society we have a responsibility to use our knowledge to support others not increase our own position. We are interdedendent and are only as strong as our weakest link. Vulnerability is a risk to us all. Poor economic conditions and environmental risk makes for potential conflict with dire consequences for human life and costs.

Both texts are written for an educated, upper income, western audience. Appeal to economics.

Both writers are trying to create an inscription of your past as a species. All social scientists eliminated nature from their work. Nature was thought of as a constant renewing neutral. Built on goods exchange (reciprocity), then money and economy. Now need to represent earth as part of our thought.

How do people deal with local knowledge? Judgment needs to rise from the surface not from the sky. People at the bottom have to have agency but the ones in power have to create opportunity for that agency.

Must look at what prevents that opportunity and enact change in policy to create the conditions. How do you structure circumstances?

Research in statistical models is severely limiting. Individuals who act are the agents of change.

2) I think about these ideas in relationship to my participation in the educational equity symposiums at TC every year. How to eliminate the achievement gap by imporving the opportunities and involving the most important local decision makers.

Class 2 Placing Contemporary Problems in a Historical Context

Class 1 The Role of Historical Perspective

1) What are the processes for sharing information and drawing conclusions-there is no neutrality, predetermined notion, these data points are humanly constructed through human effort

Data collection is not neutral and it influences the way we respond.

Knowledge comes from tools, tools are subject to be interpreted differently, interpretation influences our reaction/response which influences the outcome.

Viewing public sees world bank, this is a constructed viewpoint.

There are limits to generalization and concluding necessity, easy to see what we see around us as the unchanging view of reality, superficial, obscures history and change. Conditions at one point in time can change. Empirical methods-are our evidence. Another culture may have a different way of validating information. Important not to eliminate human agency in the decision making process.

"Journal of Useful Ideas"

As explained in the course requirements, each blog entry should address the following:

• 1. General reflections on the human experience. The theorists we will be reading have no shortage of these. Identify one concept per reading that you find especially useful for helping to understand trends you see at work around you or in a wider global context. Explain the idea in your own words and briefly reflect on the insights the concept provides or the dilemmas it helps to explain and/or resolve.

• 2. Ideas that relate to your personal experience or interests. List ideas you find personally useful here, whether as tools for understanding your own experiences or for analyzing contemporary issues that you find particularly interesting.

Obviously, 1 and 2 can and will overlap at times. This is no problem, but for each text we read you should have an entry for both categories. The entries can be brief – a few sentences for each concept – but they should also be concise and insightful. The Journal will be posted in the form of a blog accessible only to our class participants