Class 41: Discussion of interviews, mission rewrite, and Foundation Projects visit

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For our forty-first class on November 27, 2017 we met at 2pm in 901 NAB.

Photos

📾 More photos (Dropbox 🔒)

Emails

Hi Projects class,

Quick reminder that we're not having class today.

See you on Friday at the Ivory Tower Screening & Community Meet-Up organized by Vic, Jake, Kiersten, Anton, and crew. The event is Free and Public, so spread the word! (10/8/17 from 6-10pm in the Rose Auditorium & Lobby.) Invite with all the details is attached.


Hi Projects class 🏝,

There's no class meeting this week (12/4/17)!

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This week:

Please use this opportunity to catch up on any of the reflection assignments from this semester:

-1 page about your project, a project you think is worth pursuing or speculative, or approach to this course (individual, group, or otherwise)

-No more than 3 pages typed coming out of your interview with a fellow class member. This can range from transcription to summary and might can include any annotations or additional resources worth appending!

-1 page thoughts, proposals, notes, etc on a possible interaction with Freshmen Projects (a single 3-hour seminar with the entire SoA Freshmen class on a Monday evening this Spring semester). Your idea doesn't need to be confined to the format of a single class visit but that's likely all we'll have official bandwidth to accommodate.

You can submit a PDF or DOC of these files here, or just reply to the email with an attachment: 

https://www.dropbox.com/request/M5gzzxQg7Wg3a2Pt16NZ

*Though some people have partial copies of the group interviews we'll try to collate and distribute a more complete version before the end of the semester so please get your responses in if you have not already!*

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Recap of last week (11/27/17): Interviews, Mission & Freshmen Projects

We started off class looking the interview documents submitted so far, those who had a chance to read through them commented on aspects like difference in formatting and editing choices as well as possible resonances in topic and sentiment. The conversation steered itself towards addressing real and perceived anxieties about attending Cooper, being a student, availability or lack thereof resources, and how this might play out differently across the 3 schools.

We revisited our conversation about the college's current mission and what we know of the state of the mission revision process. Walid, Harry, Casey, and Victoria presented a document with proposed language that picks up where the mostly available mission draft left off. We spoke about the emphasis on Enlightenment ideals, the presence of some words and absence of others, as well as highlighted the phrases 'a free education that is free from discrimination' and 'science and art, education and service'.

We wrapped up class by reviewing Dan Foster's proposal for Freshmen seminar since he was the only one to type something up, thanks Dan!Â đŸ€—Â Many liked the idea of allowing for Q&A as well as the possibility of smaller break out groups, we tended towards nuancing when and what parts of history might be useful to share in this context. If and how to address the education of artists in institutions (particularly those in flux), as well as some terms Dan brought up including 'obligation', 'student body', and 'integration'. Josiah suggested we approach the opportunity by thinking about how we might explain both the FEC report as a document as well as present our approach to decoding the document (sharing related documents, our own research and projects, events, objects, locations, etc).

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Next Week (12/11/17):

We'll meet at 2pm in 901 of the NAB. Keep an eye on your emails for updates before then & feel free to reply to this thread if *YOU* have updates or anything else to share with the class in the meanwhile!đŸ•”

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-Many wanted to know more about the 'Mundus Imaginalis' that Walid brought up, [null here is reading] by Henri Corbin that he sent along.

-Relatedly to the development, honing or resurrection of sense and sensory organs I recently came across an interview with Fred Moten in the Brooklyn Rail where he proposes reassessing the 'holosensual field'

-*This* Friday 12/8/17 come check out the screening of Ivory Tower 6:30pm in the Rose Auditorium. We'll be joined by the director Andrew Rossi and Mauricio Higuera who contributed a significant amount of footage to the documentary for a Q&A. There will be food and drinks, archival materials & much more at the reception in the lobby afterwards! Here's the FB event and a graphic designed by Kiersten, if you're around on Friday and want to help set up or just be around you can reply directly to this email!

P.S. If anyone's interested or free it looks like Laura is holding 1 of 4 "Campus Conversations" of the 2017-2018 academic year this Monday in the President's Office (7th floor foundation) from 5-6pm, more info on that here!

The webpage reads:

Open Houses are intended to bring faculty, students and staff together in a casual setting to get to know one another and foster conversations across the institution. Sign up is not necessary. Open Houses will take place in the Office of the President located on the 7th Floor of the Foundation Building. Confirmed dates are listed below:

Tuesday, October 10 | 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Monday, December 4 | 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 15 | 11:00 - 12:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4 | 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.


Hi Projects class,

We'll meet today at 2pm in room 901 NAB. 

We'll revisit the mission, discuss the first stack of conversations & distribute new ones, and continue workshopping our encounter with next semester's freshman projects class. 

To ground our discussion, please jot down one page of notes/reflections/ideas for yourself on the idea of a transmission to the incoming class.

🍂