This song is a classic, but the film is just so subversive. I think it certainly captures one attitude toward the creation of drone-like students being put into a meat grinder and coming out as a “product” of all of the “necessary” ingredients to make them fully functioning members in society. I like that you are able to connect this to Freire because I think it works perfectly.

I like this post a lot. Part of the graduate experience for me, so far, has been to reinforce many of the aspects of my character and talents that I held previously. However, sometimes it is important to stand back and ask ourselves why it is that we are doing what we are doing. Why am I studying English? What is it about literature, language, rhetoric that is so appealing to me? And furthermore, what aspects of my personality make it a compatible discipline for me? These are hard questions to ask oneself, but they are even harder to answer. I think, in a sense, there shouldn’t be much more of a clear answer other than “I love it!” Maybe that is the point of grad school…

It certainly takes a sort of courage to be vulnerable, to open up to something or someone. I thought the video we watched in class was amazing, because there is something truly fascinating watching someone open up and come around to the idea that they don’t have to close themselves off from what they really love. Academia needs to find ways to promote this kind of thinking, instead of pushing people into a field based on the amount of money one will make or the utility of a position in society.

LikeLike

It takes a lot of courage not only to share this story, but to have actually lived it. It’s something that I’m not sure I’d be able to do, not because it is wrong, but rather that I feel the pressure to conform a bit to the standards of education, particularly in what is “expected” of me.

It seems as though you have done a great job of finding a path that suits you, and that is all that matters. I agree with you that learning needs to be framed as interdisciplinary, and your resistance against the fractured disciplines, I feel it is safe to say, has been a success story.

I was in a community theatre show a while back and one of my fellow actors in the play, had never acted before. In fact, he had never even seen a play before. He was a blue-collar guy (not to draw on generalizations), who had a tough childhood, and concerned himself mostly with cars and work for a good portion of his life. However, he was a perfect choice for the role in the play, because the character had similar traits.

So, anyway, he had trouble coming to evening rehearsals because his boss wouldn’t let him off work in time, despite his numerous explanations that he needed to be somewhere. He said the boss heard he was in a play, and made a comment about how “that sissy stuff ain’t no excuse for missing work.” As the process progressed, he invited his boss to come see the show, to have him see what all the fuss was about.

So the boss shows up, sits right in the front row, so that we can see him throughout the entire performance. About 10 minutes into the show, I notice him. And he was enthralled. He didn’t move once. He was fixated. At one point, he even appeared to be crying.

We finished the run of the show, and a few weeks later I was standing in line at the grocery store when I see the boss. He comes up to me. “Hey, you’re that guy for the play, right?” “Yes,” I said. “Hey, man, that was amazing. I hadn’t seen anything like that before, and I didn’t know what to expect. But you guys were great. I’ll never forget it.” He shook my hand and as he walked away, you couldn’t force the smile from my face.

Sometimes, the arts and humanities aren’t just for the artists. Sometimes, they’re for everyone else.

To be fair, it is only one test. You shouldn’t bog yourself down because there was one instance where your implicit bias happened to show. Human beings are biased creatures. There are things which we wrestle with regularly. I hope that this self reflection ends up being productive rather than disruptive.

A noteworthy post. After I read your post I read the article as well. I find it really interesting that the point about “flattening of expertise” was what I noticed when I was writing about universities of the future. Although on the contrary to the author, I personally find a relief to professors and teachers. I guess it is much harder to be the god than to be a fellow traveler! It is the way it should be. Let’s liberate the science as long as we respect the scientific method and scientific structure of thinking!

Very interesting. I have personally tried the last one numerous times and like it says, it never fails! Although I should say it is important to protect the devil’s advocate. Probably the scariest thing in the world are the looks in the eyes of group of people who really feel on the verge of losing tolerance!!! ?

I think MOOCs can not replace the teachers. Students need close contact and direct feedback from teachers. MOOCs in assistance to teachers can be effective.

Interesting post. This post is really helpful to me in the sense that I need to take several group discussion every semester, but I do not have idea to keep group discussion alive.