“In his introduction to Stefano Harney and Fred Moten’s book The Undercommons, Jack Halberstam (author of The Queer Art of Failure) emphasises that what’s needed isn’t so much recognition and acknowledgement of those on the margins of the dominant systems and structures (although of course that’s not a bad thing to do), but to dismantle existing, oppressive structures and systems that oppress. And it’s impossible, now, to determine what a new world will look like, because we’ll see things completely differently without those structures:
‘What we want after “the break” will be different from what we think we want before the break.’ (p.6)
Whether we’re experiencing the current times as a low ebb—and hopefully a turn of the tide— or the crest of a wave (or lurching between the two), as teachers we’re being called to think fundamentally about education and its purpose amid this uncertainty, and also to respond to the very immediate needs of our students. How can we maintain connections and build a sense of belonging? What connections can be enriched? “
Merging the session on ‘Love and Belonging’ with my initial SIP ideas:
Dismantling the existing structures surrounding illustration, being influenced by key theories to create a new space for Illustration. This could be in part through workshops with students, exploring the question: What are the potentials for contemporary Illustration? Look
Also thinking about ‘affective peadogogy’, after reading this https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/887220/mod_resource/content/5/Patience%202008.pdf
Interesting definitions:
“Affective pedagogy is as much about feelings and emotions as it is about learning outcomes. indeed the feelings and emotions are inseparable from the learning outcomes. it is distinguished in the first instance by teacher-student interactions that echo Oakeshott’s depiction of ‘dramatic friendship’”
“‘Dramatic Friendship means relating wholeheartedly to another person ‘who engages the imagination, who excited contemplation, who provokes interest, sympathy, delight and loyalty simply on account of the relationship entered into.’”
“‘Utilitarian friendship in which the relating is based on a calculation by both (or all) sides in the relating about what use they will be for each other.”
Although I want to create something useful, I do not want to enter into a utilitarian friendship.
“This toxic mix of extreme utilitarian education and socio-economic privileging flies in the face of two basic errors at its very core. The first is mistaking information for knowledge. The second is confusing downloading with educating.”
“The imparting of practical knowledge necessarily entails complex emotion as well as intellectual interactions between the teacher and the student”
I want to think about how this can be a project that doesn’t feel so tied up in the neo-liberal university structure, that doesn’t think of students as consumers, but as collaborators.
