"Have a basic intellectual conversation about music" is as good a mission statement as any. Intellectual processes die when interests are merely humored or given free reign (perhaps Frank's "hallway" trap) and also die, more obviously, when they're stifled with structure. Rock criticism has a serious hallway problem, but the solution isn't to paste "classroom" on it - it's to create a new space.
I recommend Dave's post, "
Can Rock Criticism Be an Educative Process?," where he's trying to push the Department Of Dilettante Research idea forward a bit.
Also, I need to do something about my DDR tags. The way I've got them now, my DDR and Department Of Dilettante Research tags include all of my Kuhn posts, which makes those tags not so useful; in the next few days I'll probably untag a lot of those Kuhn ones, except for the ones that specifically address how you go about learning an unfamiliar mode of thought. In the meantime, here are some of the crucial, introductory DDR posts/threads:
Department of Dilettante Research, Part 1 Department Of Dilettante Research, Part 2: Depart Harder Freakytigger and Poptimist Links for Department Of Dilettante Research Department Of Dilettante Research, Part 3: The Dilettantists Diversity and Bullies The Authority To Teach (Department Of Dilettante Research) Consequences