I'm singin' in the rain
I did get caught in the rain yesterday, walking around Atlantic Station. No clouds or anything and **WHOOSH** there was rain.
pedantka introduced me to the community theoryishotcrew which is a source of great awesomeness, I think. Someone posted something today about what they expect of their members, which I think should be on the syllabus of every upper level English and Philosophy class at Rhodes:
We value both proficiency (being well versed in theory and "knowing one's shit") and creativity here. What this means is that you are expected not only to explain, summarize, and quote (where applicable) from various works of theory, but also to engage flexibly and creatively with said works. The "creative" part includes the juxtaposition of "original theory" with your opinion(s) of it, as well as your reflection(s) upon it. In other words, we expect that you not simply passively absorb and spit back 'THEORY,' but, more importantly, that you demonstrate a deeper understanding of the material via your own engagement with it.
I was immediately reminded of my Ethics class, the majority of the theory discussed in there being the base of my theoretical library, in which nobody did much more than poke about the text and spit it back out without processing it. While these theorists expected people to read their works and take them seriously, they certainly couldn't have thought that the theory wouldn't change in action while remaining the same in principle over the years. There is a way to take Utilitarianism from its original context and apply it to our world today. That is, of course, if you assume that people can get past the idea that postitives and negatives are determined in utiles... (ain't that right, Joey?)
By the way, Joey, you should check out the community. But, I'm under warning from Alana to not try and join unless I'm up for it-- otherwise, we face ruthless hazing, the likes of which can only be attributed to snobbish intellectuals (read: worse than mine).
pedantka introduced me to the community theoryishotcrew which is a source of great awesomeness, I think. Someone posted something today about what they expect of their members, which I think should be on the syllabus of every upper level English and Philosophy class at Rhodes:
We value both proficiency (being well versed in theory and "knowing one's shit") and creativity here. What this means is that you are expected not only to explain, summarize, and quote (where applicable) from various works of theory, but also to engage flexibly and creatively with said works. The "creative" part includes the juxtaposition of "original theory" with your opinion(s) of it, as well as your reflection(s) upon it. In other words, we expect that you not simply passively absorb and spit back 'THEORY,' but, more importantly, that you demonstrate a deeper understanding of the material via your own engagement with it.
I was immediately reminded of my Ethics class, the majority of the theory discussed in there being the base of my theoretical library, in which nobody did much more than poke about the text and spit it back out without processing it. While these theorists expected people to read their works and take them seriously, they certainly couldn't have thought that the theory wouldn't change in action while remaining the same in principle over the years. There is a way to take Utilitarianism from its original context and apply it to our world today. That is, of course, if you assume that people can get past the idea that postitives and negatives are determined in utiles... (ain't that right, Joey?)
By the way, Joey, you should check out the community. But, I'm under warning from Alana to not try and join unless I'm up for it-- otherwise, we face ruthless hazing, the likes of which can only be attributed to snobbish intellectuals (read: worse than mine).