Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the May 3rd faculty meeting or on other topics. You may post anonymously if you wish.
Comment cards left at the meeting:
How many would stand in opposition today if we approved LAGER 4.5 + global engagement course?
The fact that we’re not talking about enrollment is not evidence of faculty’s lack of concern or care re: enrollment… The comment in the survey that students don’t want/parents don’t pay for social justice education seems a perfect example of why gen ed revision conversations haven’t explicitly made these connections. It seems our focus has been on what’s necessary educationally speaking, even when it comes to things they don’t already know are necessary.
Re: “outside the classroom” faux-disagreement… I think there may be some slippery vocab at the heart of this. Even just now as Jane spoke about Art and Science recommendations, she sometimes said “beyond campus,” sometimes said, “beyond classroom.” This difference is huge. I’m grateful to both President and Clerk for helping clear this up.
Here is the blog link and the quote from David Hooker that I read at the faculty meeting today-
Blog post by David Anderson Hooker
Inspired by Byron Bland- Associate Director of the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation
Distinction between a shared vision of the future and a vision of a shared future-
“A shared vision of the future requires that we either:
1. persuade the other to see the error of their ways;
2. find common ground; or
3. reach compromise.
A vision of a shared future, on the other hand, requires that we imagine a place that allows for each party to have full self-expression in an interconnected way that doesn’t impede others from also having full self-expression.
The first requires that one person or both change, the latter requires that we change the container in which the ideas are being held. Conflict is two ideas trying to share space. To resolve conflict we usually think about changing the ideas and overlook the possibility of changing the space.”
Let’s try that link again… http://justpeaceumc.org/transforming-community/
Theaster Gates is a great role-model for making something from nothing. He uses, of all things, art as a guiding principle. We have more than nothing, certainly, but his TED talk “How to Revive a Neighborhood: with imagination, beauty, and art” highlights many relevant ideas as our community moves forward to our next steps. He talks about reigniting a worn down “neighborhood” by getting people talking as a way to identify the spark. I would call your attention to the way he destabilizes the “beauty” vs. “basic services” binary. He sees beauty as a basic need. I wholeheartedly believe we would do well to do the same.
https://www.ted.com/talks/theaster_gates_how_to_revive_a_neighborhood_with_imagination_beauty_and_art#t-686364