Conference Call Sunday July 27

We will be hosting a conference call at the usual time, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific, Sunday, July 27. Our discussion will be about the democratic and non-violent education conferences in Troy and Berkeley.

To call in, dial 218-936-6666 and use code 9936250#.

A reminder that this will be our last call for a while tomorrow
(Sunday) night at the usual time. Varda Brahms
and Theodore Timpson will be leading the call, but I invite anyone
who attended the two recent conferences in Troy and Berkeley to
help. We’ll be comparing/contrasting all the conferences and trying
to see if they add up.

Also, I should note, that these calls are hardly all business–we
usually spend about the first half hour chatting and reminiscing,
just as a way of keeping in touch after the conference.

All the best to all of you!
Bruce

Advertisement

Sunday, July 20, Conference Call

Greetings to you all!

This is to remind you that we will resume our conference calls tomorrow, Sunday, at the usual time, 9 pm Eastern, 6 Pacific.

Julie Nichols, Professor of English at Utah Valley State College, will be leading our discussion. To call in, dial 218-936-6666 and use code 9936250#.

I’m hoping to schedule a call for next week, the 27th, on the two recent conferences that some of us attended, on Democratic Education in Troy, NY in late June, and on Nonviolent Education (organized by Michael Nagler) in Berkeley this past weekend.

I won’t be able to make another call on Sunday for several weeks after that, due to travel plans. DO feel free to use this blog to keep up the conversation! Contact Betsy DeGeorge: degeorgeb@gmail.com if you have questions about posting or commenting. And be sure to see the absolutely terrific and extensive montage of photos with musical accompaniment that Richard Ressman (Gabriele Rico’s husband) posted on our website aepl.org (the full address is on Betsy’s email from yesterday). It was truly wonderful to see all those faces and sights and dances again!

Hope they’re matched with voices on the call tomorrow!

Yours,
Bruce

July 13 Conference Call Readings

Hello, all–

Great thanks to Werner for forwarding the pictures (I look forward to
scrolling through them all!) and to Carlo for his sweet message.

Attached are two readings for a July 13 call, though I don’t think the
exact time for the call has been scheduled (Bruce–?).

The readings are “The Vocation of Being,” by the poet and linguist
Robert Bringhurst, from his stunning book of essays “The Tree of
Meaning,” and the chapter “iGod,” from Nicholas Carr’s recent book “The
Big Switch.” As you will see, Bringhurst concerns himself with the
relationship between language and being human; Carr, with the
relationship between technology and being human. The contrasts between
the essays are striking; the questions we might address in a conference
call are many and could include:

Given the ubiquity of computer technology in our society and in our
educational system, how can we think about teaching “being” in the
classroom–explicitly and implicitly, by word and by example? How do we
approach the question of idolatrous values when our students see their
values as “normal” and validated by social conventions? What is/should
be the role of language in the development of technology, and what
is/should be the role of “meaning”?

And so on.

I’ll be using these two essays, among others, as springboards for a
panel discussion among my second-semester comp students during our
(newly-named) university’s annual fall “Ethics Awareness Week.” Will
look forward to your input!

Further word will be coming, I’m sure, about the time of the upcoming
conference call. A happy 4th of July holiday to you all.

Julie J. Nichols, Ph.D.

email: degeorgeb@gmail.com for information on how to receive these readings in advance of the call.