with American Artist | americanartist.us | americanartist.us@gmail.com
Understanding this SFPC session as an outside to the University (or “the downlow low-down maroon community of the university”) we will “steal what we can” as Fred Moten and Stephano Harney describe our purpose in The Undercommons. Taking advantage of the unique structure of our sessions, which are brief and intent and where hierarchy is discouraged, we will read together two texts by authors looking below and beyond what we understand of high technology today, to have a more complete view of the way in which we as students are and can strive to be a problem.
Expectations & Goals:
- You will need a copy of the text in front of you during class, either print or digital.
- Come with the intent to have a deep engagement with the texts. Rather than focusing on output, I want to temporarily suspend what we know of the university and of computation to allow other conceptions to arise.
- Come ready to support others. We will learn the most if everyone contributes to class discussion. If you find yourself talking more than others, feel comfortable to step back so that others may speak.
- If during or after our first session you have suggestions for the class please let me know, I am open to adjusting the structure of the class in a way that is conducive to learning for everyone.
- Please refrain from using phones or computers during the class aside from what is necessary to participate in the class.
Agenda (for both classes):
- Intro - 10 mins
- Group reading - 1 hr
We will read aloud together as a group as much of the text as we can. There will be intervals to add context and discuss/clarify things as we read through the text. - Group Discussion - 45 mins
We will discuss the text and how it relates to other aspects of computation and social life.
Required Before First Class:
-
Fred Moten & Stephano Harney, “The Only Possible Relationship to the University Today is a Criminal One” from The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study
This is a very brief reading to frame our time together. This text is harder to read than the texts we will read during class. Though it is short, take your time with it. As you read, please think about these questions:- What is the role of SFPC as an institution?
- What does it mean to be a student or teacher?
- What are some limitations you find with institutions and academia? How can we challenge those?
Tuesday 8/20 4-6 PM:
- David Naguib Pellow and Lisa Sun-Hee Park, “Early History and the Struggle for Resources” from The Silicon Valley of Dreams
Thursday 8/22 4-6 PM:
- Jackie Wang, pp. 11-56 of "Introduction" from Carceral Capitalism