ART & ORGANISM 2020
(every year, notes are updated and revised to reflect new ideas brought to A&O from the literature and by students)
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TOPICS AND THEIR NOTES
are presented in the spirit of the idea that
LIFE IS A MAELSTROM OF PERPETUAL DISINTEGRATION AND RENEWAL
In other words, past constructs are always subject to renovation or replacement.
How does this influence class? The directions we take in seminar is exemplified by the replacement of on-line notes with newer ones.
(read about the legendary Ship of Theseus)
Each year we endeavor to tell the best story we can with the best information we have as we integrate class notes and personal experiences.
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These notes document the way in which past seminars of A&O have unfolded / blossomed and indicate intended directions for this year’s class. Notes from previous classes provide only a rough guide as to what to expect this year because they reflect the specific interests of the participants in those years.
The course DNA–its disciplinary core–remains the same: the spiral helix of “DEEP ETHOLOGY” (the integrative study of behavior) and “CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ART and AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE”
CALANDAR for 2021’s scheduled class meetings and proposed date for term project presentation. Following each date in 2021, there are class notes from 2020 to be supplanted after class meeting in 2021.
1. 1/26/2021 (CLASS NOTES from January 14, 2020( DEEP ETHOLOGY, CONNECTIONS, words, eye-contact)
2. 2/2/2021 (CLASS NOTES from January 21, 2020 (Anchors for ART and DEEP ETHOLOGY) (EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY, congenital and acquired BIASES)
3. 2/9/2021 (CLASS NOTES from January 28, 2020 (REVIEW of Jan 21; CHANGE as “disintegration and renewal;” INDIVIDUATION & SOCIALIZATION as a DYNAMIC BALANCE)
4. 2/16/2021 (CLASS NOTES from February 4, 2020 (NEEDS and ADAPTATION)
5. 2/23/2021 (CLASS NOTES from February 11, 2020 (ABOUT STIMULI and their CONNECTIONS (is there a dark side?) TIME. PHYSIOLOGY, NEEDS to STRESS)
6. 3/2/2021 (CLASS NOTES from February 18, 2020 (cerebral laterality; sticking with PERCEPTS & some PHYSIOLOGY; embodied cognition; evolution and physiology combined in RITUALIZATION)
7. 3/9/2021 (CLASS NOTES from February 25, 2020 (evolutionary aspects of signals; YOUR art subjected to DEEP analysis; fragments are all we know: interpolation, extrapolation, ecphory, redintegration cognitive attractors)
8. 3/16/2021(CLASS NOTES–March 3, 2020 (more on two hemispheres; sentience/sapience/ organizing concepts to speak to aesthetics of rationality (a contradiction in terms?)
9. 3/23/2021 (CLASS NOTES–March 24, 2020 Connect remote sites by ZOOM: (Checking in & Project discussion) then later, read Post on Loneliness and Longing.
10. 3/30/2021 (CLASS NOTES–March 31, 2020 (Connect by ZOOM) WE WILL DISCUSS PowerPoint pointers and embracing critical generalities while positioning yourself for more deeply focused topic.
- ROOTS and FRUITS: Have you touched all the bases to root your paper in scholarship or empirical evidence before going off into specifics and personal stories (yours or those of other people
- In your own creative thinking, where must you exercise the epoche (bracketing) (Prepare with reading specific attributes of “ART” – and their representation in various species (we among them) also Visit TRUTH & LOVE post and TRUTH & BEAUTY page … as you read, note the connections to biological needs and cognitive processes.)
11. 4/6/2021 (CLASS NOTES–APRIL 7, 2020 (Connect by ZOOM) YOUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS (est 10-12 minutes) or performance shared with your classmates. This is an exploration of your semester project;
- Each of you will (privately) review each other to help you flesh out / fill in gaps, indicate possible new connections. (e-mail list shared by e-mail) Each presentation should include (or strongly imply) possible connections to DEEP ethology.
12. 4/13/2021 (CLASS NOTES–APRIL 14, 2020) (Connect by ZOOM)
RELATIVE to YOUR presentation, what can YOUR experience or the experiences you are attempting to present and discuss say about States of Mind–how we FEEL and how that affects the MEANING of what we’re talking about? (encountering this point again may remind you of how the mind and body are integrated (in “embodied cognition“) and the distinction between sentience and sapience.
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- Describing other people, “what in the world must they have been thinking when they did that?! Even paleolithic cave artists, or Neanderthals interring loved ones with flower petals (or red ochre, or their pets) (this could be called “Paleopsychology.”)
- Feedback and fine-tuning session for presentations, then final instructions for paper OUTLINE of MAIN POINTS for paper. See notes on TEACHING PHILOSOPHY in practice for clues about how the points of view in this class aspire to enabling creativity.
13. 4/20/2021
14. 4/27/2021 APRIL 28. 2021 last day of class. facis de necessitate virtutem TERM PROJECT to be submitted; Checking in and checking out.
Spring 2021 Semester |
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| Classes Begin | Wednesday, January 20 | |
| MLK Holiday | Monday, January 18 | |
| Spring Recess | Friday, April 2 | |
| Classes End | Tuesday, April 28 | |
| Study Day | Wednesday, April 29 | |
| Exams | April 30; May 3, 4, 5, 6 | |