Anarchist Free University

Meeting Minutes

15 March 2009

Present: Christian, Norm, Rob (minutes) and Corey

AGENDA

1. Update on AFU

2. A history of AFU?

3. Course proposals

4. Principles and responsibilities regarding ‘safe spaces’ for AFU courses

1. Update by Christian

The AFU is in its sixth year of operation. There is one course currently being offered. In the past the AFU had about 4-6 courses on offer. Of late there has been little energy put into promotion of the school and its courses. Consequently, attendance at meetings have dropped off and fewer people are offering new courses.

Current efforts: Michael R. is working on obtaining a hotline for those who do not have access to email or computers. Christian has been designing general posters for the AFU. We have some funds that enable us to print off some general posters about the school. Possum and Maggie remain signing officers for our bank account at Alterna.

2. A history of the AFU?

Rob has been working on a history of the AFU. He intends to finish the writing and research of this document soon and it will hopefully appear on the website in the near future. A history of the AFU will also include thoughts about the process of writing a history by someone who is at the same time a participant in the project. Writing a history about a radical pedagogy project will also reflect on the idea of multiple histories and of including one’s own subjectivity (social location, feelings, perceptions) into the writing. This is called a reflexive account. This approach disrupts the boundaries between a history and a memoir. Other accounts by other participants are possible and encouraged. There is no claim to objectivity in this process and the social location of the researcher/writer is part of the process. Rob feels that a different approach to writing history about a radical organization is necessary. There are other approaches to researching/writing a history of the AFU but at present we are limited by a lack of resources and time commitments. A more comprehensive approach may include interviews, oral histories and perhaps focus groups with a wide array of members who have been part of the AFU. It would also take into account a small archive of textual and audiovisual materials about the AFU that has been accumulating.

3. Course Proposals

a) Norm is proposing a course on Euclid’s work in classical geometry, The Elements. Norm feels that a participatory approach to the study of classical geometry and foundational texts is within reach of everyone. Norm intends to approach the study of the foundations of modern math in a participatory manner that allows students to see its development as part of their own logical thinking. Euclid’s text is available online. Course was accepted.

b) Rob will be proposing a course in the near future aimed at self-identified men with “queer” experience in order to discuss aspects of community organization, sexuality, and health and wellbeing. This course is designed to get queer activists thinking about self-care in a supportive participatory setting. This open format course is meant to be a space where queers can discuss the issues that confront us and the effects of power on our psyches. It aims to be a space where folks can discuss so-called personal issues and their links to systems of power and oppression. By sharing our stories and concerns with one another, and by attempting to map these into social space, we can explore practices and structures of power and its effects on the mind, our emotions, our body and sexuality. This course will draw from a tradition of gay liberation and feminist consciousness-raising groups and readings can be developed based on the interests of those who attend. Questions to consider: What makes this course different from a support group? Are straight-identified men invited?

4. Finding spaces for courses

Christian discussed issues related to his course and the securing of space in Toronto. Securing free space for courses at the AFU is an exercise in community building and a form of activism in itself. Supportive individuals and groups have been able to provide space for courses at the AFU over the years. Christian discussed some of the difficulties he ran into using the space at a contemporary art gallery in Toronto. What are important principles to keep in mind when we are negotiating with individuals for the use of free space? Some concerns raised were: constraints on the self-determination of our own practices; the potential commodification of our creative labour; negotiating terms of use with individuals who report to boards, community groups, and funding bodies.

Meeting Adjourned at 5:30 pm.

"The State is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behaviour; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently."

-Gustav Landauer (1870-1919)

NEXT MEETING: Sunday April 19, 2009

-- AnarchistU? - 29 Mar 2009