Anarchist University

Minutes for Dec 1st 2004 (from Bill)

Bill, Todd, Alan, Ashar, Jeff, Darren, Yehuda, Lee, Erin, Ruta, Dwayne, Rob, Possum, Christian, Gill, Yaeer, John.

-Intros -End of term party -course proposals for January -Promotion -Email/website -Next meeting

End of Term Party

The party will take place on Saturday Dec 11th at Christian's place, which is 601 Dovercourt Apartment 2. Head over any time past 9. It won't be a fundraising party as it seems that past fundraising efforts haven't been

very successful, and we seem to have enough money as it is to cover the next term. BYOB. Course facilitators should let their classes know this week.

Course Proposals

Lucid Dreaming- Yehuda proposed a course on lucid dreaming, which is the

ability to be conscious during and possibly even control your dreams. the course will have few readings and will function more as a workshop where

students will hopefully be able to attempt lucid dreaming by the end of the course. The course will take place monday nights at 196 Manning, from either 6 til 8 or 8 til 10 (Bill is also facilitating a class on the same night, so they'll have to decide on a schedule).

Radical Perspectives on Sexuality- Ruta presented on behalf of herself and Paula, who facilitated this same course last term. There was also discussion of how to create a safe environment where people can feel comfortable sharing their sexuality. Both Ruta and Paula felt that academic readings

were not so neccesary with a topic like sexuality, as people have their own experiences they can relate to, so this time around they will try to make the course more of a discussion group. The course will most likely be held on Tuesday nights from 8 til 10 at Paula's place, though this is liable to change.

Radical Political Economy- Ashar, who studied economics in University, proposed this course to serve as a radical counterweight to what is often presented within institutionalized universities. The course will consist

equally of criticism of capitalism, and possible alternatives to market economics. It will most likely be held Tuesday nights at 7, though Ashar

hasn't yet decided on a location.

Writing and Media- Darren proposed this course as a workshop for writers of all genres, with an emphasis on DIY efforts. He's already lined up several guest speakers, and he also hopes that the course will eventually lead to the completion of some DIY writing project, such as a zine, movie, article, or whatever else the participants might want. He will also try to limit the course to 5 to 8 people, as any more would be too unwieldy, especially when it comes to critiqueing work. The course will be held 10am on Saturdays at Darren's place.

Introduction to Electronics- Darren proposed this course to be an introduction to the theory of electronics, with the hopes that participants will be able to build basic electronics and "breadboard" various projects. No previous experience with electronics is required. The course will be held wednesday nights at 7pm at Darren's place.

Reading Samuel Beckett (or whoever)- Christian proposed this course to focus on the life works of one particular writer. Though he hasn't yet decided for sure, he is strongly leaning towards Samuel Beckett. Readings would be chosen to best represent the whole of his work, along with a biographical analysis to provide context. The course will be held on a weeknight (to be chosen based on what won't conflict with other classes) at Christian's place.

Peace-Mongering: the Case Against Human Violence- Lee proposed this course to study human violence and seek ways to avoid it. The collective was unable to reach a consesus to approve the course, mostly because of it's roots in social biology. In particular, one reading which argued that humans are genetically predisposed to certain behaviours based on gender. Lee was asked to return to the next general meeting with a revised course proposal which provided either a social constructionist critique of social biology, along with a clear statement within the course outline that the majority of course material is taken from the discipline of social biology, or a co-facilitator who would be willing to present a critique of social biology.

Anarchism and Urban Planning- Jeff proposed this course to attempt to answer the question of what an anarchist society would look like. The course will run for 15 weeks, and will include a focus of incorporating environmental and anarchist principles. Time and location has yet to be decided.

The Carnavalesque and/as Anticapitalist Resistance- Alan presented this course on behalf of Chris Smith, who's off in England. The course will explore the idea of the carnival as a form of resistance, seeking to interrogate the interrelationships between carnival, the carnivalesque, festical and spectacle. The focus will be not only theory, but also people's experiences with the hope of inspiring induvidual projects and presentations. The readings themselves will be fairly intensive. Time and location to be decided.

Anarchism 101- Bill presented this class as an introduction to anarchist

ideas, with a focus on contemporary anarchist modes of organization. Facilitators will rotate each week with each topic, with the hopes that participants themselves will have a say in what topics are addressed. The course will be held Monday nights at 196 Manning, from either 6 til 8 or 8 til 10.

Politics of the Internet- Possum presented his idea for a class exploring the impact of the internet on politics and vice versa, though with our recent problems concerning the website and email, he may not have time to facilitate himself. Hopefully he'll return to the next general meeting with a more detailed outline.

Email/Website

All the left leaning twiki sites have been hacked, so both our website and email list was lost. Luckily, Possum was able to recover most of the website but we're still in the process of rebuilding the email list. If anyone wants back on the list, they should email us their address, and it's also important for facilitators to send us any email addresses they might have from people attending their classes. For the time being, Possum will remain on email duty since the current situation is a bit more demanding than usual.

What We Didn't Have a Chance to Discuss

-Promotion

Next Meeting

Sunday January 2, 4:00pm at 196 Manning St.