Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30pm-7:20pm
Main Building, C3255
Instructor: Jeffrey Swartz (jswartz@ecuad.ca (alternate jmswartz_2000@yahoo.com)
Topic: Culture and Anarchy: Imagining and Practicing Other Worlds
Contemporary design practice, and much of creative practice in general, is concerned with the ethical, environmental and social transformation of reality. In this context, anarchist thought and practice represent a special case, centred on the radical rejection of all imposed and repressive authority and an aspiration to greater individual and collective freedom.
In this course we explore the broad range of historical and present-day connections between anarchist thought and culture. The course responds to the recent notion of an “anarchist turn”, where stigmatized, once-forgotten anarchism is increasingly recognized as a valid filter for interpreting reality.
Students engage historical and modern references, including in design, art, literature and music, as well as social practice, and consider cases of culture that exemplify anarchist ideas and principles. Since anarchism emphasizes the practical application of its values in the present, and has specific ideas about community, dialogue and education, these topics come into play.
Students will do oral presentations and academic and applied projects, working individually and in groups. The main course reading is a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed. Finally, students will do a theoretical-applied final project in anarchy and culture.
Evaluation:
Oral Presentation and Write-up 20%
(group presentation on topics proposed by instructor; individual write-up)
Quiz on Readings 15%
Written Paper 25%
(on The Dispossessed, Ursula K Le Guin)
Written/Applied Project 35%
(due final week; class presentations final day)
Participation 5%
Total 100%
- Teacher: Jeffrey Swartz