MORE UNIVERSITY

— a cure for the confident intellect

by Kelly White

Course Number: LAC188

This course meets Arts and Ideas Liberal Arts Core Outcome (AIB7, AIC2, AIC4, AIB4 and also HCA4) and is cross-listed with the following:

• INT348/LIT379/PSY428/PCR412/SS212/WR122/CM333/CHS199

Course Title: Looking for Truth in All the Wrong Places

Instructor: Merrill Hurst

Instructor:503-555-1212, m.hurst@confusion.com

Course Description:

This course will examine the shifting nature of reality in our ever changing world.

Extended Course Description:

This course is intended for students who are new to More University. Those students desirous of entering into the scholarly conversation with any hope of sounding intelligent should take this course. Highly recommended for those individuals who are first-generation educated. We will begin our study with a close reading of "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." This exercise is intended to produce in all students the personal realization that, yes!, one really does need to learn how to read. Next we will examine Jacques Derrida's theories through the lens of quantum physics. If the series of signs produces a sense of the thing delivered, can our signs represent the signified in much the same way that 90% empty space can represent a table? Once we have examined our own identities through the use of the Lacanian lens, we will be prepared to contrast and compare the opposing views of Michel Foucault and Xaviera Hollander. We will conclude with a discussion of the role of the instructor in the pedagogy of the impressed, as elaborated in Irigaray's most recent work, "i educate to you."

Required Texts:

• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
• "The Tao of Derrida" by Fritjov Capra Jr.
• "The Mirror Has Two Faces" by Jacques Lacan
• "The History of Sexuality Vols. 1-3" by Michel Foucault
• (Read this together with "The Happy Hooker," all four volumes by Xaviera Hollander)
• "i educate to you, sketch of a possible felicity in learning" by Luce Irigaray

Optional Reading:

• "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx
• "The Will to Power" by Frederick Nietzsche
• "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud

Additional Reading:

• "The Developing Mind: Toward an Understanding of the Neurobiology of the Interpersonal Experience" by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

Note: As this is an introductory class, the optional reading is optional, but bear in mind, that the work of the above three writers forms the backbone for all the "theory" that will be discussed.

Also note: The optional reading list in no way implies that there is a "canon" of literature produced by white, educated males of European descent.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify and understand the basic terminology required to enter into scholarly conversations. (e.g. The precise timing for words such as 'clearly')
2. Demonstrate an awareness of biopsychosocial perceptual filters and understand how individual experience influences interpretation.
3. Demonstrate advanced-level skills in the development of well–argued interpretations of daily life.
4. Distinguish, discuss, interpret, analyze and understand the concept of 'theory' and apply it in the creation of obtuse essays.
5. Correctly pronounce key phrases such as 'Il n'y a pas de hors-texte'.
6. Analyze how the form or structure of a work of art or literature is both an expression of, and a factor informing, the work's content or meaning.

Methodology and Course Work:

This class will be taught seminar style. We will make full use of improvisational techniques in order to facilitate a safe and creative learning environment. It is to be understood that the instructor will not lecture but rather will provide a running commentary. Students will seat themselves in pairs and use either bubble talk or twin talk to address the class.** For those students concerned about the possible effects this may have on their long term intellectual development, please consult the additional reading list. Course work will consist of in–class writing and peer group discussion. Students will also be required to write an essay, whatever you think that is. If you don't think you know what that is, you may submit an essay in alternate form.

**bubble talk is a technique which involves one student expressing her or his opinion of what he or she thinks the other student really means; twin talk involves two students speaking single words alternately, and at times simultaneously, back and forth creating a continuous stream of partially coherent monologue

My Background:

I was born in Longueuil, Quebec during the winter of 1960. After a short, troubled childhood, I surprised everybody by entering British Columbia Institute of Technology. I earned a Diploma of Technology from B.C.I.T., graduating magna cum laude in Computer Programming and Systems Analysis. After ten years in computing, I attended Hunter College of the City University of New York, where I completed two years as a pre–medical student in the Honors College. I also attended Portland State University for one entire week, and came away with a profound understanding of "Beowulf" as a proto–terrorist text. Finally settling at More University, I eventually completed an undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a concentration in Critical Inquiry. More University has been true to its slogan; I no longer know which way is up. I haven't published much but I have written a lot of essays. For those who are interested, my sun is in Scorpio. Both Mercury and Neptune are also in Scorpio, although I do have Virgo rising, which can be deceptive. Mercury is currently in retrograde but that is all changing and I expect to reach my full intellectual potential soon. Complete astrological chart available upon request.

Research Interest:

I am currently involved in a project to advance civilization toward a post-gendered society by subverting the clearly androcentric, though cunningly disguised as meaningless, and somewhat dated, Dadaist movement. Any More students who are also mothers, or are not, and are interested in Mamaism, please contact me during my office hours. You can also pick up my latest book, maybe it'll be at the bookstore.

Hurst, Merrill. "Mamaism and Me: A Genealogy." More, OR, More UP: 2004.

Thought for the day:

"What you have experienced, no power on earth can take from you."
Frederick Nietzsche

Spring 2004

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AUTHOR NOTES:

Kelly White

I am currently an undergraduate student in the Interdisciplinary Studies department. My degree includes a concentration in literature and I plan to continue this study in the Graduate Program at PSU. The attached essay is an essay in alternate form which was written for a postmodern memoir class. The section titled "My Background" is true, every word, and provides more biographical information than you would ever want.