University of the Commons Launch Celebration

Launch Celebration for University of the Commons
Free Education for All

The commons: What we share. Creations of nature and culture that belong to all of us equally.

On Saturday, June 2, from 2 to 7 p.m., we invite the community to join us at Artists’ Television Access to celebrate the launch of a tuition-free educational community project, University of the Commons.

University of the Commons is a collective of teachers, activists, scholars, writers, and students dedicated to the idea of education for the sake of education. We invite new faculty, students, and the community to join us in forming a university dedicated to tuition-free education for all.

UTOC will work to provide an open, dynamically evolving educational framework dedicated to supporting the free exchange of knowledge and ideas, inclusively and equitably, from and for the many diverse communities of San Francisco.

UOTC will create opportunities for learning, camaraderie, and critical thinking; activities will include classes, lectures, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, teach-ins, and activist interventions.
Starting in early June, the first section of 6 courses will begin; topics include Western music, filmmaking, literary criticism, science literacy, computer history, and Occupy activism. Classes will be university-quality, two-hour-a-week, fully scaled courses taught by qualified individuals living and working in the Bay Area.

The University of the Commons Launch Celebration will offer:

Roundtable discussions with featured speakers
Stephanie Ellis cultural studies scholar
Andrej Grubacic author, Don’t Mourn, Balkanize
Megan Prelinger Prelinger Library
Mike Pincus Free University of Palo Alto

and more speakers TBA, addressing such topics as
- The nature and history of “The Commons” and the endangered status of these ideas currently
- Education as a fundamental right

Brief introductory course presentations describing the first batch of classes offered

Snacks, drinks, fantastic music by the Brass Liberation Orchestra!

The university rests on the idea of free education as a fundamental right of all free people.
All activities are open to the general public.
All activities are free of charge.

Please join us Saturday June 2, 2 to 7 p.m., at Artists’ Television Access for the University of the Commons Launch Celebration!

We hope to see you there!

****************************************************

SUMMER 2012 TUITION-FREE COURSES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF THE COMMONS

SCIENCE LITERACY This course applies methods of science toward an understanding of current environmental issues, including alternatives for electric power generation, climate change, ecosystem structure and function, and genetic modification of food. Course meets for 2-hour sessions, once a week, in 5-week modules. Instructor: Barbara-Ann G. Lewis, PhD

RESPONSIVE CINEMA This lecture/workshop hybrid is an open and free participatory film project that involves hands-on production, improvisational performance, and a look at radical/visionary and collective cinema in historical context. Course meets for 2-hour sessions, once a week, for 5 weeks. Instructor: Rand Crook, filmmaker

INTRO TO WESTERN MUSIC: FROM MAHLER TO THE MUSIC VIDEO This course examines Western art and music in various political, economic, and aesthetic contexts and seeks to teach listening skills, vocabulary for discussing music, and appreciation for the complex roles of music in society. Course meets for 2-hour sessions, once a week, for 5 weeks. Instructor: John Smalley, MPhil Historical Musicology

TECHNOCULTURAL STUDIES Part One A critical examination of key concepts and ideas in new media technologies and their effects upon social, artistic, and global communication. Topics include utopian computing, meaning and machines, rise of collaboration, networked space, and new media. Some technology desirable, not required. Course meets for 2 hours, once a week, in 3 independent 5-week sessions. Instructor: Molly Hankwitz, PhD

THE QUESTION CONCERNING REALISM This course examines the foundations of Marxist literary criticism in the debate over Expressionism vs. Realism within the Frankfurt School in the early 1930s. The course welcomes those interested in theory and also writers exploring different approaches to creating socially conscious literature. Course meets for 2-hour sessions, once a week, for 5 weeks. Instructor: Phil Gochenour, PhD

OCCUPY U.: PRESENT-DAY STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS This participatory “Occupy” workshop looks at strategies and tactics used by present-day and past movements, with the intent to increase knowledge, critical thinking, and dialogue toward social change. At each session, participants will co-create the topics for following sessions. Instructor: Stardust Darkmatterji, activist and teacher.