Humor Side-Round 3

Jen, the S of the MOST, and I also sat down to further suss out the curriculum structure at Khris's bequest. He was confused about how it tied into the humor part of the writing. We had a long discussion about how detailed or general this needed to be. I also had a lot of questions about what Jen meant from the previous version. After our conversation, I tried my hand at making the curriculum structure writing more fluid. It might be that I just have a different writing style than Jen.

We're still working out this idea, and so the writing reflects two people trying to wordsmith four people's ideas. I think it comes out as a little confusing, or dense, but later posts will hopefully clarify. Think of this as a work in progress.

Here's what came of that:

In approaching the structure of this block, we have identified 3 working principles that we see feeding into how we want to relate to the students and to the activities we will provide. These principles are: individuality, collectivism and mystical/poetic research and action.

As a group, the MOST wrestles with the dynamic of being strongly independent individuals and artists yet having a commitment to a true collaborative working practice. This dynamic requires focused listening, respect for the creative process and believing in the value of working together, and would be reflected clearly in our approach to being facilitators for the Humor block. Our relationship to the participants is really about us desiring to be partners in the manifestation of projects or practices that are initiated by the group or the students. We intend to honor the existing practices and processes of the individual and engage with students in a way that honors their needs and desires.

Additionally, we are interested in initiating dynamics of collective camaraderie between block participants. In light of our desire to allow students to retain individuality, we hope to engage students through directed group activities that reflect some of our working processes. The types of activities we would offer are based in things we have explored together as a group, such as walks and adventures to explore the city, and workshops ranging from consensus building to planning large scale frameworks for working towards desired outcomes. We feel that one of our strengths as a group is that we are able to navigate the territory between the needs of the individual and the individual’s desires to connect with others and participate in collective activities similar to those listed above.

Finally, we are interested in designing a structure that will allow for what we describe as mystical or poetic research and activity. This is the place that would allow for unexpected or surreal events to become fun and playful activities. We are interested in exploring and enthusiastically acting upon absurd actions, fantastical suggestions, unexplained insights, and non-linear readings of the linear or concrete world. We see this aspect of our block manifesting in yet-to-be named events that have the possibility for becoming micro-themes or adventures within the block. For the sake of example (but not as an exact plan), we would suggest that participants might want to research “blue” for the whole 10 weeks, or to write a play for 10 minutes every day of the block and act out 10 weeks of plays in one day at the end.