Midterm Self-Assessment

Welcome back from vacation, everybody!

I asked you all to turn in self-assessments before break, and I've read them all over and wanted to share trending issues as well as my own aggregate/meta self-assessment based largely on what you've told me.

Some interesting facts:

12 of you said that you think your participation in class is not good enough. Most of you believe that you don't contribute enough; some of you believe that you talk too much or without enough of a clear structure to your comments.

6 of said that you feel stressed out by discussions at times - especially when they become too abstract, difficult, heady or "Oberlin."

8 of you described your classmates as "brilliant."

14 of you said that you like our class discussions.

All of you said that you're meeting at least one of your course goals; none of you had met all of your course goals yet.

Things you plan to do differently second module:

4 of you plan to take (more or different kinds of) notes before class in order to help organize your discussion comments in advance

1 of you plans to try freewriting for one page after reading/viewing assigned texts rather than taking notes at the same time

9 of you would like to spend more time on the readings for class.

Things you'd like us to do differently in class:

2 of you propose working in small groups during part of in-class discussion

1 of you requested concrete definitions for theoretical terms

3 of you requested tying together course materials and concepts on a more regular basis

1 of you proposed setting unified discussion goals in advance

1 of you proposed having a different student each week make a shared doc to track class discussions (e.g. theme-web, word/question cloud)

My Self-Assessment:

From my point of view, a large seminar on an interdisciplinary topic is always a tricky thing to facilitate. In our case, the diversity of different majors and areas of expertise coupled with the advanced level of the course and high theoretical content makes it a challenge to address everybody's needs, abilities and interests.

In particular, the need for structure (crisp, complete conceptual mastery, definite meanings, a sense of clear progress) can often compete with the ethical encounter with the "other" (dwelling in uncertainty, abiding not-knowing, going out of your comfort zone). I am well aware that this happens not only in our class, but also in relation to other classes and responsibilities (and to life, in general). My goal for you is not to resolve this tension but simply to notice how it works and, when possible, try to do something different with your reactions. You might try not taking notes if you always take notes, or vice-versa if you rarely do; you might try putting theory into your own words, even if you know you're probably getting it wrong or especially if you feel frustrated with it, or with yourself - practice poetic malapropism, practice mistranslation, practice making mistakes. My goal for myself is to stay open to making changes even when the very fact of making changes is somewhat disruptive to the class, and to try to affirm what can get better even at the risk of losing control over what is working well enough.

I really enjoy teaching this class. All of the theory with which the course engages is intended to be equipment for living. I want you to question it - it's even good to disdain it at times, or disavow it, especially if that leads you to look for its flaws and rough edges - and the main point is that engaging with theory in this critical, dialogic, messy way trains you to be able to theorize. Critical thinking is a buzzword in liberal arts education, and certainly critical thinking is part of theorizing. But sometimes critical thinking languishes in the litany of the negative - everything is "problematic," nothing feels particularly possible. Yet to theorize is also to affirm something, not just tearing down what we know to be ideologically suspect or incoherent or icky. To theorize is to move in the direction of building something else, creating something that expresses yourself engaging with the world, not merely deploying or applying an existing critical tool (or weapon) but forging it anew. When you engage critically with theory, you are remaking its tools, so that the ideas are always fresh, and properly your own.  

In terms of my self-assessment, I feel good about the measure in which the class has cohered as a group since the first days of the semester, developing the ability to discuss difficult concepts together with a high level of mutual respect and quite a bit of theoretical rigor, and I think I've succeeded in facilitating a type of discussion that maintains mutual respect in an environment that is reasonably inviting. I have tried to be available outside of class time to discuss individuals' particular needs and learning styles.

In terms of improvement, I would like to incorporate each of the suggestions listed above: small groups in class; a lexicon of theoretical terms; setting agendas; describing discussions; and tying together big ideas with particular texts more frequently in class. I have enjoyed all of your assignments and honest self-appraisals as well as your suggestions for improving the class, and I think it's worthwhile to discuss these suggestions briefly in class in order to make sure we're all on the same page.