More of Ray Anderson and Transformation

Our universities, however, continue to teach

and operate in the system that is destroying

the biosphere. Adherence to the old mind-set,

the old curricula, obsolete pedagogy, and

shortsighted planning are producing

graduates who are trained to perpetuate

the destruction of the biosphere.

Business, upon which so much depends, will

never “get it” with graduates like these

entering the work force.

(Ray Anderson, our 09 graduation

speaker)

Ex Cellence Going On: “from the column”

an ad-vantage

Years ago the talk in faculty retreat was about

Ratcheting UP for Excellence: literally

generating a higher view point. as opposed to

all the right moves & skills; but probably that’s

not what we had in mind.

Put the screws in. Rigor mortification. Make

stuff harder. Demanding. Don’t be letting any

one get away with murder—either side of the

desk. Seriously. Zero tolerance for slack dogs.

Disciplinary. No margin for error aka room

for play. Who wants to be seen as easy?

Raise your hand. Reputation. uber alles.

Seeing stuff from the column or hill: what

“excellence” means originally. Look.

Monkey see. Monkey do. Seeing precedes

doing: the difference between Aesthetic &

Erotic, Intellect & Affect. Detached &

Involved: don’t just do something:, as Father

Berrigan preached to the 60’s activists.

Stand thee.

Then do something..

The standing-there: that would be excellence

in the original sense providing, of course, one

is standing on a high place. An Ivory Tower,

say. Looking out.: a look out..

Ivory Tower (excellence)

Territorial Pissing

(deeds & daring do)

A foe dichotomy in one sense.

A genuine dichotomy in another.

The folly of the prevailing paradigm,

represented by the “modern” industrial

system, stands exposed in all its errors.

(Ray Anderson)

He has no time to be any thing but a machine.

How can he remember well his ignorance –

which his growth requires -- who has so often

to usehis knowledge? (Thoreau, Walden).

Transformative Educating:

Learning

1) the difference and

2) the relationship between

Tower & Territory, say—the difference

between

Just Standing There Values &

Do Something Values

without one collapsing, conflating, confusing or

contaminating the other.

(Gary Hawkins would refer to this distinction

as the 2 Economies. I bet you 5 dollars.)

Hard to draw this line of distinction inside a

territory filled with swine flu fear, economic

reconfiguration, rising oceans, Iran’s inexorable

nuclear aspirations, need for universal health care,

continued use of styrofoam, second hand smoke,

raydon, green energy, foreclosures, job loss &

unemployment: the world always with us & an

Ivory Tower feels like a crime to common sense

& the chronicles of hire education, like an ice

cream parlor in hell. Like Nero fiddling while

Rome burns.

But transformation don’t feel that good. Feels like

B.B. Wolf at the door of my brick house. How

could it be other wise?

A transform: change in form without loss

of integrity or damage to information:

metamorphosis .

In other words: continuity

In other words: radical change.

& why can’t those 2 economies

Just Get Along? That’s the liberal art

question. Exquisite.