A Milieu of Our Own

"word gravity." the karmic, cognitive,
behavioral, and emotional reactivity
effects that a single word can engender.
Will Ray

I consider myself the Resident Environ-
Mentalist but maybe others who haven’t
come out of the woodwork will acknowledge
their presence & we can play king of the
mountain..

An Environ Mentalist

(not to be confused with an environmentalist
or environmentalism or environmental studies
& leadership programs)

considers

(tries to, I say because the effort is some
what similar to Joe Fish trying to conceive
of wet and imagine dry)

& will jaw with anyone about

the psychic atmosphere we swim in so
to speak, cerebral/affective environs that
transparently shape attitude and outlook
toward mores & morals, ethos & ethics,
good & evil, possible and impossible,
hair-cut styles, tattoos, self-mutilation
practices, second- hand smoke and the
logic and pathologic related
(in our case) to learning:

ADD
ADHD
dyslexia
dysgraphia
dyscalculia
dyspraxia ,
anorexia,
bulimia
cutting
(body dysmorphia)
pharmaceutical self-medicating,
depression, bi-polar dysfunction…:

All “words” of great gravitas signifying
the stunning environ-mental bird-in-cage
mind-shaft symptomatic eco-logical
concerns just right for study as engaging
as melting polar caps, endangered species,
land-use, & alternative forms of energy—

Local Anthropologic, I guess we could
call it: home work, home schooling,
study-at-home vs study abroad.

Frame Discourse:
talk that talks about the Frames of
Minding Going On—not just the
minding going on. Talk about
Environ Mentalism Our milieu..

Process

Mytho-Logic.

The heart of thinking is drawing distinctions.

I draw a line between Sciences and Art: a
chasm, abyss. Don’t need to hear any talk
about bridging, either. Sparking, sure:
spark the gap. Bridges mean tolls and trolls:
no pontification needed.

C.P. Snow back in the day thought there was
poor communication between the 2.
The Two Cultures, he called it.

I say, for the purpose of Strategic Pedagogical
Planning: turn up the separation & polarize.
Don’t let the 2 (incommensurate) sets of
value contaminate each other.
Characterize, best you can:

Sally Sciences and Aaron Art

Have them collide at the crossroads and then
retire to Take A Course INN for a beer-summit.
Study how they get along—the nature of their
converse: what they have to say to each other
& how. Listen to the sound of their voices.

Another line in the sand (turn it up):

Ike Individual Genius & Callie Collaborative Genius.

Imagine: Ike Individual and Callie Collaborative
make loving eyes in an elevator up to the conference
room at the Cincinnati Airport Holiday Inn—name
tags on, laptops, in their duffle: both giving a paper on

SUSTAINABILITY or ELSE.

& so they get an extra Faculty Development bonus from
doing more then mere attending, spectating.

Strangely attracted, Ike and Callie exchange
rolling eye-beams and agree to meet at the
Cash Bar after papers, panels, & professional
commentary

Will they just get along?
And for how long?—and why?

Then: when all four characters are fully
developed in your mind—put them together
in our newly emerging Faculty Lounge,
Sally, Aaron, Ike, Callie: sustaining an
argument on General Education and
Liberal Art & environ mentalism
(milieu): what counts most--process or
product and stuff like that.

(So incommensurately different in orientation if not
life-style: what new product will they generate in common?)

Well, make it up. Let your characterizations
have their way with you and your imagination.
See how they talk to you, educe. Anticipate
emerging phenomenon and values:
throw it away throw it away
golden-egg productivity.