Week 12 – Dynamic Duos

Understanding 2 keywords here:

Interculturalism is a political movement that supports cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures.^[1]Interculturalism involves moving beyond mere passive acceptance of multiple cultures existing in a society and instead promotes dialogue and interaction between cultures.^[2] Interculturalism is often used to describe the set of relations between indigenous and western ideals, grounded in values of mutual respect.^[3] (wikipedia)

Transculturalism is defined as “seeing oneself in the other”.^[1] Transcultural is in turn described as “extending through all human cultures“^[2] or “involving, encompassing, or combining elements of more than one culture“.^[3] (wikipedia)

We had a meeting with Fred and Marsha about unit 4 REBEL – 3 different ways of approaching this unit over the year – co-operative practices or analysis and insights or making and production. We have to choose one of these things and create a portfolio of practice documentation and an essay to explain. So basically you choose the hours and how you do this – Final submission is 14th Jan 2025
Make a frame – what do I want from this unit? how will I achieve that ? What can I create ? how will I produce it? what is it that I intend to do or wanted to do?

This unit is about bringing your life into the curriculum, it’s a slow burn, what do you want and what do you need and we work out how to get there. The unit will unfold over a year. – gather / document what you want during the year.

Curating and designing and exhibiting in an exhibition?

You are setting your own curriculum and you are creating your own experience of learning. This capacity of appreciating what is being asked of us and what is appropriate. We are learning through experience.

Full drafts have to be done before the formative feedbacks.

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Back to the dynamic duo – unit 2 is a kind of theoretical heart for all the learning in this course. We will be introduced to some considerate theories and readings to this. We are encouraged to get a grip on the material because it will recirculate. And these dynamic duos are going to affect how we approach unit 2, the map diagram and poster of our positionality.

Main thinkers of post structuralism jacques derrida – left/right – male/female – north/south -// so opposites opposing each other in the west, however highlighting “these are not dichotomies” we will think. of them as “and also”.

But how do they relate? One of the way of how we understand difference is from the perspective of linguistics, things are defined by what they are not. So for instance, dog is dog because it’s not cat. It’s kind of reframing how we are approaching interculturality.

Interculturalism / transculturalism – is our dynamic duo. We need to cultural diversity and multiculturalism – they all cluster together and they provide different ways of understanding the same thing. It’s interesting how they are different and how they are the same, they are theories on how the world works, therefore we want to think about what the orthodoxis are and whats not. Marsha puts ideas in the same dialogue to learn and understand them on their own terms, by sometimes pulling them apart.

Transculturism – cultural differences become less defended when we realize that we are more similar than opposite. Globalization is one of the things that emerge from Transculturism.

Interculturalism has risen due to multiculturalism – Martha Nussebaum – she describes it as “the recognition of common human needs across cultures and of dissonance and critical dialogue within cultures”.

The purpose of intercultural practices is about producing peace for the world, thats why the UN fosters interculturality.

Side note:

Winter break 2023 > 2024: 11 Dec to 6 Jan (first day back 8 Jan)

Spring break 2024: 18 March to 13 April (first day back 15 March) The intensive runs 15 – 26; Lethaby ends on 3 May (there may be a bit flex here but the main event will be 1 May)

Summer break 2024: Marsha and Fred (who leads Unit 4) will be on holiday in August. This is when you should plan to break – especially in your first year. We won’t have classes 7/14/21/28 August

There is a one-week blitz the first week of September – please anticipate meeting M(2)/W(4)/F(6)

Admin Weeks: 9 to 27 September

You should be working independently on Unit 4 + Unit 5. I will have office hours during these three weeks and I’m working but there aren’t any classes, as the entire Performance programme is preparing for the week ahead. (first day back 2 October)

Winter break 2024 > 2025: Y2 Break 13 December to 10 January (first day back 13 Jan)

Spring break 2025: 24 March – 11 April (first day back 14 April)

Summer break: Marsha and Fred (who leads Unit 4) will be on holiday in August. At the moment, your final submission is due on 25 August 2025!