The Language & Thinking Program at Bard College http://languageandthinking.bard.edu Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:26:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 The Qingdao Liberal Arts Initiative http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/09/the-qingdao-liberal-arts-initiative/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/09/the-qingdao-liberal-arts-initiative/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:47:11 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1601 The Qingdao Liberal Arts Initiative In the spring of 2012, the Language and Thinking program was approached by Bard student Willem Molesworth about his plan to explore the possibility of liberal arts education in China. Willem's experience as a student in the Language and Thinking program has inspired him to think that the theory and praxis of the program might be adapted for an exploratory workshop at Qingdao University. Willem secured funding from the Davis Projects for Peace and Bard College's Center for Civic Engagement and persuaded Bard College professor Mercedes Dujunco to work with him. Thomas Bartscherer, the director of Language and Thinking, worked closely with Willem and Mercedes to develop a plan for the three-week workshop in Qingdao, and Mercedes joined the new Language and Thinking faculty for their week-long training in Annandale in July. Willem and Mercedes are now in Qingdao and the program is up and running. Here is how Willem describes the project: In China, a growing recognition that innovation and broad-based knowledge are critical for the country’s continued economic development has given rise to an increased interest in liberal arts education. With an orientation towards well-rounded programs of study and student-centered, engaged learning, liberal arts is now seen as a potential partner to the Chinese educational system. Qingdao's Liberal Arts Initiative brings a highly developed liberal arts program—based on Bard College's renowned Language and Thinking program—to Qingdao in order to immerse interested Chinese students and faculty in liberal arts education. The program is hosted from August 6th until August 24th and includes two seminars: an intensive week long teacher's workshop for Qingdao Professors and a two week long series of shorter seminars for students. Bard Professor Mercedes Dujunco initiates the program by leading the week long teacher's workshop. After the conclusion of these five intensive days she passes leadership onto the participant Chinese professors, who are each afforded the opportunity to instruct a single student seminar. During this time, the professors will experiment and play with the liberal arts style of education in the Chinese context. Classes are conducted in Mandarin Chinese and the materials used combine both translated works and original Chinese publications. The theme throughout the initiative is “Ways of Listening and Ways of Seeing.” For more information about the program and for day-to-day updates visit: liberalartsinqingdao.tumblr.com ]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/09/the-qingdao-liberal-arts-initiative/feed/ 0 Cecelia Watson: “Points of Contention” http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/03/cecelia-punctuatio/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/03/cecelia-punctuatio/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:52:14 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1551 In late November of 1900, a spat broke out in Fall River, Massachusetts. “It was an unimportant, picayune sort of a personal quarrel,” the Chicago Tribune reported, “but it has had results of the greatest and most widespread importance.” The events were as follows: a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts walked into a hotel at 11:10 PM and ordered a drink. The hotel owner, aware that the man had been patronizing a rival hotel, decided to spite him by refusing him his drink, even though other patrons were being served. Thus denied, the man threatened to sue for discrimination; and on the following day he made good on his promise, retaining the services of a lawyer, who looked up the statute on liquor sales, which read: “That no sale of spirituous or intoxicating liquor shall be made between the hours of 11 at night and 6 in the morning; nor during the Lord’s day, except that if the licensee is also licensed as an Innholder he may supply such liquor to guests who have resorted to his house for food and lodging.” Based on this statute, the lawyer filed an injunction against the Fall River hotel owner, to prevent him from selling to anyone between 11 PM and 6 AM. A local judge granted the injunction, whereupon the hotel owner appealed the decision to the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Before the supreme court justices, the hotel owner’s attorney argued that the semicolon “was meant to be and should be construed, as a matter of fact, of being a comma.” In support of this claim, he noted that the law as originally passed in 1875 had contained a comma where the semicolon now intervened. The comma in the 1875 law was changed to a semicolon during “consolidation” of Massachusetts statutes in 1880. These consolidated statutes were presented to the legislature in 1881 and enacted with the semicolon in place. But because the 1875 parchment original of the law showed a comma, the whole debacle was an error of transcription, claimed the innkeeper’s attorney. Find out who won, the comma or the semicolon, in faculty member Cecelia Watson's forthcoming piece, "Points of Contention: Rethinking the Past, Present, and Future of Punctuation">>]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/03/cecelia-punctuatio/feed/ 0 occupyantigone http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/occupyantigone-the-wiki/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/occupyantigone-the-wiki/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:17:57 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1535 Collaborate>>]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/occupyantigone-the-wiki/feed/ 0 upcoming event: MONOLOGUES FOR ORPHEUS http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/upcoming-event-monologues-for-orpheus/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/upcoming-event-monologues-for-orpheus/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:12:16 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1485 A staged reading of a new play by Robert Kelly MONOLOGUES FOR ORPHEUS will be peformed by (program director) Thomas Bartscherer, (program faculty) Marjorie Folkman, Florian Becker, Lynn Behrendt, Mikhail Horowitz, and Paul La Farge Friday, February 24th and Saturday, February 25th at 8 PM in Bard Hall. Admission is free. The play will be preceded by a musical induction featuring Three Ancient Greek Songs for Tenor and Bassoon by American composer Adrienne Elisha performed by Peter Laki and David Adam Nagy.]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2012/02/upcoming-event-monologues-for-orpheus/feed/ 0 US Consulate General: Language and Thinking at Al Quds University a success http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-at-al-quds/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-at-al-quds/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:12:09 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1441 From a press release from the Consulate General of the United States in Jerusalem: Students and faculty from Al Quds University celebrated the completion of the "Language and Thinking" program on September 19 at a ceremony at the Red Crescent Society in Ramallah. The closing ceremony marked the conclusion of an innovative and rigorous academic program designed to teach first-year students at Al Quds University important skills in analytical thinking, writing, and reading. The pilot "Language and Thinking" program was funded through a U.S. Department of State Innovation Fund grant and was implemented by Al Quds University. The program, based on the Language and Thinking curriculum that has been in place at Bard College in New York for 30 years, provided an intensive 17-day introduction to the liberal arts and sciences for 50 freshmen from September 3-19, 2011. Read the full press release>>]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-at-al-quds/feed/ 0 Language and Thinking Student Volunteers http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-student-volunteers/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-student-volunteers/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:16:10 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1429 “Could Language and Thinking host a dedicated hour each afternoon for students who wish to meet with students from other sections, or whoever shows up, to discuss what was studied in class sessions that day?” And, “When are we going to have a reunion party with all of the Language and Thinking faculty?” These were some of the questions and suggestions raised, among many others, at a meeting of Language and Thinking student volunteers last night. Program Director Thomas Bartscherer led a lively discussion with these first year students about the Program, including what they loved and what they would have liked to see done differently.]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/12/language-and-thinking-student-volunteers/feed/ 0 Cornell Creative Machines Lab: AI vs. AI http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/11/cornell-creative-machines-lab-ai-vs-ai/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/11/cornell-creative-machines-lab-ai-vs-ai/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:45:10 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1422 ]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/11/cornell-creative-machines-lab-ai-vs-ai/feed/ 0 NYT: Computers in Classrooms http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/nyt-computers-in-classrooms/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/nyt-computers-in-classrooms/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:19:29 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1413 The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix. Read the full article, "A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute," in the New York Times>>]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/nyt-computers-in-classrooms/feed/ 0 2011 Fall Conference on Admissions http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/2011-fall-conference-on-admissions/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/2011-fall-conference-on-admissions/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:18:44 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1400 Prospective Bard students—juniors and seniors in high school—joined Language and Thinking Faculty today in Annandale-on-Hudson for sample Language and Thinking sessions during the 2011 Fall Conference on Admissions. Rebecca Chace, Anjuli Raza Kolb, Donna Ford Grover, and Jeffrey Champlin led the students in working with texts by Wallace Stevens, Raymond Patterson, Lydia Davis, Sophocles and Anne Carson.]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/10/2011-fall-conference-on-admissions/feed/ 0 Thomas Bartscherer: Switching Codes http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/09/thomas-bartscherer-switching-codes/ http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/09/thomas-bartscherer-switching-codes/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:49:52 +0000 ltp http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/?p=1319 Recently published: Switching Codes, edited by Program Director Thomas Bartscherer and Roderick Coover From the University of Chicago Press: Half a century into the digital era, the profound impact of information technology on intellectual and cultural life is universally acknowledged but still poorly understood. The sheer complexity of the technology coupled with the rapid pace of change makes it increasingly difficult to establish common ground and to promote thoughtful discussion. Responding to this challenge, Switching Codes brings together leading American and European scholars, scientists, and artists—including Charles Bernstein, Ian Foster, Bruno Latour, Alan Liu, and Richard Powers—to consider how the precipitous growth of digital information and its associated technologies are transforming the ways we think and act. Employing a wide range of forms, including essay, dialogue, short fiction, and game design, this book aims to model and foster discussion between IT specialists, who typically have scant training in the humanities or traditional arts, and scholars and artists, who often understand little about the technologies that are so radically transforming their fields. Switching Codes will be an indispensable volume for anyone seeking to understand the impact of digital technology on contemporary culture, including scientists, educators, policymakers, and artists, alike.
At a moment when culture's digital makeover seems to have induced epistemological vertigo in many, Switching Codes offers a timely and well-targeted intervention. This book practices what it preaches, provoking cross-disciplinary dialogue and challenging the staid form of the usual essay collection, offering instead an engaging set of critical texts, poetry, fiction, games, and responses. Bartscherer, Coover, and their authors take up the challenges posed by the digital arts and humanities, mapping their new contexts, defining their analytic repertoire, and compelling a fresh set of insights. More than a portrait of our times, Switching Codes exemplifies the very logics that it explicates. --William Uricchio, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Find the link to play "Figment", a game featured in Switching Codes, and buy the book>>]]> http://languageandthinking.bard.edu/2011/09/thomas-bartscherer-switching-codes/feed/ 0