Anarchist Free University

Meeting minutes

18 February 2007

Present: Toby (Facilitista), Rob (Minutista), Possum, John, Tim, Ryan, Daniel, Enda, Eugenio, Rachel, Zoe, Wyne, Myra, Barbara, Gaelan, Will.

AGENDA

• Report back on classes
• new course proposals
• Planning and visioning meeting
• other business

Report on Classes

Ryan reported that AFU's very first Cinema course, "Eros in Hell: Desire and Japanese Cinema" will probably be housed at OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design). There are about 20-30 people registered for the course. Course to begin in April.

The Politics of Addiction class is going well. It's attracted a wide variety of folks including users and addiction counsellors and everyone in between. Fifty people showed up to the first class! It has settled to about 20 folks.

The Politics of Latin America Class is going well. It seems to have settled in to about 12 people or so who come out regularly.

Course Proposals

Wyne proposed a course entitled, "Civilization: Its Origin and Future." Wyne is proposing a course with a wide open format which stresses the process of learning in the context of enhanced creativity and spontaneous discussion. Wyne draws the inspiration for this course from a previous progressive/radical experiment in education in the 1970s. His approach stresses priniciples of Taoism and anarchism which aims to create a space for maximum creativity, overcoming inhibitions and being open to process and radically self-directed and collaborative discussion. Wyne intends to perform facilitation in a minimal fashion.

This proposal generated much discussion and some disagreement. Concerns were as follows: How does Wyne understand his role as facilitator if power dynamics which suppress participation arise? What if content that is offensive or oppressive manages to engulf the discussion? It was questioned whether folks who take this course would be prepared for open-ended and spontaneous discussions and whether they would stick around. Folks were concerned that strategies for conflict resolution, should they be required, means active facilitation and a willingness for intervention. What does it mean to be interventionist in an open-format course which stresses self-determination and collaboration from everyone? Other concerns questioned whether the wide-open curricula would be productive for engaging discussion and participation.

Consensus was difficult to reach, however, we settled by suggesting to Wyne that he demonstrate his approach at the upcoming Planning & Visioning Meeting to be held in April, 2007. Also, we suggested that Wyne revise his course outline to include much more information about his philosophy of teaching and learning and the expectations of the folks who would take his course (perhaps also include a rich description of this kind of learning space that he has experienced in the past).

Planning and Visioning Meeting

We discussed the need for a planning and visioning meeting at the AFU. The purpose of this all-day meeting would be to reinvigorate the collective and collaborative nature of the AFU project. Also, it would be a way of staging foundational discussions for the collective project that would enhance collaboration and participation for newer members. We floated ideas for discussions and workshops that included: vision, philosophy and anarchist practice; structure--how we operate; something social or ice-breakers; what does the AFU project mean to you? Are we an oppositional project? And if so, what does that mean? Anarchism 101.

We struck a sub-committee which would meet to work out ideas for the day and report back to the next monthly meeting on March 18. The sub-committee members are: Zoe, Rob, Possum, Tim, Ryan, Enda, Wyne. The first meeting of the sub-committee would be posted online if others would like to join.

Quote of the month:

The State is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behaviour; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently.

-Gustav Landauer (1870-1919)

-- AnarchistU - 20 Feb 2007