The No Assholes Version*
- Become trained on how to read theory, how to use theoretical language, and how to write analytically and critically about social and personal issues…without being an asshole
- Learn various strategies for how best to have debates…that don’t involve being an asshole
- Develop a sense of community in which class members (students and teacher) all can critically explore a wide range of perspectives in respectful and productive ways…without being assholes to each other or anyone else
- Cultivate a community of learners…with no assholes
- Become skilled in experimenting with social media, such as blogs and twitter, and use those media for fostering connections and engaging in transformative practices…that challenge and refuse asshole behavior and attitudes
*Official goals from my syllabi…with the asshole clause added.
The Troublemaking Version
- Learn how to feel the effects of ideas encountered and the force of the questions posed
- Unlearn assumptions about ideas, about how to read, and about even how to be/act in the classroom
- Develop strategies for experiencing discomfort, not knowing and feeling trouble/d, be serious about your own resistances, and take responsibility as active participants and contributors to the class
- Cultivate an acceptance for questions without answers, problems without solutions
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