But sometimes my other great love wanders in here and I have a hard time pushing it out- the classics and great books. This post is about them - I am totally breaking my "not just talking about school" rule.
Background: I attended an entirely discussion based - (NONE of our classes are lectures) classics college program and graduated. I am feeling a little "school-sick" here in August. (For more information google Thomas Aquinas Collge or St. John's College to learn more about great books).
Thinking about the fact that I am
not going back to school in the fall makes me aware of a sort of empty void.
When I graduated so many people asked me (most of them not very familiar with
my educational background or the kind of school that I attended) “ Aren’t you
glad to be done?” or “You are finally finished whoo- woo!”… To which I
responded courteously, “grumble…mumble…
no idea….what they are talking about,”. In some ways yes I am happy to be done, but in
most ways, I am not happy. It is not like I will ever be done wanting to read
great books and discuss them – and Thomas Aquinas (and St. John’s) were places
in which these books were the focal point of my life, they took precedence over
everything else I did. In many ways I have lost the love of my life, reading
the Phaedrus cemented that for me – “be a lover of wisdom” shouts Socrates as I
walk back into the hustle and bustle of the city, not knowing when I will see
him again. Knowing that this all consuming education might never be the case again cast a kind of
funereal pall over graduation.
Anyway
As a result I wanted to write
some things that I have learned – or tips:
Fall In Love –
a.
Fall
in love with the books.
b.
Fall
in love with the discussion method.
Discussion is an art form.
-
Ask
yourself, “What continues a conversation and
what shuts it down?”
In improvisational comedy actors
are on a stage for hours at a time, without any previous script making people
in an audience laugh. How does this happen? How does the story line continue
for half an hour or longer? There is a secret something called a “yes rule” the
actors say “yes” to what the other person proposes this allows the story to
continue as opposed to shutting it down. [1] Think
about what brings a conversation to life. Sometimes opposition enlivens a
conversation sometimes opposition is killing it – pay attention. Know the
difference. In class you should be
asking yourself, “Is what I am doing
fueling the conversation or beating it to death?” Sometimes you are killing
a conversation by doing nothing – you are letting it get beat to death right in
front of your face. Don’t stand idly by – jump in.
-
We
are on a team. You are here with other people who will allow you to see aspects
of the text you could not see by yourself. As
a class your goal is to seek the author, to come out of a class with a better
understanding of the text than you could have had by yourself.
-
Bringing
in the original text empowers the conversation. You are talking to the author,
to the book itself, let it speak. It is your job to bring the voice of Tacitus,
Homer, and Conrad into the classroom. This is also a great litmus test, “Is
this discussion going well?” – When was
the last time somebody quoted something from the text itself? An hour – you guys are tanking. It doesn't matter if you feel like you made five intelligent points, you are
collectively sucking. Dive into the text itself, we are not here to learn about
your opinions.
-
Ask as questions things that you
think you know the answer to –
be ready to hear some stuff you didn't expect. A question gets other people in the game. A statement puts you on
the center stage saying, “I think this and I am right.” You might be right.
Whatever. Sacrifice your “being right” to bring others in.
-
Ask
yourself “What is my motivation for
saying this?” Is it to look smart? Then shut up. This is a hard one for me –
Aristotle says if you see that you lean towards a vice, swing hard in the other
direction. Say something wrong on purpose – hit your own ego in the face. If
you are not talking to learn, stop talking. Am
I willing to be wrong? You should be.
The
search for truth –
At Thomas Aquinas I feel like the
search for truth means, “Look around until you find things that confirm your
faith. If anything endangers it, fear not!
For we don’t have to take these ideas or authors seriously, we don’t
read from these authors to learn from them anyway, we read them to demolish
them.” That is not the search for the truth; it is the search for confirmation. It is petty, and shallow, it is undeserving
of the great books. Work to understand the authors first that is what class is
for.
Be a Liam Collins – make a scene.
Don’t buy it unless you believe it. Popular opinion at Thomas Aquinas could use
some enemies.
Be a Bridget Coughlin – if you
believe it know why. "Because my dad said so" is not good enough for Bridget it is not good enough for you either (awesomeness of Mr. Coughlin not being denied). “Because everybody
said so,” is not good enough – of course everybody said so, the student body is
made up of people who think the exact same thing. Challenge yourself.
Anyway
there are some things that I wanted to say – For all of you that read this and remember all of the times that I did
not follow my own advice in class. I am sorry and maybe saying this stuff
concretely will help others not make my mistakes.
Me:
“You are Queen Frostine the candy princess.”
You:
“No I am not.”
Let’s
try again with the yes rule:
Me:
“ You are Queen Frostine the candy princess.”
You:
“Yes I am, my full name is Martin McCann the candy princess.”
