Blogs
So many people signed up
As of today there are 166 people interested in Becoming More Authentic.
This is far too many for any class, of course.
So we need to do some creative thinking.
There used to be an e-mail function,
which permitted EXCO facilitators to write to all interested persons.
This could have been a way of discovering the depth of commitment.
If 10% are serious enough to show up for a class,
then it will work.
But if 20% appear, we will have too many.
Please send suggestions.
Yours,
James Park, EXCO facilitator
Disarm the Planet Earth---One Nation at a Time
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/CY-DISARM.html
This is the complete URL for the January 2012 essay
for Creating a World Peace Force.
A typing error prevented it from being posted before.
And here is the complete essay,
in case the complete blog-entry diseappeared:
WHAT WOULD THE WORLD PEACE FORCE DO?
DISARM THE PLANET EARTH
—ONE NATION AT A TIME
SYNOPSIS:
Warfare has been a fact of life on the planet Earth
ever since tribes of human beings were able to identify themselves
and define other groups as their enemies.
Once nation-states emerged, they often found themselves at war with one another.
But warfare is not the inevitable fate of the our species.
It should be possible to settle disputes between groups of people
without resorting to violence.
The United States of America offers a long-lasting example of
several states that have been able to live at peace with one another for 150 years.
The 50 states of the USA do not commit war against one another
because we have courts of law that settle all disputes as they arise.
The whole planet could follow this pattern:
Instead of going to war as a way of settling disputes,
the parties could submit each dispute to neutral judges,
who would give equal time to each side of the dispute
and then create a ruling that might not be liked by either
but which would be a just settlement of their differences.
As courts of law emerge for setting international disputes,
the need for national military forces diminishes.
And eventually, as our planet becomes more completely civilized,
there will be no need for national military forces at all.
The change to a disarmed world will take place one nation at a time,
beginning with those nations that have misused their military forces most obviously.
OUTLINE:
1. THE WORLD PEACE FORCE WOULD REPLACE ALL NATIONAL MILITARY FORCES.
2. NATIONS OF THE EARTH THAT ARE ALREADY DISARMED.
Creative Synthesis No. 1
Creative Synthesis Opportunity No. 1
To round out the first unit, "That's No Moon, That's A Space Station!", I would like us all to take the opportunity to do a creative synthesis, which will undergo a peer critique next week, on July 7th.
The opportunity (it's not an assignment, but I would appreciate it if everyone gave it a shot) is to synthesize a landscape or image-scene in a science fictional scenario. Given that the genre is broad, the opportunity is broad. The criteria are brief. First, it can be in any medium you desire - written, drawn, painted, spoken, photographed, danced, telepathed, etc. Second, it can be any length or size you want, though if you're preparing a written work, I would say to aim for between 4-10 pages, for the sake of the reviewers' time. Third, while exercizing creative freedom, you should try as best as possible to communicate your intended work concisely and clearly.
Since this is our first synthesis, I imagine there will be questions about what to do, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves and to me about ideas, or concerns. The synthesis is meant to be fun, and it's meant to be a rough draft only.
The peer critique will take place on July 7th, but I would like everyone to have their works ready for review by no later than the evening of the 5th. Does this seem fair? I imagine this being necessary more for a written work, but for other media, would a review and critique all in one night sound good? In other words, we won't see what you've made until the 7th, and then give feedback in class? Yes, let's plan on that.
So, to reiterate:
Come up with a landscape or image-scene in any media, of whatever reasonable length/size, and be clear in your expression. We'll critique on the 7th.
Following the critique, if you'd like to revisit your work immediately, then we'll look at it again on the 14th, otherwise, whenever you'd like to show it again. Remember, it's all for fun's sake!
