Don't Look Now

Joe Hankins

Another manic Monday. Keep your elbows off the table. Fall in love. 
  Our interactions-- with ourselves, with each other, with the animals, plants, and objects around us-- are patterned. Who we talk to, who and what we care about, what we do with our time-- all of these things can simultaneously be very personal and yet shared by countless other people out there. Some of these patterns we ascribe to 'nature' (girls just like pink; boys, they like blue), some we ascribe to 'culture' (shake hands, don't bow!). Some of these patterns we are readily aware of (go to school, get a job), some we participate in without ever noticing (shhhh). 
  This course is an investigation of these patterns. Traditional social science places weight in 'objective' methods to observe and understand patterns of human interaction. In this class, we take a different tack. Through individual and group activities, coupled with reflexive writing exercises, you will use your presence as a tool for illuminating and intervening in these patterns. Pulling from literature, film, and art, we will think critically about how we pattern and are patterned by the worlds in which we live. 

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