course
description

What role does disagreeing play in our lives? What power does it hold? (When) could disagreeing be easy and soft? Or desirable? Would the ideal be to not disagree at all, or to learn to disagree differently? Can disagreeing be both necessary, and inflammatory? How do inclusivity and neurodiversity tie into everything? This course is an open proposal to take on all of these questions, and more.

We will work together towards creating a comunal virtual safe space for discussion and active listening. We will use concepts from cognitive neuroscience to explore themes such as: the connection of disagreeing to progress, the difference between individual scale and group scale, the role of empathetic listening in a disagreement, the importance and impact of individual safety and belonging, the significance of context, the labeling of something as controversial - or tabu - and even how to coexist given disagreement.

Each week, there will be some theoretical techniques, models and concepts, and we will use contemporary examples to exemplify and

explore, from technology world or beyond. There will be room for flexibility based on your preferences and interests, but also many examples prepared, such as a detailed incursion into the recent debates surrounding Cryptoart.

There is an open invitation for each person to work on a mini research project on the theme of Disagreeing - however, the course will be enjoyable, rewarding and complete even if you only wish to engage in the class-time discussions.

If you do decide on a project, there will be plenty of support available, for each step: we will have techniques to help define a topic, choose a method of exploration (for example, exploratory reading, artistic research, cognitive science survey, etc), and decide on a method of presentation that works best for you and your project. There will be guiding exercises, suggestions, and example projects during sessions, homework invitations, and weekly office hours to help support you in your process. No specific experience is necessary, simply curiosity.

course outline

Week 1: Beginnings

We say hello. We set together intentionally inclusive foundations for our discussions to come. We dive right into what disagreeing is for each of us, and what our map of topics and themes and questions - from burning, to mildly curious - is. We take the week to observe and explore further how disagreeing is embedded into our everyday lives.

Week 2: Text and context

We ask what good disagreeing is, or could be, and think about neurodiversity, apparent decisiveness of science research, and about being wrong. We pick themes that call to be explored further - for me, it will be cryptoart - and we look at the context around our themes, both personal and conceptual. We find or explore how we situate ourselves within this context - and we keep exploring, and learning more throughout the week.

Week 3: Form and forum

We think about community, inclusivity and freedom. We look at the forums that harness our disagreement - be them physical or digital, private or public, intimate or foreign. We pay

attention to -how- we disagree and if it changes in function of -where-. And we look at examples of all this from the micro-universe of cryptoart. We think about our themes: of all you learned so far, of what you’d like to learn further, and of -how- you’d like to tell us about it (creativity highly encouraged).

Week 4: Empathy and perspective

We explore techniques from interdisciplinarity on handling tensions between ideas, we think about macro versus micro perspectives, we dive deeper into cognitive biases, and we dissect examples of visualising disagreement. We talk about cryptoart in the context of empathy and scale. We save room for open questions about your projects and lingering curiosities.

Week 5: Together

We celebrate: what you’ve learned, asked, explored, created. What we’ve disagreed - and agreed - on. We listen in, with the passion and curiosity we’ve heightened over the weeks, to the variety of projects and ideas you have put together. We discuss, and share our questions, and take stock in how our relationship with disagreeing has maybe shifted.

who is this program for?

This course is designed to be a welcoming space for any thinker. It’s an invitation for anyone intrigued (or even disheartened) by how we, as individuals or society, disagree and by the role and scale disagreeing occupies in our everyday lives. It is an opportunity for guided exploration via creative research, interdisciplinary questioning, intimate curiosity and openness. No particular background or experience is required. Aspiring or experienced facilitators are highly welcome.

about live classes

Classes are 'live' meaning that you can directly interact with the instructor as well as with the other participants from around the world. Classes will also be recorded for playback in case you are unable to attend for any reason. That said, we kindly ask that you please only purchase a ticket if you plan to attend regularly. For specific questions, please email us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

about tickets

Tickets for this class are currently available via Eventbrite. If you would like to avoid Eventbrite fees, please email us for direct payment options. We kindly ask that all “pay-what-you-can” students register through Eventbrite. Due to reduced staffing, we’re unable to handle specific payment requests for these registrations.

about solidarity

We realise we're living in uncertain times. During this time, we are offering a limited number of pay-what-you-can solidarity tickets for this online class. These are reserved for women, POC, and LGBTQ+ who would otherwise be unable to attend. We are a small organisation with no outside funding and like many, we are also in survival mode and we ask you to consider this when making your donation. For more information, see the FAQ page here.

We kindly ask that all pay-what-you-can students register through Eventbrite. Due to reduced staffing, we’re unable to handle specific payment requests for these registrations.

meet the instructor