Class 19 - Siri Hustvedt - Coming in and going out

Checking in

We’ll take five minutes as usual to check in! Then we’re going to move onto the next text which is

Writing exercise

We’ll start the session with the following free writing exercise:

Write for 10 minutes in response to the following question: How does my body think?

About Siri Hustvedt

Our next - and perhaps final - text is by Siri Hustvedt, the American novelist and essayist. It’s an extended essay that explores some deep questions about embodied knowledge, about the connections between body and mind, and about the connections between the sciences and the humanities. We’re going to spend the next couple of weeks exploring this text together. This may take us to the end of the course (or we may add in another text - we’ll see!).

To get an introduction to her work, we’re going to watch this interview on art and science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvdoFBEctPI.

As you watch, add any questions that occur to you on the shared document.

Discussion of Questions

We’ll have a look at the questions on the discussion board first of all.

Questions

Now let’s talk about the following questions on Hustvedt’s text.

1. What questions did this reading raise for you?
2. How is it significant that we begin our lives “in maternal space”?
3. In what way are the borders of life and death not obvious?
4. What is the problem with the “divde and conquer” strategy in scientific thinking?

Presentation Briefing

We’ll now run through the presentation briefing. We’ll be doing the presentation as a POSTER PRESENTATION, not as a VERBAL PRESENTATION. This is a common format for conferences etc. You can find the details on Canvas.

Homework

At the end of this introductory chapter, Hustvedt raises a lot of interesting questions. Then she goes back to 17th century philosophy to try to answer them.

For next time, read “Dressing Gowns, Triangles, Machines, Mind in Matter, and Giants” (the next chapter). I’ll set a short exercise for you to upload to canvas, as we’ll not be having a class on Thursdsay due a a hospital appointment.