Class 1 - Introduction

2024-08-24
8 min read

Welcome on board

Welcome to our first class in this second year seminar course! In this first session, we’re getting to know each other, and also talking about this mysterious concept of the “Other.”

This session covers quite a lot of ground. As well as doing introductions to each other and to the course, we’re exploring some intriguing questions about ourselves… and others!

Incidentally, if we’ve not met before, I’m Will Buckingham, and I’m leading the course this semester. If you want to find out more about me, you can have a look at my website.

Introductory Video

As you will know from your email and looking on Canvas, this is going to be an asynchronous class. I’m currently on my way home from a conference, so I can’t be there with you. So first, I want you to watch the 15 minute video introducing the course. The link is in your email, and under “Week 1” under the modules tab on Canvas. WATCH THIS FIRST!

About the Course

You can find the course syllabus on Canvas as a PDF file (it’s under the files table, in the general course documents sub-folder). This is a road-map, however, this may go out of date. See it as a general guide to where we are going, rather than a set of iron commitments. And have a read through to get a sense of the road ahead. Get in touch if you have any questions on will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm!

Also read the home page of your Canvas course, which gives an outline of the ethos of the course and what we are going to do together.

Here’s a summary copied from Canvas:

  1. You can find most of the things you need, including the syllabus and in-class presentations, under the Files tab.
  2. The syllabus is a road-map, but we may diverge onto slightly different paths if the journey seems more interesting that way.
  3. There will be a dedicated course companion site at https://courses.willbuckingham.com (this site!). This will have notes from every session, and be useful for you to catch up if you miss a session.
  4. We are in multiple time-zones, so I don’t have fixed office hours, as these never work for everyone. But if you want to talk to me, email or message on Workplace and let me know. Then we can fix a time. I usually get back between 24 and 36 hours. Sometimes more quickly.
  5. Email and workplace are the best ways of getting in touch with me. Don’t send me messages through Canvas, as these easily get lost.
  6. It’s important to take time off — for all of us. I may not respond to email as quickly, or at all, over the weekend.
  7. The nature of seminar courses is that we share the same readings, but come from very different perspectives. None of us are experts in everything we will be studying. But we’ll all have expertise to bring to bear on some subjects. So be bold and generous in sharing your expertise.
  8. We’ll have a course Padlet for work in progress. Make use of this shared space!
  9. We are a multicultural and multilingual group. You may sometimes want to use languages other than English. This is absolutely fine, but the principle is that we should make sure everyone feels included and welcome in the classroom. So if you want to discuss something in Burmese, or Chinese, or Mon, please make sure that everyone in the group is comfortable with this choice, and that you are able to translate as appropriate between these languages and common, shared languages.
  10. I know that life in Myanmar — and for those of you beyond the borders as well — is exceptionally hard at the moment. I am in awe of you all. Please keep in touch about any problems that you are having, and let me know if there’s any way I can help.

The Other…

Okay. Now you have read the syllabus through and the materials on Canvas, and you have got a sense of how we’re going to operate. So you are now ready to get started on some content. As I’ve explained in the introductory video, this second year seminar course is all about the concept of the “other”, and about the different kinds of otherness that we encounter in the world.

But who is this mysterious “other”? A stranger, a threat, a potential friend, somebody who is not us, who is somehow, fundamentally, different…?

In philosophy this idea of the Other is often use to refer to another being who we identify with as not be ourselves, or not being like ourselves. And this identity (you could call it a negative identity) is something that helps build our own sense of identity. So we identify not just by means of what we are, but also by means of what we are not.

This means that ideas of otherness are both the foundation of ideas of who we are, and also a threat to our ideas of who we are. We define ourselves, we carve out a place in the world for ourselves, in opposition to others; and those others also potentially undermine our efforts to carve out space in which to live.

But also, otherness offers opportunities, not just threats. We are fascinated by otherness. We are drawn to it, and to the possibilities of how we might be otherwise than we currently are.

So for the rest of this session, we’re going to be reflecting on this.

Writing exercise

We’re going to start with a writing exercise. This is going to be drawn from your own experience:

Think about somebody who has always fascinated you precisely because they are not like you, or they are other to you. Write about this person, and your fascination with them, for 5 minutes.

Now we’ll try a second exercise:

Think about a time when you have experienced yourself as an other — an outsider, somebody who does not belong. Was this a good experience or a bad experience? Why? Write for 5 minutes.

Share ONE of these exercises on the appropriate discussion board on Canvas. You will need to post by the end of the day on which this class takes place. THIS IS A GRADED TASK (up to 3 points).

Reflection Exercise: Thinking about otherness

Now we’ll get down to some thinking about this idea of otherness. I want you to think about these questions, and make notes:

  1. What are the ethical advant ages and disadvantages of recognising other people are the same or like us?
  2. What are the ethical advantages and disadvantages of recognising other people are different or other to us?
  3. Does difference or otherness exclude the possibility of social cohesion?

Share responses to all three questions on the Discussion board on Canvas. You will need to post by the end of the day on which this class takes place. THIS IS A GRADED TASK (up to 3 points).

Homework for the next session

When you have done this, for the next session, you will be reading the first chapter of Ryszard Kapuściński’s book The Other (skipping the introduction). You can find the book on Perlego, and you’ll need to log in through Parami.

This chapter is called “Conquest and Exchange.” Kapuściński was a Polish journalist, and here he reflects on his own encounters with otherness, and the broader human concerns with otherness.

Think about the following questions:

  1. What do you think Kapuściński means when he says, “every encounter with the Other is an enigma, an unknown quantity — I would even say a mystery.”
  2. Kapuściński writes from a European perspective. How does this concern with others and otherness translate into your own cultural context?
  3. Our relationships with others tend to divide between curiosity (what in ancient Greek is called philoxenia, the fascination with the other) and fear (xenophobia, the fear of the other). In what ways do human societies manage this combination of fear and curiosity?
  4. Albrecht von Haller writes “Nothing is better able to dispel prejudices than familiarity with many peoples of disparate customs, laws and opinions — an otherness that for the price of a minor effort teaches us to cast off what makes people different, and to regard as the voice of nature the things on which all peoples agree.” What is he arguing here, and what is he saying about otherness and sameness? Do you agree?

Checklist

The following is a checklist to make sure you have done all the tasks for this session. Tick them all off.

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Read through the syllabus and this page. Note down any questions you have.
  3. Complete the TWO writing exercises (5 minutes each), and share one piece as indicated on the discussion board. GRADED. Due the end of the day of the class.
  4. Respond to the three reflection questions on the discussion board, as indicated. GRADED. Due the end of the day of the class.
  5. Do the reading for the next session.