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.
Introductions
The session starts with introductions in pairs, asking each other these questions.
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What is your name?
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What pronouns do you prefer?
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Where do you live?
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What is your favourite breakfast?
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What book / film / song / artwork do you love most?
About the Course
There is a syllabus provided on Canvas in handy reference format under the “syllabus” tab. But this may go out of date. We may change direction as we go along if things get interesting! The beauty of seminar classes is that they are really flexible.
We’ll be talking about a number of things in this session:
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The aims and the shape of the course
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The readings
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How we will work together
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Attendance, participation and academic integrity
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Grading
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Office hours
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Extra resources
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Language policies
Questions
We will discuss any questions in the session, but if you have any other questions, email me on will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm!
The Other
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 used 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’ll start with a writing exercise. This will 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.
We’ll share this in groups.
Thinking about otherness
Now we’ll get down to some thinking about this idea of otherness. After the session, think about these questions:
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What are the ethical advantages and disadvantages of recognising other people are the same or like us?
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What are the ethical advantages and disadvantages of recognising other people are different or other to us?
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Does difference or otherness exclude the possibility of social cohesion?
Homework for the next session
When you have done this, for the next session, you will be reading a chapter from The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison. The reading is the introduction, and chapter 1, “Romancing Slavery.” To get your participation grades, you need to post a brief reflection on the text — and one question — before 12am (ICT) the night before the next class.
The text is on Perlego. https://www.perlego.com/book/3119955/the-origin-of-others