Learning is Fun and Dangerous, Portland (OR), March, 2007
In March 2007, the alt.SPACE Network got invited to collaborate with a number of others groups and individuals on the Learning is Fun and Dangerous project, hosted by Red76 at Reed College, Portland (OR), USA.
The project is described in the following words:
1. Learning is Fun and Dangerous is an open formatted group-learning project, hosted by Red76, and activated in consort with various collaborators from around the globe. Involving readings, walks, meals, film screenings, presentations, field trips, and video and phone chats, among a multitude of other possible activities, the projects aim is the investigation of past and possible future models for alternative educational frameworks.
2. Why delve into such dark waters? As the US goes through such rigid, and lock-step, social meanderings, now more than ever it is vital to discuss means in which any and all citizens can find themselves engrossed, enthralled, and engaged in the world around them - looking for ways in which we may all enliven and progress our cultural environment and social actions. The means, and outlets, in which we choose (or are told) to educate ourselves are a core component in how our country acts towards one another, and the world around us. Asking ourselves; how do we teach now? what do we teach now? what is worth teaching? and how might we like to learn in the future? are a small, yet vital, smattering of some of the essential questions we can discuss with one another to find our way towards a better country; a country dedicated to mindfulness, pedagogical expansion, and a thoughtful forward thinking citizenry. Learning is Fun and Dangerous is a means to begin asking these questions. All are welcome.
3. In tandem with the workshop the participants will be creating a multi-formatted publication encapsulating the thoughts, interests, and ideas generated through the project. In an edition of 500, the findings brought out into the light of day during Learning is Fun and Dangerous, will be released as the second issue of the Journal of Radical Shimming - the publication arm of Red76’s on-going initiative Revolutionary Spirit. As with all Revolutionary Spirit printed matter, the publication will be free of charge.
Apart from taking part in and collaborating generally on the programming of the Learning is Fun and Dangerous project, the alt.SPACE Network specifically organized a symposium on the topic ‘illegalities & literatures’. The symposium incorporated three web-cast presentations by remote contributors – Neil Chapman, Aharon Amir and Zefrey Throwell – each of which responded to the theme ‘illegalities & literatures’ in different ways.
[add stuff from presentations]
Additionally, we took over a small part of the library at Reed College, dedicated to those books in the library catalogue that have in some way been deemed ‘illegal’ or that have been subject to bowdlerization.
[add list of books]
