THE
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TELIC ARTS EXCHANGE

This seems like a winner, Lisa.

Depending on the courseload and the time commitment, I would be interested in teaching this course.
I live in the bay area but know Sean. Who knows, we might be able to work something out.

JMT

that sounds great, i am so glad. -L

I would also be really into working with anyone interested in the Messianic time course that is also being offered/suggested, and would suggest two books to copy/read in parallel:
Susan Buck-Morss, The Dialectics of Seeing, and Peter Wolin, WB- An Aesthetic of Redemption.
Something more Messianic would inevitably imply some more Gershom Scholem.
In short, I'm definitely on board...

Is this really the kind of book you read? Jim, how would you handle this kind of course because I can't imagine sort of plowing through it from beginning to end. Also, seeing some of the other classes in planning, the cost to meet weekly might make the course prohibitively expensive (see the Ranciere reading group for an example)... one option would be an initial meeting or two, after which point the course is sort of self-organized in public space; another option would be to condense it (which would probably push things more to lecture than reading group). Perhaps the 2 can be combined.

Hi sean, I just saw your post from february, i was alerted by the email newsletter, so it's good that there's something in place to remind me about this.

I had a remarkable professor years ago who dealt with the entirety of Benjamin's corpus over the course of two semesters, and we worked almost exclusively with the Buck-Morss text and the actual Arcades Project text, with selected texts to augment these core readings (adorno, the verso anthology of aesthetics/politics, scholem, etc). It was an inspired, and inspiring two terms and I don't think that could be replicated here. Having said that, what about approaching a few key elements in the arcades project, considering their context as prismatic elements, with what influenced WB's thinking about them and what makes them relevant to our thinking today? The structure of the Konvoluts can be really useful to a non-hierarchical approach, I think.

I agree with you that one doesn't really sit down and make sense of the book from front to end. it wasn't written that way, and it would be an exercise in frustration to try to interrogate the book that way. It's much more productive to focus on selected themes, ideally decided upon by the class participants (e.g. Baudelaire, fashion, Iron, etc etc). Basically, I would propose picking a number of Benjamin's Konvoluts, making sure that a few key points are touched upon, and then perhaps one or two chapters from the Buck-Morss. If you're interested, I can put together a preliminary plan that could be further discussed.

I think that it might be also relevant to talk about why the book holds such sway now, i.e. the cult around benjamin and what baggage comes with this. This aspect of the course would very much imply non-hierarchical learning, i.e., I could teach the above content in some way, but would really love to have a discussion group that considered these last points a bit.

re: cost and meeting, etc, yes, perhaps a few up front meetings that combined lecture and reading group sensibilities.

how does this proceed from here?

JMT, I agree with you, it wasn't meant to be read that way, am excited the hear your plan. What happens now? -L

I am interested in teaching the section on barricade fighting and Haussmannization from an urban planning perspective. The boulevardization of Paris is an excellent precedent for discussing how urban planning calibrates social activities.

This class is now in the planning stage, after deliberation at The Public School committee meeting 02. The person who offered to teach the class has been emailed to finalize details.

cmichlig: viecher is preparing some kind of lesson plan involving 3 meetings; perhaps one of the meetings can be extended so you could make this presentation? We will put the two of you in touch

Hi all, I'm having a few discussions with D.A.N. and can come back with something concrete in the next days. I'm tentatively planning on a 3 or at most 4 meeting schedule, to take place approximately every other week, beginning in mid-april and running through late may. Given my schedule, I'd like to hold the classes on either Sunday afternoons or Monday evenings (my preference is Sundays, but I'm open...)

I will speak again with DAN in the next days and will push this forward asap.

cmichlig, your interest in barricade fighting and haussmann would be a great addition to the material, and I'd welcome that. I believe DAN will place us in direct contact in the upcoming days.

all best,
JMT

This course is just about scheduled, but we are working out the final details. There are 2 options; We'll take any responses into consideration for making this decision:

a) 4 bi-weekly sunday meetings (4/20, 5/4, 5/18, 6/1) from 5-7pm. fee $60
b) 2 sunday meetings (5/4 and 6/1) from 5-9pm. fee $35

Fees cover teacher fee, overhead, and administration. There is a redistribution of wealth program for those who can't afford any classes at The Public School - see the FAQ for more information: http://thepublicschool.org/faq/

The following is a writeup of the course description and background for the teacher:

Readings into Walter Benjamin

I vote for four classes. Ann

Will there be a reading list for the _Arcades Project_ prior to the start of the course?

I vote for 2.
-J

I vote for 4 classes, Lisa

I vote for 4 classes, if you want to know. -robt

Dear robtsum (and others), yes, a reading list is to be distributed in advance. I have two versions of the syllabus ready, and once the course is confirmed, I will circulate this among those in the reading group, depending on what the group decides (2 vs. 4 meetings). The only required text is the one mentioned, the 1999 translation of the AP. Beyond this, I would suggest Susan Buck-Morss, The Dialectics of Seeing, as this book is rather invaluable for approaching the materials.

i vote for 4 classes, taryn

The "Walter Benjamin: The Arcades Project" class has been scheduled:

Date: Sundays: April 20, May 4, May 18, and June 1 from 5-7pm (4 meetings)
Location: TELIC Arts Exchange
Teacher: James M. Thomas.
Limit: 15 people
Fee: $60.

You can register on the class webpage - the deadline is Monday, April 14 (revised). If you have any questions for the teacher, his email address is: jmt.readinggroup -at- gmail -dot- com

I am interested in the course, but the email to James did not go through. I am wondering what the structure of the course will be, what approach to the book will be taken and if coming to the first meeting if possible or do we have to confirm our participation beforehand? If the latter, I would like to have more information.

Thanks!

Sara

Unfortunately, at the moment, there aren't enough people registered to cover the cost of the course (that would be 9 people). This means that we'll probably have to cancel the course as it's currently scheduled. We'll leave the registration open until tomorrow evening and see if we get to 9 people, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know the situation. Obviously, if you've paid and the course is canceled, your money will be refunded!

Sara, I'm not sure if you got in touch with James, but the most recent breakdown of the week-by-week schedule that we saw is this (although I think the details were still in development at the time):

Meeting 1: 4/20 Introduction, overview to materials, 1st set of readings:
Expos

Ho much money is needed to have this course run -- without the 9 needed? I'll find a backer. contact me at robtsum@gmail.com
-robert

Hi all, I'll add that the above syllabus is a very ambitious plan, perhaps more along the lines of a shortened semester.

(a) IF the course stays confirmed and we are able to reach the required # of participants, and
(b) IF you have the book already in hand, we'll be looking at the Expos

OK the course is on as scheduled! Since we're probably in no real danger of exceeding the people limit, we'll just leave the registration open until the class on Sunday.

There is a PDF of The Arcades Project that should be available by tomorrow morning - we'll send it to everyone who's registered, but if we miss you then let us know!