Saturday, October 10, 2009

Convocation

Shepherd opens each academic year with a convocation.  Faculty and freshmen proceed across campus, hold a formal presentation, and then eat and drink.  In the Fall of 2009 I was asked to deliver the address.  I wanted to balance scholarly material with the kind of "pep talk" material appropriate at these sessions.  While preparing (and wondering what to wear; i.e., to kilt or not to kilt), I realized that my mode of dress was the topic at hand (to some degree).  Printed here is the speech.

Assumptions & the Unclouded Eye

The Unclouded Eye
The unclouded eye is better, no matter what it sees.

We all make assumptions about the nature of the world whether we are aware of them or not.  Becoming aware of our assumptions, especially if they are based on another person’s beliefs, accepted uncritically, is a path to clearing the eye, and liberating the mind. 

When you believe certain words, ideas or values, you believe their hidden arguments....   You believe the assumptions in those words, ideas, and values. Such assumptions are often full of holes, but remain most precious to the convinced.

We have the opportunity, at the university, to shift one’s hidden assumptions into the light of awareness.  Awareness of the ways we think literally lightens the load; one is able to see more clearly, uncloud the eye, detect the silent assumptions we make daily in our speech, actions, and reactions.

We tend to start making assumptions as soon as we see somebody:  Hair, clothes, piercings, tattoos all signify within a field of meanings.  We tend to have this deep desire to classify, to apply labels to everything; that way we lay claim to what we name.  But in doing so, we assume an authority that can be misleading and dangerous.

Take my kilt.  The kilt is a dignified garment.   It works with the flow of fabric and not against it, like the collar of this shirt.  Sure, it’s a skirt, but it’s actually radically male. It fits the male anatomy; why would a guy wear clothes that bind at the crotch?  It’s not sensible, it’s just a fad of fashion, a cultural and historical choice. 

But, many of you have already made assumptions about me because of my dress.

    --actually it’s a skirt  

You might have assumed I’m gay--this will be comforting to some, but actually threatening to others.  Assumptions can be dangerous.  This is a great country, but consider that I have to watch where I go because I’ve met with violence toward myself just for wearing an article of clothing. 

Imagine, becoming the victim of not just name calling (I get plenty of that), but physical violence, just for wearing certain clothes! 

So assumptions can lead to violence and wrong doing.  My friend EJ was taking me for a ride in his new BMW.  He was showing off, speeding, 80 plus MPH.  We passed a black BMW, with two black men driving the speed limit.  The flashing lights and siren appeared, and the police pulled over the black BMW because someone assumed the men, driving while black, DWB, was the dangerous issue.

Social Subjectivities
How can we learn to see the assumptions we make about people?

Consider social subjectivity.  Social subjectivities are those categories that you live, beyond your choice, and for which most people have already made assumptions about you:

    Age, class, gender, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, others. 

The meaning of these categories is constructed daily through discourse--talking, writing, thinking, television, film...all of our storytelling devices.  I urge you to seek to see the difference in the ways people experience age, class, race; I urge you to uncloud the clouded eye.  Do not “tolerate” difference, “celebrate” it.  While you are here, seek to understand everything that is Other than you, and to put aside outdated and outmoded assumptions. 

We also make dangerous assumptions about education.  The assumption that our primary and secondary schools are the “great equalizer,” that they allow children from all social and economic backgrounds to compete equally in a market-economy is undermined by a hidden curriculum that often undermines children’s self-esteem, efficacy, creativity, and compassion, and narrows whose assumptions we hear: men over women, whites over blacks, industrialists over laborers, militarists over peace activists. 

Whose story are we hearing?  Whose assumptions?  Ask these questions when you watch the news, talk with friends and family, listen to a lecture.

We make assumptions about the importance of our classes:  What I’m getting at here is, while choosing a focus, a major, a minor, please recognize that your general studies are not something to “get out of the way,” but are the foundation of your education.

But just as we make assumptions about clothes, gender, and other things, your different classes will too assume different things about the nature of the Real.

Keep in mind that different fields of study make radically different assumptions about ontology, epistemology, methodology and axiology: 

    These are not $2 words, $3 words, or even $1 words,
    after the international grammar market crashed
    at the beginning of the economic recession.
   
    (some of these jokes are just for me)

It’s funny how we are taught that big words are considered cheap, uncool, not jiggy-with-it.  When in-fact, the words we know open doors to understanding, and help us win at scrabble
    (which is a good thing unto itself).

General Studies:
Each school of thought will make assumptions about the world.  Your professors will rarely tell you about these assumptions (but this is a good thing).  Some things must be left for you to find. 

    I’m letting you in on the inside scoop on the reasonable grounds that
    Your attention has probably difeted by now.

    But if you’ve just tuned out, or are drifting into thought, thinking: 
    Where’s the best place to go tonight?
    What should I wear?
    Where in the world IS Carmine Sandiego

    Please let me take us back to assumptions:
When you take a class, notice that the subject matter will assume certain things about the world.

All fields of study make Philosophical Assumptions.
They make assumptions about the nature of reality -or ontology.
is reality out there or in here?
Is reality waiting for us to discover?
or is it socially constructed?
 What is the nature of knowledge?  This is epistemology
How do we know what we claim to know? 
Can we be certain or does our perception influence understanding?
What is Human Nature?
are we a product of our environment?
or hard-wired from birth?
This is, of course, the classic nature/nurture debate.
Methodology asks
How do we seek and find things out?
Should we follow a formula?
or are things more interpretive?
Axiology deals with the nature of values.
Are values absolute?
Or are they human creations? 

Answers to these questions will reveal the underlying assumptions a person, a subject matter, or a school of thought makes about the world.  And you can begin to see that there is no one right or wrong answer:  It’s far more complex, far more fun, than that.

All academic fields make Assumptions about purpose.
We make assumptions about why we’re here:

Are we here to make a record of the status-quo?
or are we here to effect change?

I will add another bit of political commentary:

As a person committed to a feminist philosophy (one that seeks to make the world better for all people), I urge you to consider:  Knowledge without action is empty. We really do create the world through our actions.  We are responsible for the state of our lives, the lives of others, and the world itself.

So uncloud your eye, and be aware of the assumptions your making.

 Assumptions.
In the end, I’m not saying that assumptions are bad.  Neither am I saying that assumptions are good.  Assumptions are what they are-the silent grounds of thought.  Recognizing that we make them is key: 

Consider what you assume about other people: 
    Age, class, gender, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. 
Consider what you assume about:
    Reality, knowledge, human nature, methods of study and the roots of values. 

When you can recognize underlying assumptions--your own, and those of others--you become more aware of the world, and new doors will open.

One of the hardest thing for an acolyte to learn is that she must always challenge hidden assumptions.  However, your abilities will take you farther than you imagine. 

In the end, the unclouded eye is better--no matter what it sees.

    Stay in school; 
    Live Long and Prosper; 
    and Be jiggy With IT.

Friday, October 2, 2009

In the News

 My wife and I were in Ashville, NC (if you have not been there, go; it's a great town).  She was finishing her MA at the Breadloaf School of English.  While walking around the town, we were stopped by a reporter who published these observations.

Mountain xPress, Ashville NC
Jul 19, 2006 / vol 12 iss 51
Top drawer: fashion news and views
by Alli Marshall
Reprinted with permission

Highland games

• Who he is: Kevin Williams

• What he's wearing: A twill camouflage kilt from Utilikilt.com and a sporran bag from Amerikilt.com. ("Usually a sporran is worn in the middle," Kevin explains – he updated his by adding a chain and wearing it like a messenger bag.)

• Why we love it: Kilts have been working their way back into men's fashion, helped by modern fabrics (denim and canvas) and celebs (Vin Diesel wore a leather version to the MTV awards a few years back). Kevin makes his work for a stroll around town – the camo print worn with a tee and sandals renders this Scottish classic a viable alternative to cargo shorts.