Post-Capitalist Ecology [Online]
Full Tuition: $320 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select.
Instructor: Stillman | 5 Weeks | Sundays | January 7 - February 4 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM ET | ONLINE
This course is a cure for climate despair. It weaves together the indigenous science of Robin Wall Kimmerer, the solarpunk fiction of writers like Meg Elison and Sarah Gailey, the Daoist aesthetics of Laozi and Ursula K. Le Guin, the Marxist geography of Seth Denizen, the comparative psycho-mycology of thinkers like Suzanne Simard and Chen Quifan, and, of course, fine-dining etiquette. It has a critical edge—expressed in the claim that climate nihilism is white supremacism—and a pragmatic core, because we already nurture and inhabit post-capitalist ecologies everywhere. In this class, we will come to understand what post-capitalist ecology means, and learn to act with that understanding.
Using a combination of short stories, philosophical essays, peer reviewed scientific publications, poetry, visual art, and a great deal of courage, we will cultivate an ecology beyond capitalism, a perception of a future in which life transcends the limits of scarcity and conquest. From within the imperialism of pseudo-empiricism, we will evoke new ground and old growth—a redwood from a skyscraper like an alien from John Hurt’s chest. If the “struggle for existence” in the Anthropocene has got you down, then it might be time to embrace a nature that’s red in a little more than tooth and claw, because, as someone once said, resistance is fertile.
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Recordings may be provided upon request for missed classes.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage, and your tuition goes toward supporting this practice. Please pick the payment tier that corresponds to your needs, and consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. We will never request or require proof of need, and do not use an income-based sliding scale; we trust you to decide what payment tier is right for you. If you would like additional support deciding or would like to learn more about the practice of using a sliding scale, we recommend this resource from Embracing Equity.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
Asynchronous Auditing: Classes are discussion-based and designed to be taken synchronously. However, we do offer an asynchronous audit option for most online classes if you need to follow along at your own pace. You must choose the audit option to receive all course recordings; please do not register using a scholarship if you do not plan to attend the majority of class sessions as you will not receive the recording materials to follow along. We do not automatically offer scholarships for auditors, but if you need one, you may request one by filling out this form.