Fred Moten and Stefano Harney's The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study [5-week Reading Group, $200 suggested]
Instructor: Andrews | Sundays 2:00-3:30 PM ET | November 13-December 11
In 2013, theorists Fred Moten and Stefano Harney unleashed a radical critique of the University that undermined conventional beliefs about the virtues of higher education and revalued the very meaning of study. As the text approaches its tenth anniversary, it remains equally, if not more, relevant as a roadmap for resisting the contemporary order. The concept of the undercommons makes clear, they write, that “the only possible relationship to the University today” is one in which students “sneak into the university and steal” what they can. They advocate not for the enlightened intellectual, but for the subversive intellectual: the thinker who is in but not of the University; the student who makes use of the University but does not belong to it. And in doing so, they extend the concept of study far beyond the university, positing study as a comportment to life that opens up the possibility of being otherwise despite the structures of domination that condition so much of our collective world. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study draws on the Black Radical tradition to bring into perception the alternative social forms that already exist and surround the dominant social order, thus challenging the values of Enlightenment thought as the model of rationality and social organization. In order to think new social relations and possibilities, Moten and Harney invert and revalue crucial concepts such as: study, debt, planning, and the surround. Over the course of 4 sessions, we will read the six sections of the text and the included final interview in order to understand these concepts and work through this counter-intuitive, challenging, and ultimately invigorating text.
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For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Sundays 2:00-3:30 PM ET | November 13-December 11
In 2013, theorists Fred Moten and Stefano Harney unleashed a radical critique of the University that undermined conventional beliefs about the virtues of higher education and revalued the very meaning of study. As the text approaches its tenth anniversary, it remains equally, if not more, relevant as a roadmap for resisting the contemporary order. The concept of the undercommons makes clear, they write, that “the only possible relationship to the University today” is one in which students “sneak into the university and steal” what they can. They advocate not for the enlightened intellectual, but for the subversive intellectual: the thinker who is in but not of the University; the student who makes use of the University but does not belong to it. And in doing so, they extend the concept of study far beyond the university, positing study as a comportment to life that opens up the possibility of being otherwise despite the structures of domination that condition so much of our collective world. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study draws on the Black Radical tradition to bring into perception the alternative social forms that already exist and surround the dominant social order, thus challenging the values of Enlightenment thought as the model of rationality and social organization. In order to think new social relations and possibilities, Moten and Harney invert and revalue crucial concepts such as: study, debt, planning, and the surround. Over the course of 4 sessions, we will read the six sections of the text and the included final interview in order to understand these concepts and work through this counter-intuitive, challenging, and ultimately invigorating text.
—
For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.
Instructor: Andrews | Sundays 2:00-3:30 PM ET | November 13-December 11
In 2013, theorists Fred Moten and Stefano Harney unleashed a radical critique of the University that undermined conventional beliefs about the virtues of higher education and revalued the very meaning of study. As the text approaches its tenth anniversary, it remains equally, if not more, relevant as a roadmap for resisting the contemporary order. The concept of the undercommons makes clear, they write, that “the only possible relationship to the University today” is one in which students “sneak into the university and steal” what they can. They advocate not for the enlightened intellectual, but for the subversive intellectual: the thinker who is in but not of the University; the student who makes use of the University but does not belong to it. And in doing so, they extend the concept of study far beyond the university, positing study as a comportment to life that opens up the possibility of being otherwise despite the structures of domination that condition so much of our collective world. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study draws on the Black Radical tradition to bring into perception the alternative social forms that already exist and surround the dominant social order, thus challenging the values of Enlightenment thought as the model of rationality and social organization. In order to think new social relations and possibilities, Moten and Harney invert and revalue crucial concepts such as: study, debt, planning, and the surround. Over the course of 4 sessions, we will read the six sections of the text and the included final interview in order to understand these concepts and work through this counter-intuitive, challenging, and ultimately invigorating text.
—
For each class, four (4) full tuition scholarships and five (5) 80% tuition scholarships are available. Due to limited scholarship funds, we are currently only able to offer one class per term at the full scholarship level to any individual student—if you need a full scholarship, please sign up for the class you most want to take and email us to waitlist for any additional classes. We will add you when funds become available. Direct student donations are a crucial aspect of our funding model, and without them, we are not able to pay instructors a living wage. We encourage you to pick the payment tier that corresponds with your needs, but ask that you please consider our commitment to fair labor practices when doing so. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out or you would like to pay tuition on an installment basis, please email us directly, and we will work with you.
If at any point up to 48 hours before your first class session you realize you will be unable to take the class, please email us and we will reallocate your funds to a future class, to another student’s scholarship, or refund it. After classes begin, we are only able to make partial refunds and adjustments.