Varkaiden koulu

The Daily Pennsylvanian on jututtanut Kenneth Goldsmithiä, runoilijaa ja opettajaa, joka vieraili Suomessa viime elokuussa. Professori Goldsmithin opetusmenetelmät ovat hieman epätavanomaisia:

We try to do things that don't happen elsewhere in academia. For example, for one three-hour class, I just had the students continuously write while watching TV shows and films: an episode of The Osbournes, Andy Warhol's Blow Job (a silent film of a man getting a blow job, but all you see is his face for 35 minutes), an episode of Good Times and a half-hour of Ali G. The language — or lack thereof — was incredibly different in each, as was the students' response to each.

For another assignment, I gave them the simple instructions to retype five pages of their choice and [they] came in the next week, dreading their response to the most dry, dull assignment I could give them. But much to my surprise, they were charged. Their responses were varied and full of revelations: some found it enlightening to become a machine. Others said that it was the most intense reading experience they ever had, with many actually embodying the characters they were retyping.

Goldsmithin ajatukset mm. luovuudesta ja tekijänoikeuskysymyksistä ovat niin ikään pohtimisen arvoisia. »