"Only connect! . . .Live in fragments no longer.” E. M. Forster, Howards End (1910), ch. 22
‘One
day when I was twenty-three or twenty-four this sentence seemed to
form in my head, without my willing it, much as sentences form when
we are half-asleep, ‘Hammer your thoughts into
unity’. For days I could think of nothing else and for years
I tested all I did by that sentence [...]” William Butler Yeats (cited
in Frank Tuohy, Yeats, 1976, p.51 )
As stated in the course description, your first project will revolve around the concept of "Truth to Nature" and one of these two debate topics:
[1] Resolved: Evolutionary theory and a spiritual approach to nature are incompatible.
[2] Resolved: The best style for campus architecture, sculpture, painting, etc. is a modernist style looking to the future.
Of course these topics are deliberately framed in a provocative fashion and you should not assume that these are simply the topics for the projects. In debate, there are at least two sides, the affirmative and the negative. In the case of the first topic, for their projects some people will no doubt choose the negative, arguing that evolutionary theory and a spiritual approach to nature are compatible rather than incompatible. In the case of the second topic, no doubt many people who are not fans of the modernist styles of, say, the UTC, the PCL, the HRC, etc. will argue that the best style for campus architecture and sculpture is one that draws more on traditions and connects us to our past, as in the Spanish style of Sutton, Battle, and many other buildings.
ALL FIRST PROJECTS BOTS WILL BE FOCUSED ON EITHER THE REGENTS MEETING ROOM IN THE TOWER (for projects debating modernist vs. antimodernist campus architecture and sculpture) OR THE DEBATE ROOM OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY MUSEUM (for projects debating evolution vs. spirituality as compatible or incompatible approaches to nature).
EMPHASIS ON ARGUMENTATION AND PERSUASION:Your goal will be to compose a speech or speeches that will communicate to the audience a specific, particular point of view on the debate question and persuade them to adopt a course of action. In the case of the architecture debate, one action would be to adopt a new Master Plan for the campus. In the case of the evolution debate, one action would be to require that "missing links" in the theory of evolution be stressed when it is taught on campus.
FIRST OF ALL, YOU WILL NEED TO CHOOSE A PERSON TO SPEAK TO THE AUDIENCE in either the Regents meeting room or the Oxford debate room. More points will be given to projects that choose an actual, historical person who participated in the discussion of these issues. The person need not have been at the actual debate on evolution at Oxford or in previous Regents discussions, but must be someone who wrote or spoke about the relevant issues. You can imagine the person as coming before the Regents or entering the Oxford debate for the first time, if they have not already done so. By choosing an actual, historical person your task of consulting and citing at least two books in your research will probably be easier. (They must be actual, physical books that are not provided in any form on the internet and and page nos. and full bibliographical information must be provided in footnotes). However, your speaker does it have to be a person. One of our ghosts in the MOO is that of a gargoyle on St. Mary's Cathedral, Oxford. More credit will be given to an actual, historical person or object, but you can also create an imaginary person or object. An obvious imaginary person to create for this semester if you cannot find an historical person is a student of either Oxford or U.T. And of course you will give that student a name, perhaps even your own name.
IN ANY CASE, MAKE A LIST OF POSSIBLE PEOPLE/PERSONAE FOR YOU TO WRITE ABOUT AND EMAIL THE LIST TO THE INSTRUCTOR AND WAIT UNTIL HE RESPONDS BEFORE PROCEEDING. HE MUST MAKE SURE THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS NOT ALREADY CHOSEN THE NAME THAT YOU PROPOSE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOU NEED TO SEND YOUR CHOICES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
E-mail:bump@mail.utexas.edu
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