Congratulations 2012 Student Paper Competition Winners
First Place Competition Winner $100.
Miranda Brist. Metropolitan State University.
“Social Constructionism and Science: Escaping the Desert of Metaphysics.”
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Monte Bute
Another birthday has passed. It is now three years since I got the news. I was driving to my birthday party when the cell phone rang. The Dr. said I had terminal cancer with a median life expectancy of 14 months. So much for statistical probability! While my body may soon lie smoldering on a funeral pyre, my spirit remains an irrepressible youth. During this precarious existence, I have tried to seize each day with humor, passion, and a dedication to right the wrongs that I stumble upon. Like those candles in the windows during long Scandinavian winter nights, you have illuminated my path along this unlit and bewildering journey.Thank you my family, friends and, especially, my fellow karass members–we are the fingers who support a Cat’s Cradle of significance beyond our understanding.
One of the joys of becoming a seasoned teacher is that you no longer need to lecture. The classroom becomes improvisational theater, a theater of the absurd–a magical space where cognitive and affective dissonance rule. It is Socratic teaching plus the humor of a Lenny Bruce, a Mort Sahl or, even better, a Betty White.
My 16 year-old daughter was raving this morning about how cool Betty White is. I think it is her over-the-top humor that appeals to the young. It suddenly dawned on me that since my cancer diagnosis I have been channeling Betty in my classrooms . . . I may have to put that in my course descriptions so as to forewarn unsuspecting students! As one student recently put it, “it’s not so much the outrageous things you say, but that it’s coming out of the mouth of an old man!!!”
A celebration of life for Stillwater blogger Karl Bremer , who died from pancreatic cancer on Jan. 15, will be Feb. 10 from 1-4 p.m. at Stoneridge Golf Course, 13600 N. Hudson Blvd., Stillwater.
Karl was an old friend and, sometimes, comrade in arms. He helped bring down Michelle Bachmann, Frank Vennes, Jr (co-conspirator with Tom Peters), and other scumbags too numerous to count. In tribute, he has been lauded as many things. However, in truth, Karl’s linage is an ancient one–His ancestors were the Chinese xias.
I recently discovered the xia, an ancient social type who predates Karl by over two millennia. Albert A. Dalia, a Sinologist and novelist, devotes several posts to explicating the historical and literary lineage of the xia. Dating from the Warring States (403-221 B.C.E.) and Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) periods of Chinese history, the xia is a venerable ancestor of an anti-authoritarian populist like Karl.
“Relegated to the lower ranks of society, and with many of the options for advancement closed to him, the xia was not held in very high regard by the elite. To the masses of common people however, the xia was frequently a person to look up to. He was a mythic character who opposed the oppressive landlords and corrupt officials. . . . Their parallel code of ethics and behavior represent the flip side of the Chinese establishment, and rather than being antagonistic to tradition, xia behavior is complementary—yin to yang.
Obituary: Stillwater journalist and Michele Bachmann nemesis Karl Bremer dies
Dear Tabitha,
Your description of Winter City demonstrates the fire in the belly that a good organizer needs. You are properly outraged. However, what you wrote in the second part of your message is why you will become a great organizer. A heart without a head leads to many defeats and burnout. A head without a heart leads to a manipulator of people. A heart and a head in tandem is the formula for a lifetime of successful struggle. Authentic passion and strategic thinking are the balance you are now seeking. Remember, many of us went through years of apprenticeship, making every mistake in the book. Then one day, it just jells and you have the chops to take on the impossible battles–and emerge victorious.
Fondly,
Monte
Dear Seminar Participants,
Welcome to the MLS 600 Introductory Seminar. We are a small group. That will be both an advantage and a disadvantage: You will experience an intimate salon of stimulating and rigorous conversation, with both the living and the dead; you will also be expected to come to class prepared to a degree that perhaps you’ve never previously done. That does not mean that any of us (including your instructors) will have mastered the materials. What it does mean is that each of us, according to our abilities, with have engaged in a dialogue with the authors assigned for that evening. Then, as a learning community, we will share our individual understandings so that we may collectively come to terms with the readings.
We promise you two things. One, we will never bore you. Two, we will do our best to confound and provoke higher order thinking. We hope that you will do the same for your teachers. While we will certainly fall short, we seek to make this seminar a cognitive and affective experience that is a significant marker along your journey as a self-directed, lifelong learner. In the bluntest terms, that means metaphorically killing your teachers and becoming your own teacher. Anything less would be unworthy of a Master of Liberal Studies degree.
The theme for the first night is “What Liberal Education Ought to Be.” Attached are the readings for that class. We meet on Wednesday, Jan. 16 in 250 St. John’s Hall. We look forward to getting to know you and setting off on this odyssey.
Best,
Monte
“Doctor, do you believe in the soul’s existence?”
Marinus prepares, the clerk expects, an erudite and arcane reply.
“Yes”
“Then where”—Jacob indicates the pious, profane skeleton—“is it?”
“The soul is a verb.” He impales a lit candle on a spike. “Not a noun.”
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, David Mitchell
What began in 1971 as what Clark Kerr called the most radical experiment in higher education, Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities is now the nation’s premier university for adult learners. Faculty and graduates share tales about a truly working class institution.
http://bit.ly/TTT-MetroStateU
“This primitive accumulation plays in Political Economy about the same part as original sin in theology. Adam bit the apple, and thereupon sin fell on the human race. Its origin is supposed to be explained when it is told as an anecdote of the past. In times long gone by there were two sorts of people; one, the diligent, intelligent, and, above all, frugal elite; the other, lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living. . . . Thus it came to pass that the former sort accumulated wealth, and the latter sort had at last nothing to sell except their own skins. And from this original sin dates the poverty of the great majority that, despite all its labour, has up to now nothing to sell but itself, and the wealth of the few that increases constantly although they have long ceased to work. Such insipid childishness is every day preached to us in the defence of property.”
Famous long ago . . . By chance I stumbled upon some articles I wrote back in the 70s for “In These Times,” the leading American leftist newspaper of the time.
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Participatory Socialism or Welfare Statism? by Monte Bute, pp. 17-18 – PDF
In These Times, September 27, 1978 -
Liberals Must Choose by Monte Bute, p. 17 – PDF
Serve the Corporations or Serve the People
In These Times, November 1, 1978 -
General Mills Serves Soggy Dreerios to Minneapolis Tenants by Monte Bute, pp. 17-18 – PDF
In These Times, January 10, 1979 -
Thoroughbreds vs. Mules by Monte Bute, p. 16 – PDF
Class Conflict Splitting Minnesota Democrats
In These Times, June 6, 1979