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"If it ain't busted, don't fix it." This is generally good advice, and the 2002 edition of 9.68 will begin as its predecessors have been doing for almost two decades: with all the participants devoting several weeks to reading (perhaps many re-reading) and discussing a book whose subtitle identifies it as An Inquiry into Values. The book is Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Co., 1974.
Recognizing and Understanding Affect in Systems from Cells to Societies
Read this syllabus and accompanying handouts carefully.
Start reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ... (hereafter ZAAMM); Part I - Chapters 1 - 7; Pages 1 - 93; get as much reading as possible done before first study group meeting; try to complete foregoing assignment before next class meeting and come prepared to discuss the assigned portion of the text. (NOTE: We will be reading Parts I, II, III, and IV of ZAAMM in four successive weekly installments between now and March 6. Two brief -- 1 - 2 page - reaction papers pertaining to the experience of reading ZAAMM will be due as noted below).
"Things of Beauty and Beholder's Eyes"- In Search of Quality at the MFA
Read ZAAMM Part II -- Chapters 8-15; pp. 97-184. Read Printed/Illustrated Guide to field trip. (Handout #4)
MFA Field-Trip Follow-up
ZAAMM... Part III. Chapters 16-26, pp. 187-326.
"What is Quality in Education?"
Finish reading ZAAMM... Part IV. Chapters 27-32, pp. 329-412.
Paradigms: Beliefs, Values and Practices in Science: What is a "Scientific Revolution?"
Kuhn, T. S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. (excerpts)
Paradigms Lost and Regained: Changing Beliefs, Values and Practices in Science and Society.
Melucci, A., and S. L. Chorover. "Knowledge and wonder: Beyond the crisis of modern science?" In Overcoming the Language Barrier: Problems of Interdisciplinary Dialogue." Edited by R. G. Flower, et al. Philadelphia: Center for Frontier Sciences at Temple University, May 1997, pp. 76-90.
The Neuropsychology of Affect. The Emotional Brain.
Damasio, A. R. Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. Chapter 5: "Assembling an Explanation," pp. 83-113, Chapter 6: "Biological Regulation and Survival," pp. 115-126 and Chapter 7: "Emotions and Feelings." pp. 127-164.
Oatley, K., and J. J. Jenkins. "Understanding Emotions." Chapter 5 In Brain Mechnaisms of Emotion. pp. 133-159.
The Science of Violence and Vice Versa?
Reading Assignment: Bilateral Stereotaxic Amygdalotomy as a "Treatment" for "Episodic Dyscontrol" The complex Medico-Legal Case of Leonard Arthur Kille (aka Thomas R.)
Chorover, S. L. "The Pacification of the Brain: From Phrenology to Psychosurgery." In Current Controversies in Neurosurgery. Edited by T. P. Morley. New York: W. B. Saunders Co, 1976.
------. Physician vs. Researcher: Values in Conflict? Wellesley 4. 1979, pp. 21-27.
------. "Violence: A Localizable Problem?" In The Psychosurgery Debate:Scientific, Ethical and Legal Perspectives. Edited by E. Valenstein.
Mark, V. H., and F. R. Ervin. Violence and the Brain. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. (excerpts)
Environmental Values: Muddy River Fieldtrip
Reading Assignments: Sections 1 & 2 from HomeWork An Environmental Literacy Primer.
Is "a New Way of Thinking" Humanly Possible?
Is an Alternative Scientific Paradigm Conceivable? Necessary? Desireable?
Reading Assignments
Read Copenhagen (a new play by Michael Frayn), text and epilogue.