Notes from the HUMA 7P55 meeting from Jan. 13, 2020, on strategic reading
HUMA 7P55 is a PhD course at Brock University. The theme is “Fanaticism: Political and Aesthetic Dimensions.”
The participants are starting with 3 weeks devoted to the comparative analysis of two books:
- Dominique Colas, Civil Society and Fanaticism: Conjoined Histories (French original, 1992; English translation, 1997).
- Alberto Toscano, Fanaticism: On the Uses of an Idea (2010).
The next two Monday meetings in the seminar are devoted to comparative discussions about the two texts, and about strategies for effective reading at an advanced level. To help with those discussions, here are some links…
- Douglas Hunter, “Book Breaking and Book Mending: Most Academic Books Aren’t Written to Be Read — They’re Written to Be ‘Broken’,” Slate.com (25 July 2018); https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/07/academic-publishing-and-book-breaking-why-scholars-write-books-that-arent-meant-to-be-read.html
- “Too Long, Didn’t Read — How Reading Online Is Hurting Our Brains”; Michael Enright interviews Maryanne Wolf on The Sunday Edition, CBC Radio, 2 December 2018 (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-december-2-2018-1.4927251/too-long-didn-t-read-how-reading-online-is-hurting-our-brains-1.4927296).
On a personal note as course convener, I can add that this course is a part of my research work related to the development of the SSHRC-sponsored Amsterdamnified project.
–Mike Driedger