Dreaming the experimental university..

A bright red page with the title "Anarchy in the ruins: dreaming the experimental university" in a bright yellow font. With such attention grabbing colors, such attractive layout and the word "AnArChY" in the title, this article by Nicholas Mirzoeff invites the activist in me to take a trip into the activist dreamland.
He asks us to imagine the imaginary university. For the remainder of this entry, I shall do just that: I...M...A...G...I...N...E..........

Edward Said thought that the university was the last utopia in Western Society. My imaginary university, which I shall call Utopian University (UU for short) is indeed the last utopia in the West.
I am not a customer of Utopian University. I am a participant in its knowledge making process. Without me, and others like me, UU would not have a knowledge base to build upon. Without students like us, UU would not have anybody to do research, invent inventions and produce theories. Without us, UU would be an empty institution with tiled hallways, florescent lighting and stale donuts on the Tim Horton's shelves.
Mirzieff wants Utopian University to produce "knowledge, not information, and there is a difference". UU teaches me a lifestyle; or many lifestyles if I choose to major in interdisclipinary studies. It tells me about history and explains why and how things happen. And then it goes one step further and teaches me how to make my own things happen. I learn how to produce culture, and how to treat culture that is produced by others. I understand that every interaction in my life is meaningful. I learn to learn from each interaction because in essence, my life is my classroom. What about exams you ask? *pshht* UU does not believe in exams. We are tested automatically when we produce culture and interact with others' cultures.
Mirzoeff thinks that Utopian University is a place where people encounter each other. I think that the word "people" is loaded with meanings. At UU, people do not simply encounter each other, they encounter the baggage each "people" comes with. Did I lose you? Okay, let's pretend that I encounter another UU student, Ryan at the bus stop (I would like to point out that public transit is free for UU students, because the Western world knows that UU students are the only emancipated race that is not reaching extinction). Ryan is carrying a large backpack filled with "soft stuff". This soft stuff is a term used to describe the kind of baggage UU students carry around. It includes things like dreams, ideas, light-bulb moments, jokes, emotions, aspirations, hunches, personal histories, family histories, relationships, stories, language, reason and creativity. I also have a large duffel bag full of "soft stuff". While Ryan and I have a nice little chat about the weather, plans for the weekend and homework, our "soft stuff"''s start oozing out of our bags towards each other. Ryan notices that his "soft stuff" is combining with my "soft stuff" and he laughs. Then I laugh. Our laughs mingle as our "soft stuff"s join together to create a funny moment. But his "soft stuff" is concerned about me. Ryan tells me that my approach to laughing does not logically fit with my personality. I, too, have a criticism for Ryan's "soft stuff". I tell him that his soft stuff is too idealistic, and that it needs to adapt to the world outside the UU walls. Our "soft stuff"s immediately paint a picture of the land outside UU walls- a picture of the West: billboards, CNN, nuclear missiles, cars lined up at gas stations, hundreds of large eyes in World Vision posters, corporate headoffices......and then our painting collapses. Alas, our buses approach. We both pack up our "soft stuff" and say our goodbyes. This was a casual encounter between two Utopian University students, where intellects met, humours collided and a funny idea was born.

Mirzoeff says that this university is "..a place of emancipation rather than instruction, formed by critique rather than the transfer of information". During classtime, we share our ideas and dreams. During labs, we work together to actualize those ideas and dreams. For homework, we critique each other's projects to make them better. At our graduation ceremony, we are awarded diplomas that recognize our individual status in the world, and our unique collection of ideas, and our abilities to visualize our ideas. During our time at Utopian University, we learned, above all, to conduct meaningful interactions with each other. We were emancipated from the capitalist, machine like attitudes of Westerners. We were emancipated from the evils of lack of imagination. We were emancipated from the chains of computers, economy, fiscal years, pollution, income taxes, political races, colonization, the United Nations, first world-third world binaries, sexism, social propreity and mundane lives.

And with this graduation ceremony, my dream of a Utopian University ends...