Acting 101; Monday, First Period [01/14].

[not_a_bird]

Well. Sweet Dee was officially at this teaching gig longer than her last one, unless, she guessed, you were basing it on hours put in instead of time elapsed, but, either way, she did not know what to make of that. The class itself wasn't bad, but this whole town was just weird and boring and she wouldn't go so far as to say she missed the gang, buuut...

...but she was still there, and she was still trying to smile like she wanted to be there, but her ability to do even that was fading fast.

"Hey, you guys," she said. "Good morning. Welcome baack. Now, so far, we've covered scripted with your monologues and improv with the activity from last week, and I was thinking this week, maybe we can get a discussion going and have you guys chime in on what you'd like to work on. Why are you taking this class? What are you hoping to get out of it?"

In other words, please give her ideas. At this point in the game was probably about when she tried proposing a trip to Broadway so those uncultured little snots could actually see live theater, which might not be a bad idea to try with these guys, it would definitely be a lot cheaper with the three of them, so...maybe! But she'd been lazy about potentially putting that together.

Little did she know that this school's field trip policies were way more lenient.

"And," she continued, "I figured we can also tap a little into the idea of character creation today, too. Remember the first week, when I mentioned stage names? Well, sometimes, the person you portray to the public is just as much a character as something you might play for on the stage and screen. People like a celebrity who's interesting, which isn't going to happen if you're just some Joe Schmo from Kokomo, am I right? So I thought, today, after we talk about where you'd like to see this class go, we can take a moment to think of some good stage names," because your names, kids, they're bad. They're all bad, "and maybe a little about who this dramatis personæ," a little preening for the Latin there, yes, "might be.

"Okay, then, who wants to go first?"

[[ocd is....up! Have at it.]]

Civics - Art of Civil Disobedience Monday 4th Period

[biotic_psychotic]

Jack watched the students file in. She kept an eye out for Mae and Vette. If they showed up sounding like bad ducking Sean Connery imitations, she was sending them straight to Skywalker to deal with.

On the desks are packets. No slides today. In the packet are the texts of the Constitution and the Amendments with a crib sheet to what the Amendments mean, practically speaking.

"Welcome back. I touched a little bit last week on the Constitution and its Amendments. The Constitution is the governing document for all laws in the United States. A great deal of time is spent by the highest court - the Supreme Court - determining whether or not laws abide by the tenets of the document. Whether they're constitutional or unconstitutional. If a law is found to violate the tenets of the constitution, it's overturned.

Having a governing document that's fairly reasonable is a pretty good basis for law. The problem comes from people. People interpret what the words in the document mean and as the times change, sometimes the meanings do too. You heard last week how the word 'man' in the document changed over time from meaning strictly white men to including free men and then free men of color and then women.

Amendments are just what the word says - they're additions to the Constitution that amend what it says. Usually for clarification purposes but sometimes to broaden the scope for what's covered by the Constitution. Right now there's 27 of them and they mostly deal with what the government and police can and can't do with regard to citizens. It also handles how the government operates.

( Class )

"Your assignment today is to answer: What would you do? Someone comes up to you and tells you the person standing next to you doesn't count as a person. Maybe calls them a name that denies their status as a person. Maybe tells them they can't participate in something the way everyone else can. Do you talk to them and try and explain why they're wrong? Do you call them names in turn? Do you leave the scene? Do you look away and pretend it's not happening? Do you punch them out? Do you ignore them and focus on the person who got their attention? Those people are out there. Sooner or later you're either going to see it happen or you're going to be the person it's happening to. The only answer off the table is 'kill them'. Murder's generally not the best answer so we're putting that one right off the table today. So: What would you do?"

Syllabus is here.
Link to last class is here.

Library, Monday

[intotheout]

It had snowed on the mainland over the weekend, including up where Tip's mom and J.Lo lived. Tip's email inbox was now full of links to J.Lo's YouTube videos of him having all sorts of "humans snowing adventurings".

You got a particularly epic snow angel when you had six legs.

[open!]

Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 3]

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was sitting seiza on one of the cushions, completely absorbed in her book. But the moment that everyone was seated, she snapped to attention.

"Like the definition of religion, the construction of religious history is a task fraught with ideological implications," Ghanima said crisply, setting her text aside and getting up to wander the room. "Early studies of religions were often written to imply that the author's own religion was the most accurate. Even in a secular history, to imply that religion "progresses" towards better understanding of reality makes a value judgment about past religions; likewise, to consider religion an essentially social construction with no transcendent meaning denies the claims of every religious authority."

"It is important to note that here is no time or place in human history where religious movements are not being founded, and religious practice is not merely a matter of founding prophets but also of local traditions and reforms. There is not even a single era when the Abrahamic religions were developed; the Jewish prophets lived some centuries before Jesus, Muhammad came six centuries after him, and Bahá'u'lláh founded the Bahá'í Faith over a millennium later."

"Religion was the dominant ideology behind many conflicts of the Middle Ages. Muslims were in conflict with Zoroastrians during the Islamic conquest of Persia; Christians were in conflict with Muslims during the Byzantine-Arab Wars, Crusades, Spanish Reconquista and Ottoman wars in Europe; Christians were in conflict with Jews during the Crusades, Reconquista and Inquisition; Shamans were in conflict with Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and Christians during the Mongol invasions; and Muslims were in conflict with Hindus during Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent."

"European colonization during the 15th to 19th centuries resulted in the spread of Christianity to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Australia and the Philippines. The 18th century saw the beginning of secularization in Europe, rising to notability in the wake of the French Revolution. By the 20th century, religion was no longer -- usually -- the dominant ideological force behind international wars, but had generally been unseated by political ideals such as democracy and communism. However, it is still a driving factor in regional conflicts, especially in areas where a minority religion has a natural resource that the majority desires. Unfortunately, however, 'because our religion is the right one and they are bad and wrong' has been creeping back into international conflicts in a more obvious manner with current US policy."

"You may be asking, 'why is this important?' After all, isn't this a class about religions? What does the politics matter?" Ghanima continued wander, gesturing as she spoke. "To understand a religion, you cannot simply accept the theological and mythical history of it. You must understand how it was shaped, what shaped it, and how it influenced the world around it. A religion is not a thing set in stone, but a living, breathing, creation. One which must be carefully tended and raised, least it all prey to those around it."

"To you, this may sound misanthropic at best. After all, isn't religion about divine revelation? To the lay-person, yes, of course, it may well be. But it is also a method of validation, of control, of imposing something upon the surroundings, and attempting to force the world to fit the mold created for it."

"And believe me when I say that the use of religion as a weapon and a tool for control is not an obscure idea. I possess the training of the Bene Gesserit; a key social, religious and political force in my universe. The Bene Gesserit have chosen to use indirect methodologies to further their goals, rather than wield overt power themselves. They have noted the Taoist principle that whatever rises must fall; and so rather than taking direct control of the human race, instead manipulate the social and political order with subtlety and insinuation, often using extraordinarily long-term stratagems spanning generations."

"One method that the Sisterhood practices "religious engineering" is through a faction called the Missionaria Protectiva, which spreads contrived myths, prophecies and superstition among the populations of the Empire. A Bene Gesserit may then later take advantage of the prophecies, casting herself as a guide, protector, or some other figure in fulfillment of the prophecy, in order to manipulate the religious subjects for protection or other purposes. These myths also exploit religion as a powerful force in human society; by controlling the particulars of religion, the Bene Gesserit have a manipulative lever on society in general," she said calmly. "It is not something done lightly, but it is done often and efficiently. Entire planets have had their philosophies re-engineered to suit the desires of the Sisterhood, with no one the wiser. This can take years, decades, even centuries, but the Sisterhood can afford to be patient, so long as it serves their purpose."

"Your activity for today is to take a religion that you are familiar with, and look at it with a critical eye. Who benefits from its laws? Who does not? How could you leverage it to your own advantage if you were stuck somewhere with no money and no allies? If you would like to pair up with a friend or two, please feel free, or you may work on your own."

"And the gods of fortune have struck; Miss Beniko. I have a key to the TA lounge for you."

Make It Fashion- Tuesday- 1st period

[gobrookeyourself]

When the students got to the classroom today, Brooke was already laying out a small selection of patterns to choose from.

"Hey, guys. I don't know that there's a huge need for a lecture or anything, but today you're going to make a simple shirt," she told them. "You can pick whichever one you want, use whatever fabric you want. So take the class period and see what you can do, I'm around if you need help."

A New You, Tuesday, Period Two

[built_fjord_tough]

Today, students, you would enter the danger shop to find yourself and your merry band of fellows sitting on the outskirts of that same seaside community, near a particularly large but depressingly sparse-looking farmer's field.

"Congratulations," Fjord said jovially once it looked as though everybody had arrived. "Warden cut you a deal... you all get to clear your name together, innocent or otherwise, if you do the town this one particular favor. You see, apparently, there have been some kobolds stirring up hell on the outskirts of town. They tend to show up around the same time every night, digging up farms, ruining crops. Now... we can't have that. Yes, this town does also have a fairly active fishing industry and the hunting on the outskirts isn't half bad. The locals aren't necessarily going to go hungry, but winters are long this far north, and people need the grains and other such things in their diet, and a good deal of the town's economy comes from trading their harvest."

He didn't figure most of the class necessarily cared. He was still going to share what the Warden had said. Important backstory, and all.

"So, to clear your names, you'll need to find out what the kobolds want and deal with it, or just kill the little fuckers and get it over with. Up to you. Warden doesn't care how the job gets done, just so long as this gets put to a stop." He lifted his chin and smiled pleasantly at his little adventuring party. "So... what do you do?"

[OOC: Open!]