Kat's NEH project/reflection

Reflection on our study of Hannah Arendt's Political Theory

NEH Seminar Project @ Bard College

Katherine Katter

July 24, 2014

What I Did on my Summer "Vacation", A Story "for the sake of a story"

Once upon a time, in the far hamlet of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I either saw a bumper sticker or a hoodie or something that said "Bard College." With the three brain cells I allotted to thinking about this, I wondered, "WOW, a place where people train to be bards! How cool! ... How questionable! ... How bold! -- Way to keep up the western oral tradition! Seriously, I wondered if they required people to play the lute. Oh, dear, What I don't know could fill the spaces between the molecules of this table (the one that deceptively only appears to be here)!

In the weeks and days leading up to this seminar, I was generally preoccupied, as I imagine many of us were. While I had read the NEH seminar site, as well as the Bard web site, uncertainty prevailed. When I mentioned it to others, "I'm going to study EVIL for five weeks!", people would give me a quizzical look, and then nod. Five weeks! Nobody seemed to know how to respond to the idea of studying evil. 

For me, Five Weeks sounded like unheard of freedom. I had the vague notion that I was heading off to some strange summer camp where my days would be spent reading a little (understatement) and going to class. I would have vast expanses of time to think and read and do art and wander around campus. I was pretty sure that my fellow campers would be cool. They were teachers after all. So I packed up my things, with a few thoughts of being in a dorm room. I brought my own pillows. I packed some silverware, mugs, bowls, and some napkins. And a few practical things, like a french press and a desk set. (Seriously, raise your hand if you've ever taken a desk set on vacation!) Oh, and a stack of greeting cards. I'm not sure why ... Oh well. 

The school year ended only three days before I had to head out. In those few days, I happened to take my son to an art supply shop. The clerk, Maddy, was a former student -- they're everywhere. She asked me what art project I was working on. Now, unlike my son, I have no particular skills with regards to the visual arts, but a few sheets of handmade papers caught my eye, so, when pressed, I said I might be interested in doing some collage work. Materials seemed portable and non-threatening. In no time, Maddy had me set: a range of special papers, art boards for backing/mounting, an exacto knife, a cutting board, a ruler, some acrylic medium, and a paint brush. I bought a large black art folio, and I was in business. Still, I wondered if I would ever do anything with them. 

Then, I headed East. 

Bard College. North Keene. There on the door of room 112, I saw my name on bold yellow card stock. I knew I would have to add something to that door. And so it began. I had seen something about "How do you know if you're an artist?" It was a flow chart. I took its light-hearted message and ran with it. It encouraged me to make art -- terrible or not -- and that became the first thing I posted. A deep saying here, a cartoon there, and pretty soon, it became a thing. I joked early on that it was my project. In truth, I was finding more and more things to post that were pertinent to the class. Then I read that Hannah Arendt elevated Art to be among the "durable" objects; "works of art are the most intensely worldly of all tangible things" (The Human Condition, p.167). Among the greatest acheivements of man, she says, are the arts -- poetry, storytelling, performance. Art provokes thought in the public and private spheres. It transforms feelings and has the potential to transcend. Both art and the artist serve as potential threats to totalitarianism. Perhaps that's why, as Professor Kettler said, those leftist artist-types were among the first to be killed in the camps. Artists seem to be the heroes, if Arendt can be said to have any heroes -- so long as they are not Expressionist Artists, for whom she had nothing but distain (The Human Condition, footnoote on p. 207). By the way, Milwaukee's Art Museum is home to one of the largest collections of German Expressionist art, should you ever visit, and I hope you will.

The time to decide what I would do for my project neared. I had (and still have) a long and growing list of things I want to write about -- lesson plans that relate to Arendt's writings. I still have to put my thoughts on standardized testing on paper. I want to work Arendt into my unit on 1984. I have pertinent stories to write, and I intend to review my notes and offer a semi-public talk about what we have discussed. Maybe I can work this into some professional development. I am sure some of these ideas will take shape. Some over the next few weeks and months. Some may extend beyond. I know I have a lengthy, but focused list of books, articles, and films that I have yet to enjoy, and I imagine that list may grow in the future, to the extent that we stay in touch. (Reunion in Beijing 2015?!) I want to thank you in advance for the various postings you are sharing, with lessons that I can adapt to the courses I teach. I have a sense that you have done some of the work I might have struggled to do, and I will be happy to rip off your ideas.

But back to my project. I took Kathy at her word that we were also here to renew ourselves. By last week, I was pretty sure that I would do collage work, I just had to get started to see if it worked.  One YouTube video, and a couple of collage "how-to" web sites, and I found information I could adapt, using the materials at hand: magazines, National Park brochures, promotional materials, even our text book, became source material. A special shout out to the New Yorker for its cartoons.

What you can see here today is a series of small collages, a larger collage, and a couple of notebooks. They are, for me, something new, so you see a beginner's efforts. A driven and devoted beginner, to be sure. I had to deal with humidity, the enemy of the drying process.  As you view them you may want to pair up and view them together -- make a conversation of the experience. After about five or six minutes, I will ask you to sit down and reflect in writing, I will ask you to respond generally and/or specifically, if something stands out for you, and I will ask you to write down any questions that come to mind. 

There is one collage that especially reflects our group. If you would please sign its back side, I would appreciate it. I mean it to symbolize how we are all creators of this seminar, this table-gathering. (This collage is now in Kathy's hands.)

One last note. I have had students create collages for me in the past. I have a whole new appreciation for the potential of collage work as a way to reinforce and reflect learning. The time spent perusing magazines was like seeking pieces to a puzzle. I was often in a reverie, sometimes a frenzy -- ecstatic to find the right word or phrase. 

I hope the collages speak to you. They reflect my experience here at Bard. I will find places for them in my home and at school, where they will remind me of this public/private space we created together, and of the affection we have shared. Merci mille fois. My thanks to all of you. Colleagues, collaborators, and friends.