http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/24/41a43e61d9098
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/24/41a43e61d9098
| November 24, 2004 | |
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| News Weekly Barnard Forum Grants Open Access to Ivory Tower Political Science Professor Holds Evening Sessions, Inviting Non-Students Into the Classroom By Julie Schneyer What does watching A Bronx Tale have to do with studying political theory? What would Machiavelli say about the war in Iraq? And what in the world is a Buseum? Every week, students and neighbors discuss these and other questions in Barnard political science professor Dennis Dalton?s weekly Public Forum on Political Theory and Film. Every Tuesday evening, the forum is held in 202 Altschul from 7 to 9 p.m. The forum, which is new this semester, is free and open to the general public, making it a unique opportunity for students to meet other residents of Morningside Heights and Harlem while supplementing the content of their academic courses. One Harlem resident, Janet Crawford, said of the program, ?What I like about [Dalton?s] approach is that it?s inclusive. We have people who have different economic and racial backgrounds, some who?ve gone to college and some people who haven?t. You get a chance to hear many different viewpoints.? Each week, the forum explores the themes of authority, compliance, and non-violence in film as they relate to political theory. Dalton first delivers a mini-lecture on that week?s specific topic, then shows clips from relevant films or documentaries, and finally opens up the topic for discussion. These discussions tend to be free-form and wide-ranging in content, sometimes lasting several hours and often exposing controversial and personal opinions. ?[Dalton] didn?t really want it to be structured because you know, people aren?t being tested?he just really wanted it to be a sharing,? said Gale Armstead, who lives in Harlem. ?What he really wanted it to be was an opportunity for individuals to feel free to express themselves. No censorship.? Armstead and her husband, Benjamin, began sitting in on Dalton?s Political Theory class over a decade ago and have since become good friends with the professor. One of Dalton?s former students, Courtney Martin, BC ?02, interviewed Ben Armstead for a documentary about Harlem?s relationship with Columbia. She also wrote a Village Voice article last spring about Dalton?s eagerness to welcome non-auditing individuals to his classes. These various interactions led to a collective feeling that more should be done to involve the community, so Dalton approached the Barnard administration about it. ?We got this idea of offering it free, open to the public at large,? Dalton recalls. ?The Barnard administration backed it, supported it?the response was favorable.? Armstead credited Dalton with the ?true genesis? of the forum, but the professor refused to take credit for all?or even most?of the idea and its subsequent development. ?Courtney, Ben, and Gale are the key movers in this whole episode,? Dalton insisted. He also praised the Barnard media department for their assistance in helping him track down and obtain the films he used. Since its inception this fall, the forum?s attendance has grown to 40 or 50 people per week. Surprisingly, the vast majority of these are non-students, for whom the forum serves as an affordable source of intellectual enrichment. In order to attract participants from outside the Barnard campus, the Armsteads spread flyers around the neighborhood. The opportunity was also announced on radio, and Barnard listed the forum in its monthly ?Happenings? mailing, but the main publicity came through word of mouth. Student attendance, however, does not usually exceed a handful of people. ?My only regret is that there hasn?t been more attendance from the people on campus,? Dalton said. He said that possible reasons include the scheduling, as evening is a notoriously busy time for students. The forum has also not been widely publicized outside of Dalton?s other classes. While he does not require his students to attend, he has strongly encouraged it as an ?essential part? of his curriculum. Students who have attended the forum have found it not only educationally rewarding but also a refreshing change from the usual isolation of Columbia from its surrounding areas. ?I went the first time because [Professor Dalton] said he had it and it was optional, and that?s usually a sign that the teacher does some crazy stuff that he can?t do in class,? Kate Hibbard, BC ?07, said. ?Then when I went there I realized that it is just this amazing bridge between Columbia and Harlem that doesn?t really exist [elsewhere].? Participants agreed that the ?bridge? is not yet complete but that it is a start. ?I?d like to see more professors at Barnard and Columbia do something like this and open up their classes to all,? Crawford said. Hibbard agreed, saying, ?It?s ridiculous that this is the only one?it?s almost offensive.? Students and non-students alike view the University?s historical relationship with surrounding neighborhoods as strained. ?There are really unpleasant feelings revolving around the wielding of power by Columbia?it?s like, who cares about those residents, we are going to do what we want to do,? Armstead said. For her and other participants, the forum has taken on a second, but no less important, role in addition to its original goal of educating people: helping to smooth the less-than-perfect relations between Columbia and its northern neighbors. ?This is a way of evening the playing field for people who have never had an experience of college and who are so scared of white people,? Armstead said. ?This is varied ages, multicultural?a real mixed audience and that?s the real beauty. **************************************************************************? Participants say that the forum has been an innovative and exciting experience, citing two notable sessions featuring guest speakers. One was a 99-year-old Jehovah?s Witness who spent time in several concentration camps for practicing non-violent opposition to the Nazi regime. Another session welcomed four members of Michael Moore?s production team for ?Fahrenheit 9/11,? who spoke about the process of making a documentary. ************************************************************************* The forum?s last session on November 30 will focus on the legacies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. While the program?s organizers would like to keep it going, there is currently no guarantee that it will continue. |