Spring guidelines Personal Mythology/Public Work   doranne’s POD

Dear POD co-learners,

Here is a detailed guideline for our meeting on April 3^rd.  Please read it and take the first steps for week one.  Your syllabus will be available at our first meeting, Monday April 3, Com 323.

The  scheduled times and spaces in the following writing are for the entire quarter.  Should you collectively decide to offer a pubic presentation to invited guests, in week 7, we will have a couple of rehearsals the weekend before that evening and a dress rehearsal the night before.  If it happens, it will be on Thursday evening, week 7, in Com 110.

SCHEDULE:

Day                                    Time                         Place                   Work

Monday                             10-noon                      Com 323             Witnessing

At the first meeting only, I will be with you.  We will talk about the quarter, go over the syllabus, review the covenant,   look at one example of what is possible for your program presentation at the end of the program, and talk about the performance possibility in week 7.  The latter will be based on your inner dialogue work, relative to your reading, workshops, and volunteer journals, and it will happen only if the group decides you want to have the experience.  I will assign Witnessing/Listening partners and Learning Summary groups.  Bring your covenant (already in your possession) and this guideline with you.  Finish reading one or both of the Shinoda-Bolen texts and, if you choose, all or part of one of your chosen Optional texts. Be prepared to talk about  the reading as well as where you are with The Artist’s Way.  Bring your dialogue journal and  your regular class notebook. After this week, your morning session will be private.)

Monday                          1-3                             Com 323               Learning Summary

(At the first meeting, you will determine the process for your work and begin your discussion/feedback/critique activities based on week one reading. Bring your first process paper to this meeting.) 

Tuesday                         11-1                           SEM II to be announced     Lecture

Tuesday                         2-4                             Com 323                    Book Seminar

                                                                                                            Shinoda-Bolen 4/4

Wednesday                  9-noon                         Com 209                    Workshop

(Please purchase a yoga mat and bring it to class, along with a small blanket.  Wear loose, warm, comfortable clothing; bring bottled water but  no food.  Bring your art supplies. Go to the Information Office on the third floor of the COM building and get a locker before Wednesday.

Thursday                    10-1                              SEM II to be announced       Lecture

Thursday                    2-4                                Com 323                       Integration Seminar

VOLUNTEER WORK:  Whether or not you have done volunteer work in the past, you are to approach this area and all areas of your study this quarter as Beginners (see Suzuki Roshi’s text, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, if   you wish).  Therefore, you are to engage in volunteer work that is relevant to one of the required texts and one of the optional texts.  You are to bring to the first session the name of the place where you will do your work , the name of the sponsor of that work, and the days and times you will be engaged in that work. Don’t commit to volunteer hours that conflict with required class time. 

Discussions of the process will take place in your Learning Summary groups and the Integration Seminars.  This is not optional.  Your sponsor will submit to me a written evaluation of your work by week 9, copied to you.  That evaluation will be part of your end of program self  evaluation and my evaluation of your work.   You will receive a handout with specifics regarding this component of your credit generating work at the first session, when I give you your syllabus. 

RESEARCH/DOCUMENTATION/REFLECTION WORK:  Your research will apply directly to your volunteer work as well as to at least one Optional text and one Required text.  If your writing is specifically “research” related to your volunteer work, your credit will be divided between Research and Volunteer work.  If your work is volunteer only, your documentation and reflection on that work will comprise all of your credit in this part of the work and, likewise, will demonstrate connections between what you do and one required/one optional text.  In either case, writing is part of your assignment.  I will clarify and answer questions at the first meeting. 

SILENCE:  At the beginning of the quarter, you will begin practicing periods of silence, building up to at least an hour a day, in order to deepen your experience of reflection and self knowing.  I will give you a directive for this important activity on the first day of the quarter.  This requirement does not mean that you are isolated from family or   living situations.  It means that you commit to inner work and make it clear to yourself and others that you will be taking periods of reflection, meditation and inner dialogue work as part of your integrated study during the Spring  session.  These quiet reflection times need not be lengthy; you will decide how much time to spend and how to fit that time your daily  life.

SALON GATHERINGS (Optional):  If it appeals to you, make a commitment to meet regularly with your peers, in any group configuration of your choice, off campus.   This is an informal get together during which you share food and conversation.  It can be with any others in the program.  You will begin to see how much your work connects with your patterns and how  you’re changing them; your connections to others ; how your experiences mirror what is going on in smaller and larger “cultures”, and how  you are becoming aware of your place in the world at large.   Most important, you will experience this activity as it is…about community, mirroring, listening and supporting. 

WEEKLY READING:

Week 1   One or both:  The Goddesses In Everywoman; The Gods In Everyman

Week 2   Gender Outlaw

Week 3   The Ash Garden

Week 4   Ethics For The New Millennium

Week 5   Today Is Not A Good Day For  War

Weeks 6-8   The Impossible Will Take A Little While (you can begin and continue reading this text at any time).

NOTE:  During Reading Deprivation Week, in The Artist’s Way exercises, you will arrange with one of your LS group peers to record that week’s reading, as you will do.  You will then exchange the tapes and LISTEN to the reading for the week’s assignment, so that you can continue with LS group meetings and Process work. This is a specific assignment about active listening and shared responsibilities.

Optional texts:  Although all of you will not read all of the optional texts (unless you are motivated to do that, for your own edification), each of you will select one as a ground from which to consider and reflect on your personal mythology work, your partner and small group commitments, your work in the community and the possibilities for your chosen career.  This will become part of what each of   you brings to your LS and seminar discussions, as well as your workshop exercises, that is unique to your work and also connects you to the larger environment.

THE CORE:  You now have the opportunity to consider all that you have learned through lectures, seminars, writing and experiential workshops, from Fall through Winter quarters, putting it all into the context of your Spring study.  Authentic listening and collaborative work with each other and with guests are the foundation for your learning.  Depending on the number of people in the group, you will facilitate one seminar with at least one other person, beginning week three.   Look at the reading list and the optional texts; make at least two choice for possible facilitations, based on   your interests.  We will set the facilitations at our first meeting, Monday April 3^rd.

Your responsibility to yourself and others is paramount here. Honor the covenant.  Follow the syllabus.  Prioritize your time so that you get you work done individually and for partner and LS group assignments.  Practice The Four Agreements.

Thanks,

doranne