Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: January 17, 2002
Latest Update: January 17, 2002
Faculty:
jeannecurran@habermas.org
Olivier at tapcourse@yahoo.com
takata@uwp.edu

Learning to Use Our Forum
Editing with jeanne

On Thursday, January 17, 2002, Carolyn Gilmore wrote:

Hi Jeanne, I'm very sorry the it has taken me so long to reply. But, I know you are a very understandable teacher.

jeanne's comments:

I think you mean "understanding."

As I was reading the site, there were subjects that kind of touched home base. What happen on 9 - 11 really took me for a loop, but by having you as a teacher, it helped me to be able to express my feelings. Out of all the teachers, you were the only one who took a great interest in your students and set up a site to help us overcome our fears.

jeanne's comments:

Our Dear Habermas/Moot Court project emphasizes the importance of acknowledging our emotions. Emotions are a very real part of our thinking. We need to share them and talk about them, so they aren't repressed, either as resentment and fear, or as anger, leading to revenge. Emotions count for a lot in our learning process.

Jeanne, you also made us welcome to come to your office and express things that were not clear to our understanding in your lectures.

jeanne's comments:

Sometimes things don't sink in until we get a chance to talk about them one on one. If that matters in your learning, it's important that you be aware of that need. Some of our classes are large, and we don't have the leisure to talk like this with everyone, but students can help each other by talking these concepts over with coffee in the cafeteria. Just rememer to make a not of anything that confuses you, so I can clarify it here on the site.

For example, I did not know that Bush and Bin Laden's family were friends. You took your time and explained it to me.

jeanne's comments:

Now, this is a good example of the importance of your writing to me, Carolyn. The Bush and bin Laden families are acquainted through business. I don't know whether the acquaintance qualifies as a friendship or not. But at least, they are known to each other. You see, when you write, we can clear up these little nuances. Some day the difference between "acquaintance" and "friendship" might be important in how you recall this information.

Then I asked myself a question. Are Bush and bin Laden working together? Because they are similar in some ways, for example: missing money.

jeanne's comments:

Good question. I certainly don't know the answer. But the question indicates to me that you have consisdered the import of that information, and thought over what it could mean for the United States. Of course, they couldn't be working together on blowing up the Twin Towers. That's a tad far-fetched and seems to me unlikely. But perhaps their business acquaintanceship has some effect on their responses and behaviors.

I'm glad you left the question as a question. That's the role of tolerating ambiguity. We don't know. We can't know. But we can listen and read carefully, understanding the complexity involved in much of political policy.

Jeanne, you also made us welcome to come to your office and express things that were not clear to our understanding in your lectures.

jeanne's comments:

Once again, see how your putting your thoughts in writing helps us clarify them and our mutual understanding of what we have talked about. Carolyn, I think you should consider developing this discussion on learning how to use our forum for the ACJS meetings in Anaheim.