I like zombies. 

I like video games.

As such, I always seem to be on the lookout for new zombie games, console and web-based, that go beyond your typical first person shooter à la Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead, Days 2 Die, etc.

And I've found two recently that tickle my fancy.

Class Notes: 3/28

Barad

Questions:

·         Is she convincing? Is her contribution significant?

·         How is her work feminist science studies?

TiffanyE: If quantum particle behavior is mirrored/upscaled in the real world, is anything objective? Results are shaped by the cut, so are they always varying?

·         For example, if the decision to classify things/create a binary is equivalent to making a ‘cut’ both are subjective.

The past week we have touched on a number of topics that intrigued me as well as brought about questions that I still have no definite answers to.

          Although I have never been especially adept at physics, I found myself very intrigued by Liz’s lecture on metaphysics in class last week. The article and subsequent lecture got me thinking about the possibilities and limitations of quantum mechanics, and who else should be concerned with the topic.

 I imagine a realm without critics would be a place where there is only room for self-realization and improvement. Without others' critique, we rely on our own judgement and because everyone's judgement and story-telling is different, we would have tales with no connections to any others. There would be no such ideas of common themes, literary techniques and such. Each novel would only be thought of as the author's explicit intentions for the piece mixed with each audience's personal interpretations. 

I found Tian's presentation on information and musical notation to be incredibly intriguing. I have to admit, beginning the class with John Cage's 4'33" was a little awkward. I thought this "performance" would involve "performing"--I didn't think he would simply stand in front of the class. However, I came to realize I was naively approaching and defining what it is to "perform" and what it means to "listen." After a few minutes of silence, Tian asked the class, "What did you hear?" What did I hear?? Was this a trick question? I heard the cars passing by, I heard the hum of the projector... To my surprise, it turns out Cage's Four Minutes Thirty-Three is one of his most famous musical compositions--the catch, it involves no music.

 In Anne's section on Thursday we continued discussing whether we believe that we have ownership over our own happiness. It seemed that everyone has a somewhat different view on the topic, with some believing that we can definitely choose to be happy and some believing that it is all completely out of our control, with some falling in between. Richard Powers' Generosity has opened my eyes a bit more to my own happiness, forcing me to be more aware of my mood and my feelings the last few weeks. Since I was paying more attention to my happiness level, our discussion really stayed with me, one idea in particular: we may not be able to change our current situation and problems greatly, but we can choose to paint it either darker or lighter.

We are asking each panel member, of each panel of 9,
to prepare a 3-minute mini-presentation ahead of time,
in which you will introduce yourself,
tell us what group you are representing,
why this group is of interest to GIST,
and how the intersections embedded in GIST have affected your group.

We are asking all 19 audience members to review the list of panelists ahead of time, to come ready w/ some more directed questions to explore more deeply the significance of the groups and their inter-actions, intra-actions and experiences with GIST.