do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Thursday 22 April 2010

thanks to denim day 2010


http://www.denimdayinla.org/ yesterday 4-21-10
denim day is the perfect day to file harassment reports with your school or with the labor commissioner for your creepy harassing boss.

a female cop told me there is harassment on the force but that's why you have to make reports.

so when you tell people you were raped people often twist it against you, like you are inferior or damaged.
they complain about the extra effort.

i used to know this guy christian gunther from seattle who screamed slut and whore at women and claimed that rape gave women too many problems.
i wondered why he thought shouting at them would help.

he was one of those eco-er than thou liberal progressive misogynists, east coast style.
so no matter how smart you were, he'd try to shred you to ribbons with a bunch of epithets.
all his friends thought he was . . .

so anyway, in light of the why i do not want to be talked to like this is a crackhouse in hell and not a federally funded institution of higher learning theme . . .

here's my rape story:
when i was brutally raped and strangled in 2002, the rapist called me whore slut psychobitch and screamed at me the whole time.
i have never been treated so badly.
i was strangled to the point of losing consciousness and seeing stars.  he said stop screaming or i'll kill you.
i was covered in bruises.
i though i was going to be killed, dismembered, and gang raped. 

can you think of ways to help me through my anxiety?
maybe by not being so rude and pompous in class.
maybe by listening to women more.
and if they tell you, you are making them uncomfortable, really listen.
i don't like being told i have no case, when i tell you i feel uncomfortable.
that is very negative, like saying my feelings don't matter.
why would you want to hurt people?
when i hear language from this culture of cruelty to women, i feel bad again.
and silencing us, hurts too.

the anxiety is so powerful.  could you respect what effort it took to get here, and put these bad memories to rest, so we can move on with our lives.
why do you want to keep us down with unequal words and cruelty to women?
are you afraid of us?
did someone hurt you too?

so open letter to LACC professors, please respect women more.
the young men shouldn't learn how to be homophobic and misogynist from you.
what a betrayal!
please stop calling us sluts, cheesecake, tits and ass.

maybe you are really nice guys, but it really hurts a lot.

you can't unring a bell.  i know who you are.  i know what you said.
i hope you will never say it again.  but i can't forget the disrespect you have shown us.
one of my heroes stood up to his school for protecting abusers at his school.
it happens to men too.

i hope my brother will fight for women.
i told him the men of the future will stand up for women first . . .
we all suffer when we wallow in negativity . . . everyone.

read about human rights lawyer karen parker's crusade against war rape
on
http://rapeisneverokay.blogspot.com/

so plus being raped twice, i was beaten savagely once by an upper crust guy max schuster who screamed epithets the whole time.
his first line of attack was to destroy my glasses and then attack me.
when he was stomping on my skull with his foot, i realized oh my gosh he is really stomping on my head!!!

i ran screaming to neighbors
and did my best to get him locked up at night court. . .
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