Re: theory and practice

[EBOQUET@FAIR1.FAIRFIELD.EDU]

Has anybody read Spellmeyer's article in the recent _CE_:  "After Theory:  From
Textuality to Attunement with the World"?  I have some problems with the
article, but I think he touches on some of the points people are bringing up
here--expecially points brought up by Neal and Stephen.  Spellmeyer talks about
re-valuing experiential knowledge.  The best part of the article, in my
opinion, though is when he talks about coming to theory after bumping up
against the limitations of his practice and about how theory opened up for him
a whole new way of thinking about his world, a way which ultimately benefitted
many, many people (his students).  His objection seems to be that many people,
particularly many graduate students, are not encountering and experiencing
theory that way.  Instead, they are encountering theory in a vacuum--through
the classroom, for example--rather than through their experiences.  When that
happens, as Spellmeyer notes, theory just becomes another mechanism for
oppression and hierarchy.

--Beth Boquet
eboquet@fair1.fairfield.edu