Hopework-l Mailing List: Experimental College - EXCO

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Recently I learned about "EXCO" , the new Experimental College
in the Twin Cities. It appears to me that the organization is
largely organized around  a web site that allows easy organization of
classes that anyone can teach and anyone can take for no charge.  See
list of current oferings below.

It seems to me that EXCO's purposes overlap the purposes Hopework's
( http://hopework.org ) significantly.  The nature of EXCO's
community of learners is different - a larger universe of people with
less ongoing connections tho during a given class (that typically lasts
a semester), I'd guess similar relationships may be developed.  I could
imagine a Hopework "class" that was also an EXCO class.

Below are some details from their web site ( http://www.excotc.org )
Some highlights from their "who we are" page on their web site:
"who we are:" and current classes.

Fred

-- 
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north
Mpls) Communications for Justice -- Free, superior listserv's w/o ads:
http://justcomm.org      My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org
612-588-9532 (7am-10pm CST/CDT)   Email: fholson at cohousing.org



--- From EXCO "who we are" page ----

Begun in the Spring of 2006 by Macalester students as an alternative to
the inequalities and injustices of higher education, EXCO strives to offer
the Twin Cities communities the opportunity to teach or learn in a space
open to alternative education and all kinds of knowledge, including and
beyond academic knowledge. Everyone can teach or take a class, and all
classes are free.

The EXCO of U of M began in the Fall of 2007 at the Twin Cities campus.
EXCO was one of many movements started across campus in response to the
AFSCME strike in September 2007, an event that served as a catalyst for
re-thinking the U of M as a public, land-grant university.

The Experimental College (EXCO) is an autonomous university that both
envisions and enacts a "public" university by offering unique courses
that are free and open to anyone.

EXCO seeks to embody the vision of a democratic university that serves the
common good.

EXCO is committed to inclusion, community involvement, and progressive
social change.

EXCO is designed to both examine and overturn the alienation and exclusion
created by the political hierarchy, bureaucracy, and neoliberalization of
the university ...

--- End excerpt from "who we are" ----------

---- Current EXCO class offerings, grouped by Fred roughly by topic ---
Iraq War Seminar Series
Occupied Palestine: in a circle, on your feet, into public experience
Intellectuals in the Time of War
Women: More than Half the Sky
Health Care Activism
Crash Course in Capital(ism)
The Art of Political Organizing
Collaborative Organizing Skill-share
Social movements in Mexico: How they change the world
Indigenous Humanity from the Great Law of Peace to the 21st Century
Meet the MN 8! Peace Criminal or War Criminal?
We Have a Choice: Let's Just Do It
Ink and Action: Rhetoric for Activism
Gentrification and Minneapolis Neighborhoods
The Politics of Public Space: Privatization, Protest, and Democracy

The Social Responsibility of African American Music
Black Folk: Culture Defeats Holocaust

The OTHER Radical Tradition:
  Individualist Anarchism, Anarcho-Capitalism and Libertarianism
"Getting Free": Practical Anarchism in a Twin Cities Context
Peacemaking and Anarchism: An Intergenerational Dialog

Home Energy Auditing and the Efficiency Revolution
Climate, Development, and Energy: Renewing Our Future
Eco-Spirituality: A Holistic Approach to Sustainability
What role do faith and religion play in Social Work practice?

Advanced Spanish Conversation
Russian Conversation

Soo Bahk Do
Contemporary Asian American Community and Identity
Czech Fun (facts)

Appalachian Clogging
Falling Safely: How to take a header off your bike, board, or blades
without losing teeth
Eating Well: Cooking and Nutrition on a Budget
Fermentation Basics
Theorizing the University
Rasaboxes Performance Workshop
Pillow Making/Sewing
Beginning Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance
Hume and Nietzsche: Perspectives on God
Capoeira Practice Collective
Some Philosophy and History of Co-ops
Beginners Intro To Knitting and Crochet

Introduction to Citizen Journalism
Twin Cities Daily Planet Writers' Group
Poetry as Sensual Pleasure: Touch, Taste, Scent, Sight, Sound

Unix and C
Introduction to Programming (in Java)

Brainstorming with the Taro
Body Wisdom and Vital Energy Workshops
Living the Power of Now 13
Architecture & Public Space
The Art and Science of (Ethical) Selling