TEACHSOC: Presentation of self

[Anne Eisenberg]

So - Gerry and Del and all other lurkers -   Goffman claimed that all of social life is a performance.  Situated identity theory argues that who we choose to be depends on with whom we interact.   I, also, play a variety of instruments - when I play in public, yes, I am performing and my interpretation of the music is as much a "lecture" or group activity as my in-class discussions.   While I agree with Del that the science of sociology has particular parameters within which it operates, the art and heart of sociology has a much broader "stage" (so to speak") from which we can learn.   After all - the way I teach theory is very different from the way my colleague in the department teaches theory - same ideas, different performance.   The idea of intersubjectivity is based on the need to find intersecting meanings or shared meanings.   Anne F. Eisenberg Assistant Professor Department of Sociology SUNY-Geneseo 123D Sturges Hall Geneseo, NY  14454 585.245.5447 ----- Original Message ----- From: Gerry Grzyb To: Del Thomas Ph D ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; teachsoc@googlegroups.com Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:13 PM Subject: Re: TEACHSOC: Re: Stories we tell- fiction in the classroom At 08:34 PM 9/20/2006, Del Thomas Ph D wrote: Do not confuse the studio with a stage..... or all art as performance    Do you claim that music is fiction...... What instrument do you play?  Do you claim that all concerts are lectures? Del Most art is produced for presentation to the public, so most is performance.  In that regard, it has strong similarities to lectures, which are certainly performances. Music is neither fact nor fiction.  Music is music. At one point (in the pit orchestra stage of my musical career) I played almost all of the single-reed woodwinds, plus the flute family.  FWIW, I was also one of the judges for the national Indie awards given by the now-defunct NAIRD (an organization that was to independent music what NARAS is to the majors).Of course, none of this has any relevance to the issue at hand. What I do up in front of a class is not at all unlike what I used to be able to do with a tenor sax.  I start with some notion of a theme, a chord progression (the analogy to a lecture outline ought to be obvious enough), and I improvise at least part of what comes next depending on audience reaction.  Any good lecturer does that. Gerry Grzyb   --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---