A-Infos (en) Canada, Toronto, alt. media: Anarchist University http://anarchistu.org/bin/view/Anarchistu

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Anarchist U: (yes, that's its real name) offers free alternative
In between munching on veggie dogs and kicking around a soccer
ball, students and teachers gathered in Toronto for the Anarchist
Free University Orientation last weekend to discover a new
alternative to the institutionalized university.
"I went to a massive school, taking up a city block. The students
were expected to listen and sponge," said prospective student
Josh Gilbert. "The education process was about obedience, not
learning - or learning how to be obedient."
This time around, Gilbert is taking courses at the Anarchist U, a
tuition-free school opening its doors for the first time this week,
offering classes to anyone with a desire to learn. The initiative
was jump-started over the summer by a handful of Torontonians
hoping to fill a void in the education system.

"With university fees approaching $5,000 and the double cohort, it
would seem that there would be kids who wanted to go to
university who couldn't afford it," said Alan O'Connor, a member
of the Anarchist U Collective.

A recent Statistics Canada study indicates that rising tuition fees
have a profound effect on students' ability to attend
post-secondary institutions. Thirty-nine per cent of respondents
cited monetary constraints as the principal reason for not
enrolling, according to the Post-secondary Education Participation
Survey. Canadian students spend an average of $11,200
throughout the academic year, which is out of reach for many.

"If I had to pay $5,000 to go to university when I was a kid, I
would not have gone. There's no question about it," said O'Connor.

Anarchist U courses have the same level of difficulty as first year
university classes, he continued, so "for someone who doesn't
want a degree per se or isn't able to pay that kind of money, we
can provide the experience."

Rob Teixeira, who will be facilitating a course called Radical
Perspectives on Sexuality, said, "There was a need and an
interest to bring people together who are interested in learning
with a very diverse set of topics and to create a free school
loosely based on anarchist principles." Following the tradition of
free schools, the Anarchist U is "open, non-hierarchic and
questions the roles of teachers and students," according to their
flyer.

Though the word anarchist has been dragged through the mud in
recent years, Sam Cartmell, a member of the Collective, said
"attaching the name anarchist to what we're doing, something that
is completely opposite of what you hear in the media, is positive."

After all, for O'Connor, it was important to reclaim the word and
keep it in circulation. "People will ask 'anarchist? What's that?'
which is a really good question. That's always an open question
for us. We should never stop asking that question."

With class sizes at Anarchist U hovering at around 10 people, the
collective hopes to promote class dialogue and encourage
participation. "Ten is sufficient because you have a momentum for
discussion and yet you don't have to fight to be heard," said
O'Connor. He notes that this is contrary to the "experience of
2000 students crammed into a hall for Psych 100."

Karen Lifshitz, who attended the Anarchist U orientation picnic in
Toronto on September 7, is critical of the current education
system. Lifshitz suggested that many students are turned off by
learning because they rarely have the chance to delve into topics
explored in class, saying that "the teachers dish it out, and we
just sit there...and listen."

Teixeira, who has an English degree from the University of
Toronto, admits that there is much lacking in the mainstream
university system, but does not regret his experience. He selected
classes from sociology, politics and philosophy, because he was
passionate about the subject matter. "I was taking courses and
people would ask me 'what are you going to do with this?' I
dismissed that question."

Anarchist U students will have to rely on their own motivation and
desire to learn because formal grades will not be given, since one
of the fundamental principles of this kind of learning involves
questioning the competitive environment of most schools.
Furthermore, students will not be earning credits towards a
degree.

"Universities, like U of T and Concordia, issue diplomas that are
recognized by employers and so you go to university partly to
learn and partly to get a diploma to get certain kinds of jobs,"
explained Jacob. "At that point, education stops being about
learning, and it starts being about something else."

Jacob welcomes the Anarchist Free University as an alternative
source of education.

Cartmell, who attended Trent University, recognizes the positive
aspects of post-secondary institutions and says the system
worked for him. "There were lectures, and clearly leadership from
the professor. But there was still time to throw around ideas," he
said. At Trent, Cartmell took advantage of the small class sizes
and tutorial time to further his learning.

This semester, as a member of the Anarchist U Collective, he will
be facilitating a course on Politics Through the Media, examining
Noam Chomsky's theory on 'Manufacturing Consent' and the
alternative media.

Josh Gilbert, one of many students who will be starting school
this week at the free university said he was "intensely interested"
in the project at the Orientation Picnic. He has signed up for
classes on the Russian Revolution and Experimental Literature.

Finally rid of the bureaucracy of huge universities, Jacob said he
is glad to be "getting away with hierarchies," and will encourage
interaction in his Art and Collaborative Approaches class, so that
students are not "just receiving and consuming information."

Currently offering six classes over a ten-week semester, most of
the Anarchist U courses will take place in O'Connor's living room.
As of yet, funding for photocopies and flyers have come from the
volunteers' pockets.

"It's incredible that we can create this type of momentum and
interest with very few resources, thanks to peoples' time and
energy. No one's getting paid," Teixeira said.

For information on the Anarchist Free University, log on to
www.anarchistu.org

Link to this article:
http://www.brockpress.com/main.cfm/include/detail/storyid/473458

cional de productos alimentarios por
ejemplo, principal rubro de exportación de la República
Argentina, continúan vigentes los subsidios a la exportación y
a la producción, las cuotas arancelarias, las medidas
fitosanitarias injustificadas, el escalonamiento arancelario, que
deterioran los términos de intercambio de los productos
primarios y obstruyen seriamente el acceso a los mercados de los
bienes con mayor valor
agregado.

El fracaso de las negociaciones de la OMC en Cancún vienen a
ser un llamado de atención en este tema y debiera repararse en
la ligazón que apuntamos entre nuevas oportunidades de
negocios en el comercio internacional, el crecimiento de los
países endeudados y la posibilidad del pago de sus deudas.
Resulta paradójico y casi ridículo que se pretenda que
paguemos nuestra deuda y al mismo tiempo se nos impida
comerciar y vender nuestros
productos.

En otro orden, si bien es cierto que entre los objetivos de los
organismos multilaterales como el Fondo Monetario Internacional
figuran el -acortar la duración y aminorar el grado de
desequilibrio de las balanzas de pago de los países miembros,
así como -infundirles confianza con recursos para crear la
oportunidad de que se corrijan sin que deban recurrir a medidas
perniciosas para la prosperidad nacional o internacional,
también lo es que se necesita rediseñar organismos como el
citado.

Este rediseño de los organismos multilaterales de crédito
debe incluir el cambio de sus paradigmas, de modo que el éxito
o el fracaso de las políticas económicas se mida en
términos de éxito o fracaso en la lucha por su crecimiento, la
equidad dispassionate about the subject matter. "I was taking
courses and people would ask me 'what are you going to do with
this?' I dismissed that question."

Anarchist U students will have to rely on their own motivation and
desire to learn because formal grades will not be given, since one
of the fundamental principles of this kind of learning involves
questioning the competitive environment of most schools.
Furthermore, students will not be earning credits towards a
degree.

"Universities, like U of T and Concordia, issue diplomas that are
recognized by employers and so you go to university partly to
learn and partly to get a diploma to get certain kinds of jobs,"
explained Jacob. "At that point, education stops being about
learning, and it starts being about something else."

Jacob welcomes the Anarchist Free University as an alternative
source of education.

Cartmell, who attended Trent University, recognizes the positive
aspects of post-secondary institutions and says the system
worked for him. "There were lectures, and clearly leadership from
the professor. But there was still time to throw around ideas," he
said. At Trent, Cartmell took advantage of the small class sizes
and tutorial time to further his learning.

This semester, as a member of the Anarchist U Collective, he will
be facilitating a course on Politics Through the Media, examining
Noam Chomsky's theory on 'Manufacturing Consent' and the
alternative media.

Josh Gilbert, one of many students who will be starting school
this week at the free university said he was "intensely interested"
in the project at the Orientation Picnic. He has signed up for
classes on the Russian Revolution and Experimental Literature.

Finally rid of the bureaucracy of huge universities, Jacob said he
is glad to be "getting away with hierarchies," and will encourage
interaction in his Art and Collaborative Approaches class, so that
students are not "just receiving and consuming information."

Currently offering six classes over a ten-week semester, most of
the Anarchist U courses will take place in O'Connor's living room.
As of yet, funding for photocopies and flyers have come from the
volunteers' pockets.

"It's incredible that we can create this type of momentum and
interest with very few resources, thanks to peoples' time and
energy. No one's getting paid," Teixeira said.

For information on the Anarchist Free University, log on to
www.anarchistu.org

Link to this article:
http://www.brockpress.com/main.cfm/include/detail/storyid/473458
By Anna Sarkissian
Taken from the Brock University Student Newspaper - The Brock
Press.


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