For the first class, Dr. Geller asked if everyone would be willing to move right to work with one another and save the last 30 minutes of class to go over some of the logistics of the semester and the course syllabus. She did ask if everyone would stand up and do a few first brief introductions by moving around and meeting some people not sitting right next to them.

Then, Dr. Geller asked that everyone take one piece of 11 x 17 inch white copier paper. She left some of this paper in the middle of the table in case anyone wanted a second piece. She unpacked thick and thin markers and crayons and asked everyone to “Draw an image of a time when you felt like an author.” Click through the drawings below with the arrow on the right of each image or find the drawings in our shared folders.

After about fifteen minutes of drawing, the class divided into small groups to talk about the images.

We came back to the seminar table, and Dr. Geller asked everyone to write individually (on paper, laptop, phone, etc.) to these questions. The invitation was to write to all of the questions, one of the questions, or whichever questions seemed right and to write in any form — from words to sentences to paragraphs. We would not necessarily be reading from this writing but would be talking and thinking together from the ideas of this writing.

Our Prompt Questions:
When have you felt like an author?
What’s an author? Who’s an author?
What’s authorship?
How have you been constructed/constructed selves as authors inside/outside school?
How and when do you struggle with and/or accrue author-ity?
How or when and why have you experienced constraints on your authorship?
How have your texts come to have meaning/value? For yourselves? For others? Inside institutions and/or institutional structures?

After writing, we went around the room saying names a few more times, and then we opened a large group conversation that is captured (as best we could!) in this collaborative document. Everyone is welcome to continue to add to this document.

At 6:30pm, we stopped and did a few minutes of writing to this question posed by Dr. Geller: If you had to say right now: What are you interested in thinking and rethinking and questioning and/or challenging right now about authorship? We went around the room and heard those with no comment (except sometimes a “wow” or “oooo”). Some of the responses to that question are at the bottom of the collaborative document.

Dr. Geller did a quick overview of the syllabus and schedule, reminding everyone that part of the work on the By the Week for 9/7 would be to carefully look through the syllabus and schedule and come to class with any questions (and any mistakes/revisions, which is why the syllabus and schedule say draft). Dr. Geller also warned that the Barthes and Foucault readings for 9/7 are dense and we will make (as much sense as we can) of them together in class.

Two other quick notes from Dr. Geller. On Friday, 9/1, the SJU Provost distributed a “Generative AI: Academic Guidance for Faculty” document (linked here and in the top menu of our blog). I do not see any mention of the author(s) of this document, but the document notes in Section 4 and 5 a SJU AI Task Force.

And, I forgot to tell you last week that as I started this WordPress blog last week I realized WordPress now has an integrated AI tool. I didn’t have time to stop and learn how to use it, but maybe I will during the later part of our semester.

Have a good week, email with any questions, and looking forward to learning more about each of you and responding to your letters. Comments are open below to add anything about class not in this recap. Thanks for a great first class!