Grey boxes show texts related to Vedanta as discussed in the book.
1 Indexical Information
| Academic year | Number of students on register | Notes | Number of students who joined the student research team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2004 | 23 | Began as 3rd year elective | n/a |
| 2004–2005 | 26 | Continued as 3rd year elective | n/a |
| 2005–2006 | 27 | Continued as 3rd year elective | n/a |
| 2006–2007 | 34 | Continued as 3rd year elective First attempt class research session in prep for assignment | n/a |
| 2007–2008 | 42 | Departmental decision to reposition all 3nd year electives to 2nd year | n/a |
| 2009–2010 | 15 | 4Minds project begins; many extra activities including a concert and two guest speakers | 3 |
| 2010–2011 | 29 | 1 | |
| 2012–2013 | 28 | Title changed to “Contemporary Contexts for Yoruba and Ancient Indian Ideas on Space, Creativity and Self” research session in prep for assignment | 5 |
2 Structure
Throughout its life the course has followed a structure of eight lectures interspersed with short workshops. The lectures are presented in two blocks, with postcolonialism coming in between the two. The first block covers an introduction and the Yoruba material; the second covers the ancient Indian material, and ends with a lecture that takes a critical look at the role of education in forming our world views; this final lecture also showcases contemporary art from the modern day nations, India and Nigeria, from which Yoruba and Hindu/Vedantist ideas originate. There has been some slight repositioning of the order within the sequence of Yoruba and ancient Indian sections of the course, but these are of no great significance.
3 Workshops
There were several short workshops devised for the Yoruba Vedanta course, some of which I have come to use in Masters teaching and other settings. All of the Yoruba/Vedanta course workshops are designed with two main purposes. Firstly, they aim to break down difficult concepts, and secondly to demonstrate that all of us ‘see’ through the prevalent views of society more often than we think.
What does this object tell you about the culture from which it comes?
Students work in pairs and a significant part of the workshop’s purpose is achieved by the fact that they initially keep their observations to themselves. They then swap objects with each other. This brings out fascinating differences and similarities in the way the object is described according to the subjectivity or otherwise of the students’ approaches.
Another workshop used in the early years of the course was to do directly with language. Small groups of students are given two envelopes, one containing words, and the other containing definitions, to be matched to the words. The widest possible definitions for words such as ‘culture’ ‘heathen’, ‘civilised’, ‘primitive’, ‘modern’ and others are provided in the envelope. The purpose of the workshop is to underline the way in which we can inadvertently carry unintended meaning in our vocabulary, and also the way in which culture and language are so interconnected and constantly shifting.
An example of a visual workshop used on the course is one in which an image of a Yoruba Gelede masquerade is projected and students are asked to describe what they see. They are then asked, “Are we looking at Art?” Interesting discussions ensue, especially in more recent years, about performance as art, and spectacle; however the consensus tends to be that this is about religion and specific to place. Students are then surprised to be told that in fact it is quite likely they have seen all of the separate elements of the image displayed as art in museums: the fabric in departments of textiles, the headdress in African wood carving, etc. A realisation of the role of museology in shaping our view of the world occurs.
Who was watching you in a seated position, if you were seated in the chair?
After validation and discussion of the responses, students are told that much of the philosophical quests of these cultures are aimed at understanding and defining the mind, the self, and a metaphysical self; that this quest has spawned many analytical traditions in the case of ancient India, and great discourse embedded in myths and art works of both.
4 Assessment
Examples of some excellent student essays are given within the narratives of Chapter 6. There was a choice of modes of submission from the outset. Students could either write an essay of 2000 words, or write a shorter text but also submit a piece of art and design responding to the selected question. It was expected that background research would be done and fully referenced and that the way in which an art or design work was responding to the question would be explained. In 2006–2007 a third mode of assessment was offered, in the form of a curatorial rationale and plan for an exhibition responding to the selected question. Again, reading and background research had to be evidenced. In 2012–2013 due to a departmental decision, the possibility of producing a practical work alongside shorter text was withdrawn from the course. In 2010, however all three options were available.
In sevearal of the years in which the course ran, students were invited to a voluntary extra session in which all the essay questions were discussed by the group, with input from the tutor regarding sources and possible pitfalls. Mostly these were treated as peer learning sessions, in which students could share concerns and explore ideas together. As discussed in chapters 7 and 8, this proved to be popular, and student comments on it have informed a significant thread in this research: peer learning as means of identifying with the group as well as a means of getting to know one self better.
Assessement questions offered in 2010:
The dualist nature of the deity Ogun, bearing both the creative and the destructive impulse, is central to and emblematic of Yoruba thought. It is evident in Yoruba metal cast sculptures and other art objects. Discuss.
Discuss the Yoruba idea of the inter-connected nature of creativity and destruction in the context of the modernist belief in the isolated artist-genius.
In the early 20th Century, artists and scientists were engaged with the idea of defining a “Fourth Dimension” Compare this with the Yoruba idea of the transitional “Fourth Space”.
Yoruba ideas on creativity contrast sharply with early 20th century ideas about “primitive” art that fuelled the imagination of artists such as Picasso. Discuss some of the social and political influences that made Euro centric readings of the art of Africa possible.
Edward Said demonstrated in his writing the extent to which a belief in culture as a “refining and elevating” activity can lend itself to creating xenophobic responses to “other” cultures. Discuss Said’s comments and formulate a definition of the word ‘culture’ as you experience and understand it.
In Sanskrit drama, many theatrical devices and the term natyayita bring to mind western 20th Century dramatic theories that moved away from realism towards what Lionel Abel defined as “meta – theatre”. Discuss the depiction of time and space in Sanskrit theatre and compare with some aspects of modern theatre.
In the play “Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection” by Kalidasa, two complex female characters, Sakuntala and her mother Menaka are portrayed. What kinds of evidence do they provide of ancient Indian ideas about femininity, and about male-female relationships?
Examine some of the apparently contradictory ideas about women and their place in society which emerge Indian philosophy and aesthetic theory. Can parallels be drawn with current feminist and post feminist debates?
The ancient Indian dramatic treatise the Natya Sastra defines a repertory of eight essential emotions to be conveyed in art and drama. Discuss the navarasas and then consider a 20th–21st century art object or art movement – does it convey a ‘predominant emotional state’?
The ideology and methodology of the Earth Democracy movement resonate with Hindu Vedantist and Yoruba ideas on individual responsibility and community action. Should philosophy be a base for practical action required in environmental work today?
A call for staff participation and initial meeting took place in June 2009, after which the project can be visualised in four phases.
1 Phase 1: October 2009–June 2010
– A successful application was made to the institution’s learning and teaching fund to support extra activities during the Yoruba/Vedanta course.
– Lectures were recorded.
– The course, at the time still called ‘Shades: Yoruba and Ancient Indian Ideas on Space, Creativity and Self’ was used as a central means of disseminating philosophical/theoretical basis of the research project. An initial staff research team was set up in June 2009.
– The ground was laid for what was initially thought of as a student focus group, by inviting them to join the research project at the end of the course in March.
– Colleague A enabled the project to reach first year students by incorporating it into an existing yearly project. This culminated in their exhibition in March 2010, images from which are included in the chapters.
– The 4Minds virtual learning environment was established and flagged up as an archive, information hub and central point of contact for the course and ensuing project.
– Created in December 2009, prior to the commencement of the course and made available to the staff team, second and first year students involved in the project.
– Included recordings of lectures and of special events such as talks and performances by visiting speakers, fora for dialogue with visiting speakers, and post-course feedback questionnaires.
– Special events related to the project included: writer and musician Tawona Sithole on cultural traditions and resistance in colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwean society; artist and academic Dr. Abdul Hakim Onitolo on Yoruba concepts and their trace in his work; classical Indian Dhrupad singer Prakriti Dutta, accompanied by Vijay Tendulkar on pakhawaj (percussion), a performance and talk on the place of emotions in Indian music.
2 Phase 2: July 2010–March 2011
The above exercise was repeated, with the exception of visiting speakers, as the funded phase was by this time complete. However recordings made during the 2009-10 visits remained available via the 4 Minds VLE.
3 Phase 3: November 2011–June 2012
Due to unavoidable circumstances the author took a year’s leave in academic year 2011–2012, so the Yoruba/Vedanta course was not delivered that year.
4 Phase 4: July 2012–June 2015
More detailed interviews and discussions with key members of the student research team who became more deeply involved in the research.
| Research team member | Assessed submission for Yoruba/Vedanta course | Post course questionnaire, date; a/y when Yoruba/Vedanta course taken | 4Minds student research team questionnaire and date | Number of interviews and dates | Other contribution to the research project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student A | Yes | Yes a/y 2009–2010 | Yes Spring 2010 | One Interview round 1 16, 18 Nov 2011 Team meetings; conversations with student J Dec 2013 | Reflective essay on art school pedagogy 1 year after graduation March 2013 student meetings Conversations with thesis author on her studio work |
| Student B | Yes | Yes a/y 2009–2010 | Yes Spring 2010 | Two Interview ROUND 1 16, 18 Nov 2011 | Post course discussions |
| Student C | Yes | Yes a/y 2010–2011 | Yes Spring 2011 | Three Interview round 2, 3, 4, 5 | Video conferences; Meetings/interviews and other informal discussions; student meeting; design portfolio and art teaching portfolio; short essay inspired by Interview 2 |
| Student D | Yes | No | No | One Interview round 2, 13, 14, 16 JUNE 2012 | Student meetings |
| Student F | Yes | Yes a/y 2012–2013 | Not requested as interviews followed immediately after post course questionnaire | Two Interview round 3, 4 | Email correspondence; student meetings. |
| Student G | Yes | Yes a/y 2012–2013 | Not requested as interviews followed immediately after post course questionnaire | One Interview ROUND 3 | Student meetings. |
| Student H | Yes | Yes a/y 2012–2013 | Not requested as interviews followed immediately after post course questionnaire | One Interview ROUND 3 | Email correspondence; Exhibitions; student meetings |
| Student J | Yes | Yes a/y 2012–2013 | Not requested as interviews followed immediately after post course questionnaire | Four Interview round 2, 3, 4, 5 | Email dialogue re CARD; extensive work on diagram methodology; conversations on Indian culture cult, difference, change and adaptation in ancient traditions; pedagogy; student meetings |
| Student K | Yes | Yes a/y 2012–2013 | Not requested as interviews followed immediately after post course questionnaire | One Interview round 3 | Student meeting |
| 4Minds team member | Accessed recorded lectures | Attended 4Minds special events | Attended 4Minds meetings | Presentation to staff team | Studio collaboration: | StRT questionnaire completed | Interview |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff colleague A | Yes | Yes except when away | All except when away | No | Facilitated incorporation of 4Minds into first year project and exhibition | No | Yes May 2014 |
| Staff colleague B | No | Yes except when clashed with timetable | Yes, and organised one visiting speaker to address staff team about Sufism. | Yes | Offered thesis author opportunity to join year 4 Crits which unfortunately clashed with other teaching commitments | No | No |
| Staff colleague C | Yes towards end of the project | Yes | Yes except when away | No | Facilitated Y/V course student’s work in Studio and took part in joint tutorial. | Yes | Yes Nov 2014 |
| Staff colleague D | Yes late in phase 4 | Yes except when away | Yes except when away | No | Facilitated Y/V course student’s work in Studio | Yes | No |
| Staff colleague E | No | Yes except when away | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Staff colleague F | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |