Low-Res Santa Feans,
Congratulations! We are halfway through the fall semester!
How are you doing? I hope we can connect personally on your experience this fall. Have the readings inspired you? Do you look forward to class? Are you excited about your paper(s)? Will we continue to be classmates in the spring?
Last week, I collected your views on a proposal to consolidate Convening Weekend with our sister campus. This was a proposal from a fellow Low-Res student who felt like the Low-Res communities from both campuses should meet as one, on a single campus, alternating between Santa Fe and Annapolis.
- 62% (26 out of 42) of Low-Res Santa Feans not employed by the Graduate Institute responded.
- 65% (17 out of 26) of respondents supported consolidation.
- 20% (5 out of 26) of respondents were undecided, pending additional information and testing.
- Among the 15% (4 out of 26) opposed, 2 were still open to inviting the Annapolis students to Santa Fe
- We also know that Santa Fe’s on-campus community – students and administration alike – enjoy coming together twice a year in their local area. The event also attracts local alumni and tutors.
The goal is to allow for the Low-Res community from both campuses to bond, since we’re already in mixed classes. But we don’t want to detract from either local community. What if we had one campus per Convening Weekend “designated” as the Low-Res host, alternating between Santa Fe and Annapolis each season. It needn’t be strict; Low-Res students should still have freedom to attend the one they prefer. But having one campus designated as the Low-Res host would promote community bonding for Low-Res students and faculty who are already in class together yet administratively aligned to different campuses.
I’ll be following up with the GI Council and administration on this idea. Want to continue the conversation? Let’s meet!
Upcoming Events: The Council is organizing at least two upcoming “Guerilla Seminars” (pop-up seminars). For now, save the dates for:
- November 19 at 6:30. “Fashion” by George Simmel (1904).
- December 10 at 6:30. “The Great Spirit” or “Why I Am a Pagan” by Zitkála-Ša (1902).
- We may also hold a joint seminar with the Annapolis Low-Res students on Heidegger’s “The Question of Technology” (1954) in the coming weeks.
Further Reading: “Essay Writing as Personal Sovereignty: Shaping AI to preserve the slow craft of critical thought” by Michael Dean (2024), runner-up in the inaugural Cosmos Institute essay contest. https://cosmosinstitute.substack.com/p/essay-writing-as-personal-sovereignty