Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark (Reading Group) [Online]
Full Tuition: $200 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Erin Hollis | 3-weeks | Mondays October 21 - November 4 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET | ONLINE
“’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” –Emily Dickinson
Published in 2004, Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities explores the vital importance of hope in a dire world. While it was written in the context of global events of the early 2000s, it is just as applicable to our world today. In the book, Solnit explores how, although it may seem as if efforts to transform the world are not working, the outcomes of such efforts are not always immediately seen. She positions hope as an alternative to optimism, pessimism, or despair, arguing that hope, which necessarily involves becoming comfortable with uncertainty, is a more active and transformative way to approach activism. Though the future may look grim, we can’t know what it will be. Instead of responding with an apathetic determinism, Solnit encourages hope as possibility. Her discussion of hope is not a naïve optimism that ignores the state of things, but rather, a gesture of resistance and a vehicle for the beginning of change.
In this three-week course, we will explore Solnit’s book in our current context. We will consider the possibility and value of hope when things are dire, and the future seems certain to be horrible. We will also think about how hope can help direct us in our activism and ability to persist and resist.
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Recordings may be provided upon request for missed classes.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing 75% or higher tuition tiers in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
Asynchronous Auditing: Classes are discussion-based and designed to be taken synchronously. However, we do offer an asynchronous audit option for most online classes if you need to follow along at your own pace. You must choose the audit option to receive all course recordings; please do not register using a scholarship if you do not plan to attend the majority of class sessions as you will not receive the recording materials to follow along. We do not automatically offer scholarships for auditors, but if you need one, you may request one by filling out this form.
Full Tuition: $200 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Erin Hollis | 3-weeks | Mondays October 21 - November 4 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET | ONLINE
“’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” –Emily Dickinson
Published in 2004, Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities explores the vital importance of hope in a dire world. While it was written in the context of global events of the early 2000s, it is just as applicable to our world today. In the book, Solnit explores how, although it may seem as if efforts to transform the world are not working, the outcomes of such efforts are not always immediately seen. She positions hope as an alternative to optimism, pessimism, or despair, arguing that hope, which necessarily involves becoming comfortable with uncertainty, is a more active and transformative way to approach activism. Though the future may look grim, we can’t know what it will be. Instead of responding with an apathetic determinism, Solnit encourages hope as possibility. Her discussion of hope is not a naïve optimism that ignores the state of things, but rather, a gesture of resistance and a vehicle for the beginning of change.
In this three-week course, we will explore Solnit’s book in our current context. We will consider the possibility and value of hope when things are dire, and the future seems certain to be horrible. We will also think about how hope can help direct us in our activism and ability to persist and resist.
—
Recordings may be provided upon request for missed classes.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing 75% or higher tuition tiers in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
Asynchronous Auditing: Classes are discussion-based and designed to be taken synchronously. However, we do offer an asynchronous audit option for most online classes if you need to follow along at your own pace. You must choose the audit option to receive all course recordings; please do not register using a scholarship if you do not plan to attend the majority of class sessions as you will not receive the recording materials to follow along. We do not automatically offer scholarships for auditors, but if you need one, you may request one by filling out this form.
Full Tuition: $200 — Scholarship options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Instructor: Erin Hollis | 3-weeks | Mondays October 21 - November 4 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM ET | ONLINE
“’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” –Emily Dickinson
Published in 2004, Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities explores the vital importance of hope in a dire world. While it was written in the context of global events of the early 2000s, it is just as applicable to our world today. In the book, Solnit explores how, although it may seem as if efforts to transform the world are not working, the outcomes of such efforts are not always immediately seen. She positions hope as an alternative to optimism, pessimism, or despair, arguing that hope, which necessarily involves becoming comfortable with uncertainty, is a more active and transformative way to approach activism. Though the future may look grim, we can’t know what it will be. Instead of responding with an apathetic determinism, Solnit encourages hope as possibility. Her discussion of hope is not a naïve optimism that ignores the state of things, but rather, a gesture of resistance and a vehicle for the beginning of change.
In this three-week course, we will explore Solnit’s book in our current context. We will consider the possibility and value of hope when things are dire, and the future seems certain to be horrible. We will also think about how hope can help direct us in our activism and ability to persist and resist.
—
Recordings may be provided upon request for missed classes.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing 75% or higher tuition tiers in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
Asynchronous Auditing: Classes are discussion-based and designed to be taken synchronously. However, we do offer an asynchronous audit option for most online classes if you need to follow along at your own pace. You must choose the audit option to receive all course recordings; please do not register using a scholarship if you do not plan to attend the majority of class sessions as you will not receive the recording materials to follow along. We do not automatically offer scholarships for auditors, but if you need one, you may request one by filling out this form.