Authenticity: Philosophy, Psychology, Popular Culture (Durham, NC)

from $25.00

**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+

Full Tuition: $340 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal or Klarna at check out.

Authenticity has become a cultural imperative: be yourself, speak your truth, keep it 100! In this class, we’ll explore our desire for authenticity and the performative dimensions that often accompany it. You’ll leave this class with new ways of thinking about how and why we’ve idealized authenticity, what contributes to making something feel authentic, and whether authenticity accurately names our desire for “the real.”

Over five weeks, we’ll put assumptions about being “real” under pressure. Drawing on philosophy, psychology, and popular culture, we’ll ask whether there is a true self hidden beneath our social roles or whether we create ourselves as we go. Everyday ideas about authenticity often assume the former.Yet we all behave differently in different situations and with different people, so which version is the real one? We’ll also ask what happens when authenticity becomes something we consciously pursue. If we learn what authenticity is supposed to look like, can we learn to perform it? Can that performance itself be genuine?

Reality television will offer us a laboratory for these questions: shows like Naked and Afraid, Love Island, and Love Is Blind promise to reveal who people “really” are. We’ll also consider Dolly Parton, whose persona complicates easy distinctions between artifice and authenticity. Throughout, we’ll ask why distinguishing the “real” from the “fake” matters so much to us.

Expect 30–45 minutes of at-home reading from thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, D. W. Winnicott, Erving Goffman, and Judith Butler. Classes will combine short lectures, discussion, and analysis of film, television, and cultural artifacts. No prior background in philosophy or theory is necessary.

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The Fine Print

Gift certificates may only be redeemed at the full tuition tier.

SLIDING SCALE TUITION

We now offer an early-bird low-tier tuition special as a way of incentivizing early enrollment. This is available up to 4 weeks before the class begins. Early enrollment allows us to gauge if a course will meet the minimum number of students required to run the course.

Full tuition is the cost per-student of running the class. If you choose a tier below full tuition, you are receiving a discount. If you choose to make a donation in addition to full tuition, you are helping to cover the cost for students who are not able to pay the full amount.

The mid-level tier is a discounted rate for people whose household income is at or above living wage but who have limited discretionary income.

The low-level tier and the full-scholarship tier are for people whose household income is below living wage or who need extra assistance to meet their needs.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Through our fundraising efforts, we are able to offer three full scholarships per class. The full-scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering. Each student may only take one full-scholarship class at a time. Because our scholarship funding is limited, if a student selects multiple overlapping classes at the full-scholarship level, they will be disenrolled from all classes.

All sliding-scale and scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.

Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans, refund policy, and sick and inclement weather policy.

Sliding-Scale Tuition:

**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+

Full Tuition: $340 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal or Klarna at check out.

Authenticity has become a cultural imperative: be yourself, speak your truth, keep it 100! In this class, we’ll explore our desire for authenticity and the performative dimensions that often accompany it. You’ll leave this class with new ways of thinking about how and why we’ve idealized authenticity, what contributes to making something feel authentic, and whether authenticity accurately names our desire for “the real.”

Over five weeks, we’ll put assumptions about being “real” under pressure. Drawing on philosophy, psychology, and popular culture, we’ll ask whether there is a true self hidden beneath our social roles or whether we create ourselves as we go. Everyday ideas about authenticity often assume the former.Yet we all behave differently in different situations and with different people, so which version is the real one? We’ll also ask what happens when authenticity becomes something we consciously pursue. If we learn what authenticity is supposed to look like, can we learn to perform it? Can that performance itself be genuine?

Reality television will offer us a laboratory for these questions: shows like Naked and Afraid, Love Island, and Love Is Blind promise to reveal who people “really” are. We’ll also consider Dolly Parton, whose persona complicates easy distinctions between artifice and authenticity. Throughout, we’ll ask why distinguishing the “real” from the “fake” matters so much to us.

Expect 30–45 minutes of at-home reading from thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, D. W. Winnicott, Erving Goffman, and Judith Butler. Classes will combine short lectures, discussion, and analysis of film, television, and cultural artifacts. No prior background in philosophy or theory is necessary.

—

The Fine Print

Gift certificates may only be redeemed at the full tuition tier.

SLIDING SCALE TUITION

We now offer an early-bird low-tier tuition special as a way of incentivizing early enrollment. This is available up to 4 weeks before the class begins. Early enrollment allows us to gauge if a course will meet the minimum number of students required to run the course.

Full tuition is the cost per-student of running the class. If you choose a tier below full tuition, you are receiving a discount. If you choose to make a donation in addition to full tuition, you are helping to cover the cost for students who are not able to pay the full amount.

The mid-level tier is a discounted rate for people whose household income is at or above living wage but who have limited discretionary income.

The low-level tier and the full-scholarship tier are for people whose household income is below living wage or who need extra assistance to meet their needs.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Through our fundraising efforts, we are able to offer three full scholarships per class. The full-scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering. Each student may only take one full-scholarship class at a time. Because our scholarship funding is limited, if a student selects multiple overlapping classes at the full-scholarship level, they will be disenrolled from all classes.

All sliding-scale and scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.

Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans, refund policy, and sick and inclement weather policy.