The Metaphysics of Birth (ONLINE)

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.

Dominant Western philosophy has been preoccupied with the concept of death, but, as Fanny Soderbeck writes, “if death is the one event those writing about it have yet to experience, birth is perhaps the only experience we all—constitutively— share, insofar as we have all been born.” In this class, we’ll explore feminist, anti-racist, “non-western,” and indigenous concepts of birth and the alternative ideas about space, time, and relationality that they foreground. You’ll leave equipped with an appreciation of birth as a concept and event that can reorient how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and how we want to live in the world.

This course will take the concept and lived experiences of birth as a way to restart philosophy. We’ll study cosmologies that understand birth as a deeply spiritual and metaphysical ceremony that involves literal and metaphorical movement between realms. We’ll also discuss how racism, sexism, and classism shape the lived experience of birth and silence birth knowledges in the past and present. We’ll engage with feminist, Māori, Aboriginal Australian, and Yoruba philosophical traditions, among others. Class will be discussion based with short lectures and co-reading of texts. Out of class readings should take approximately 45-60 minutes per week.

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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.

Dominant Western philosophy has been preoccupied with the concept of death, but, as Fanny Soderbeck writes, “if death is the one event those writing about it have yet to experience, birth is perhaps the only experience we all—constitutively— share, insofar as we have all been born.” In this class, we’ll explore feminist, anti-racist, “non-western,” and indigenous concepts of birth and the alternative ideas about space, time, and relationality that they foreground. You’ll leave equipped with an appreciation of birth as a concept and event that can reorient how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and how we want to live in the world.

This course will take the concept and lived experiences of birth as a way to restart philosophy. We’ll study cosmologies that understand birth as a deeply spiritual and metaphysical ceremony that involves literal and metaphorical movement between realms. We’ll also discuss how racism, sexism, and classism shape the lived experience of birth and silence birth knowledges in the past and present. We’ll engage with feminist, Māori, Aboriginal Australian, and Yoruba philosophical traditions, among others. Class will be discussion based with short lectures and co-reading of texts. Out of class readings should take approximately 45-60 minutes per week.

—

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.