The final assignment for the UBC summer course invited students to submit responses to their engagement with the 4 denials, which provided the structure for the (un)learning bundles.<\/p>\n
The four denials are:<\/p>\n
1.the denial of systemic violence and complicity in harm: the fact that our comforts, securities and enjoyments are subsidized by expropriation and exploitation here and somewhere else<\/p>\n
2.the denial of the limits of the planet: the fact that the planet cannot sustain exponential growth and consumption<\/p>\n
3.the denial of entanglement: our insistence in seeing ourselves as separate from each other and the land, rather than \u201centangled\u201d within a living wider metabolism that is bio-intelligent<\/p>\n
4.the denial of the magnitude and complexity of global challenges: the fact that most interventions are based on simplistic solutions (that make us feel and look good), paternalistic engagements, ethnocentric ideals of justice, change and sustainability<\/p>\n
The responses could be creative, academic or “socially engaged”. Here are some of the students’ submitted responses (shared with their written consent):<\/p>\n