Author Archives: friesenn

Education as Remembrance: Presentation at University College London

On January 27, I gave paper at the Institute of Education at UCL London. The topic was Klaus Mollenhauer’s conception of Education and Bildung –as articulated in his Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing. The abstract is below; and here’s … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Unsettling the Pedagogical Relation – Starting with a Glance

This image from Ghirlandaio’s An Old Man and his Grandson (recently restored, left), was used as the cover image by Klaus Mollenhauer for his 1983 book, Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing (translated 2014), and eight years later, on the cover of … Continue reading

Posted in Bernhard Waldenfels, Bildung, Klaus Mollenhauer, Pädagogik, Phenomenology | Leave a comment

Lost in Translation: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Education and the Question of Abrichtung (Training)

Here’s the abstract for a short paper I’ve been preparing for a conference: As a landmark philosopher of language and of mind, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work, particularly in the Philosophical Investigations, has been taken up by philosophers of education in English. Christopher Winch (1998), … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

John Dewey as Media Theorist ?!

I’ve been working on this for submission to the John Dewey Society:  Communication and (Educational) Media: Dewey as a Theorist avant la lettre In addition to being an educational reformer and philosopher nonpareil, John Dewey also theorized media and communication. The inimitable Marshall … Continue reading

Posted in Media Theory | Leave a comment

Bildung, Currere and the Task of Remebrance

Presentation given as a part of the EDCP 2014-2015 Seminar Series, “International Perspectives in Curriculum and Pedagogy” hosted by William E. Doll Jr., Donna Trueit and William Pinar. Bildung, Currere and the Task of Remeberance from Norm Friesen on Vimeo. … Continue reading

Posted in Bildung, History, Klaus Mollenhauer, Pädagogik, Presentation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Herbart on Pedagogical Tact

In 1802, J.F. Herbart (1776-1841) gave a brilliant lecture on pedagogical tact, which provides many insights that remain relevant today. Here’s a 1898 translation of Herbart’s lecture, provided courtesy of Google Books. See the whole PowerPoint presentation, which situates Herbart’s discussion of tact … Continue reading

Posted in Bildung, Pädagogik, Phenomenology, Presentation | Leave a comment

Expression of the Hands (Ausdruck der Hände)

In this 1997 documentary, director and narrator Harun Farocki offers what might be called a phenomenology of the hand in cinema. The phenomenon in question, of course, is the expressive power and possibilities of the hands in film. In this … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hiedegger – the Magus of Messkirch

A 1989 documentary about Martin Heidegger, born and raised a Roman Catholic in Messkirch, Baden-Württemberg. An excellent video with well-translated English subtitles. In a number of interview fragments included here, Heidegger explains his thinking with atypical simplicity and clarity. His … Continue reading

Posted in Martin Heidegger, Phenomenology | Leave a comment

Old Literacies and the “New” Literacy Studies: Revisiting Reading and Writing

Video “abstract” and paper that recently appeared in the open, online journal Seminar.net. This paper traces a discontinuous and material history of “schooling,” writing and its technologies, rather than one that would be continuous and etymological or cultural in focus (i.e. going … Continue reading

Posted in Media Theory | Leave a comment

McLuhan’s 1960 Report on Project in Understanding New Media

This two-volume text was commissioned by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters. In the opening paragraph, McLuhan refers to it as “Project 69,” and memorably explains its purpose as follows: Project 69 in Understanding Media proposed to provide an approach to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment