Many thanks to everyone who took part in last week’s discussion with Nelson Garrido and friends from Venezuela. It was a lively and productive exchange, and we thank again María Julieta Cordero for inviting him, and for organizing this cycle of discussions and readings.
Soon, we hope to upload video of the conversation to YouTube for those who missed it.
Now, though the pandemic continues unabated (here in British Columbia, where we were once so smug, we have just set a new single-day record for new cases), it seems that something like a modified normality is returning, as classes start and the Northern summer draws to a close.
We have some more very special guests joining us in a a few weeks, but first we should explain that there will be changes in Virtual Koerner’s.
- We will have a *final* Wednesday meeting next week (September 2), at 4pm Pacific Time. We are thinking of this as closure for Virtual Koerner’s as it has existed since back in April. These have been a strange four and a half months. We are now putting them behind us.
- We welcome everyone who has participated in this space, in one way or another, to join us and perhaps reflect on this odd period, on what we have learned, on what has gone wrong, on how we have managed to continue on nonetheless.
- To help us think about all this (as well as in preparation for our next guests), we are recommending you read two chapters of Stefano Harney and Fred Moten’s book The Undercommons: chapter two, “The University and the Undercommons,” and chapter four, “Debt and Study.”
- But if you are not able to do the reading, you are still very much welcome (with a drink in hand if you wish) to this special final Wednesday session of Virtual Koerner’s.
All this will take place on Zoom, of course. Because it’s 2020.
After this final Wednesday session, Virtual Koerner’s will continue, for as long as we have the energy and desire, but it will move to Friday lunchtimes (i.e. 1pm Pacific), on alternate weeks *except* for our upcoming session, featuring a gamut of special guests, which will be on a Friday at 4pm.
In other words, here is the schedule for the next few weeks:
- Wednesday, September 2 (4pm Pacific): Final Wednesday session; reading two chapters from The Undercommons
- Friday, September 11 (1pm Pacific): First Virtual Koerner’s in its new incarnation
- Friday, September 25 (4pm Pacific): We will be joined by Fred Moten, Stefano Harney, Manolo Callahan, Denise Ferreira da Silva and Annie Paradise
- Friday, October 9 (1pm Pacific): We return to our new schedule
We are sorry if this is a little complicated. We have had to scramble a bit to find space and time as everyone becomes increasingly busy. And VK is always at the margins.
Please do feel free to invite others (whether they are in Vancouver or not) to join us. Virtual Koerner’s is fully in Phase Four of lockdown, and we are delighted to see our “bubble” continuing to expand. If anyone wants to be added to the list, they can be in touch with me.
And again, we very much welcome and invite suggestions of texts, speakers, discussion topics, and so on. We especially welcome a) texts written by VK participants (short texts can be posted to our blog, https://blogs.ubc.ca/virtualkoerners/category/blog/), and b) suggestions for linked “cycles” of sessions that might, like María Julieta’s current cycle, include different kinds of texts on a common theme.
You will hear information about subsequent meetings very shortly.
We look forward to seeing you this week.
Take care, stay alert, don’t panic, wear a mask, be kind, keep calm, and carry on.