other pursuits
update: NOV-23-08

My body is the common texture of all objects and it is, at least with respect
to the perceived world, the general instrument of my understanding.
(Merleau-Ponty, 1945, p. 272)

More than any other western philosopher, Maurice Merleau-Ponty emphasized that we know the world as we know it because we have bodies that indissolubly tie together actions and perceptions. Subsequent philosophers such as Mark Johnson provided additional arguments and evidence for the embodied nature of our knowing and learning. I live gardening, cooking, remodelling, and cycling, to take but a few examples, in the same way that I live writing research articles and books. We always know with our body-minds.

Interested visitors might want to read the following articles that I wrote on the topic of body-mind:

Masciotra, D., Roth, W.-M., & Morel, D. (2008). Enaction: Toward a Zen mind in learning and teaching. Rotterdam: Sense.
Roth, W.-M., & Lawless, D. (2002). How does the body get into the mind? Human Studies. 24 (4), 459-481.
Roth, W.-M., & Bowen, G. M. (2001). Of disciplined minds and disciplined bodies. Qualitative Sociology, 24 (4), 459-481.

 

The links below allow you to access brief descriptions and photos of other activities that I pursue.

other pursuits   Some information on activities other than researching and teaching, for example, gardening, which I conduct, as other activities in the spirit of enactivism and Zen. The changing nature of my garden: on June 18, 2002, on October 22, 2002, on November 20, 2002, and on April 29, 2003.

gardening  We grow our own vegetables and some fruit and berry on a year-round basis.

cooking  Using ower own vegetables and other organic raw products, I cook and bake everything from scratch.

remodelling  We have now remodelled our home, taking out all the unhealthy wall-to-wall carpet and linoleum floors and installed tiles (ceramic, porcelain, and slate) and wood (parquet and strips).

cycling  Having given up my car, I do all transport and sports using one of my bicycles.

 

update: APR-15-11

talks, workshops, & new articles

making trouble
(((the most oppressive hegemony comes from where you least expect it: your friends)))

new pieces
- ZPD
- Dynamic of life
- Solidarity
- What more?
- More reflexivity
- «Mosh»
- Science hegemony
older pieces
- Identity & Community
- Mêlée & literacy
- Radical passivity
- On responsibility . . .
- On editing . . .
- Ethics as social practice
- Political ethics, unethical politics
- Vagaries and politics of funding 1
- Vagaries and politics of funding 2
- Editorial power/authorial suffering


Martin Heidegger


Jacques Derrida


Jean-Luc Nancy


Hélène Cixous


Che Guevara


Benazir Butto


Aung San Suu Kyi

preprints

Science studies
- Struggle over water 2
- Struggle over water 1
- Science and the good citizen
Scientific literacy
- Allgemeinbildung: Readiness for living in risk society
- Citizenship and science education
Gesture studies
- Gestures: The leading edge of literacy...
Workplace math
- The meaning of meaning...
- The emergence of graphing...