[KS] Re: Moderated classroom

[Richard C. Miller]

REPLY sends your message to the whole list
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With all due respect to those of contrary opinion, not everyone believes
that Korean studies is entirely (or even best) defined by discussions of
romanization systems and North Korean steel prices. One person's
"chit-chat" is another person's research and these differences should be
respected, not derided. To my mind, the greater problem on this list has
not been a lack of focus but a lack of tolerance: too many questions or
comments, whether regarding dogs or birthing or battle flags or the
possibility of north-south discrimination in political history have been
met with accusations of racism, nationalism, and ethnocentrism in an
entirely ad hominem way. Kushibo should not have felt the need to end
his recent request for opinions on attitudes toward homosexuality in
Korea by
pleading for mercy from the list moderators.

I also find the application of Gresham's law and the classroom metaphor
to open discussion completely inappropriate, particularly when that
discussion occurs on a list server. Gresham's law concerns the
debasement of currency, which is a single-sourced commodity that
requires universal agreement on its value in order to function.
Discussion is neither single-sourced nor a commodity, and its
value--particularly in academia--is precisely in the functionality of
disagreement. Moreover, this is a discussion list, not a classroom. We
do not all have to sit silent as one person speaks, producing an ersatz
dialogue that is, in essence, a sequence of monologues. The
system is capable of sustaining as many simultaneous conversations as we
choose to produce. Of course you can use the delete button if you don't
like a topic, but this is a passive, television-watching approach to
what is an interactive medium. If you're bored with what folks are
talking about, start something new: ask a question, make a request, tell
us about your research. You can best improve the list by contributing to
it.

Richard
--Richard C. Miller
--UW School of Music
--Manado, Indonesia
--rcmiller at students.wisc.edu
  http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~rcmiller/