Consultant and anthropologist Arnold Perey teaches a terrific class at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation titled "Anthropology Is About You and Everyone." It is eye-opening in terms of scholarship and because of the deep feelings it causes you to have, about persons of long ago and far away and also about those you talk to every day!
Dr. Perey is one of the people from whom I've learned most on the subject of racism and how to oppose it, with great benefits including in my work of over 30 years as a teacher in New York City.
This is what Dr. Perey writes on his website:
"This class demonstrates with precise and vivid evidence how people everywhere in the world, including yourself--whether you live in a NY apartment or a pandanus-roof home in Papua New Guinea--can at last be understood with the depth, kindness, and scientific accuracy that humanity so needs.
"It's through the principles of Aesthetic Realism, founded by poet, critic, and educator Eli Siegel that the full reality of a person's feelings--your feelings--can be seen truly. This is the knowledge that can end racism and prejudice, as well as ill will and cruelty in homes, economies, and among nations--a statement I make carefully, definitely, and with great hope."
And I say, because of what he's learned from Aesthetic Realism, Arnold Perey should be teaching America!
The next semester starts on Wednesday, January 21, 2015.
More information about classes at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation.
