The Art of Subjectivity

I put a lot of stock in seeing things with my own eyes. We are our own most reliable resource. At least we think we are. Even though I am an artist, I’m a pretty literal thinker. I like facts and systems. Outcomes. Because of this I can empathize with my students when they go to see the same play (sometimes on the same night) and have completely different experiences. I’ve observed countless arguments over details from theme and objective down to the color of the dress the lead actress was wearing.

When I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois, I worked with their College of Law on a number of different projects. One of my favorite ones, however, was a demonstration for a conference attended by judges from across the state. The judges were seated for lunch in a large central room that was framed on one side by huge windows. The speaker stood at the podium on the far right with her back to the windows. The judges sat and watched as she began her presentation after the lunch dishes were cleared.  Through the window the group could see a few students sitting, studying on a bench. Very quickly a man came into view being pursued by two more people. An animated argument followed, a large knife was pulled by the follower and after a bit more arguing the second stabbed the first, threw down the knife, and ran.

The entire event took less than two minutes. In the seconds after the argument started the speaker turned (on my cue) and said “Oh my god!” This pretty effectively guaranteed that the judges would be looking out the window just before the stabbing occurred.

Neat story, but the important part here is this. Witness statements were taken from all of the judges. They were all asked to pick the attacker from a video lineup. Less than half of them were able to pick the right person. Many of them gave us descriptive information that was incorrect. The lesson for them? Witness testimony is sketchy and it’s no one’s fault. The lesson for us? Everything is subjective.

That was a hard lesson for me to learn. And then, an exhilarating one. Because the subjectivity of the human mind is what makes our community so truly exciting. One object, one thought, one event interpreted as many ways as there are people interpret it. This causes a lot of arguments. Arguments that probably should be discussions. But it also gives us a starting point for learning. Interactive learning uses subjectivity as a tool rather than a liability. It is a cornerstone of independent and abstract though.

Allowing students to take what they have learned and filter it through their particular set of experiences and ideas and then providing them a safe place to deliver it is an education unto itself, regardless of the actual content. Because, while content is important, a lot of college is spent teaching students how to think and why it’s important. So teaching a nursing student how to express the manifestation of animalism in Fool for Love or Ibsen’s use of language in Doll’s House has a value to them long after college is over and whether or not they ever attend another play.

“General Education” is not a limited term, it is a limitless one. We have more opportunity to really get to the heart of a student’s process because in their non-major classes they don’t know what to expect and therefore, are open to more. Embracing the delicate nature of their subjectivity is just the beginning of their introduction to the world. The crux lies in finding the places in our courses that we can open content up to their contributions. Once you get your hands a little dirty, you worry less about the rest.