It's easy to become locked into routines. Daily grinds, professional circles, acquaintance circles, neighborhoods, seasonal events. We get our news from the same sources, we read the same books, magazines and articles, listen to the same music, shop at the same stores. We forget to branch out. We lose touch with our passions and our environment. Trapped in Plato's Cave, it is too easy to become disconnected and numbed - one has to learn to reset oneself. Innovation, the act of renewing or changing, necessitates us engaging within our environment differently in order to see new perspectives, propose novel solutions and create cutting edge tools. This class will discuss the concepts of dérive as introduced by Guy Debord and The Situationists. We will explore the applicability of this concept both in physical space as well as virtual and academic environments, as well as a first practice of dérive on our own. Let's get ready to watch those sparks fly!

Part lecture, part discussion, part psychogeographical exploration.

Handout, links, and map will be provided. Please come to class familiar with these basic pages so we can spend less time on the basics and engage in a truly fruitful discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/314 - Essay, "Theory of the Dérive"

Further links and please continue to explore if you are so inclined!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography