Announcement

Classes have been listed for Spring Semester, 2012!

Register to attend a class, and help get the word out to your friends!

Classes Season Month Starting Members City Register Name
Pre-EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Ongoing October Professional 1 St. Paul Request membership OnAndOnAnonymous
The Flowing Tiger: A Modern Approach to Self Defense Spring, 2012 June Health & Wellness 1 Mpls Request membership TJ Foster
Long-Term Care Insurance Awareness Spring, 2012 When Enough Sign-Up Business & Economics 1 Twin Cities Join phillipsmithins...
Finding Your Voice Online Potential January Professional 1 Twin Cities Join Jay Gabler
Exploring Homeschooling Spring, 2012 March Personal Growth 1 West Saint Paul, MN Join homeschoolresource
Mind-Body Meditation, Spring 2012 Ongoing April Health & Wellness 1 St. Paul Join Mind-Body Oneness
SAORI Weaving Ongoing February Art & Design 1 St. Paul Request membership ksdillon
Información de Cáncer Spring, 2012 February Health & Wellness 2 Mpls Join exco
Radical Pedagogy for Teachers, EXCO Facilitators, Youth Workers, Community Educators and Organizers Spring, 2012 June Politics & Organizing 3 Mpls Join Erin Dyke
Midwest French, Francophone & Francophile Festival & Convention Discussion & Planning Series Spring, 2012 February Humanities & Cultural Studies 3 Mpls Join NHuelster
Introduction to iMovie Potential January Computers & IT 3 Twin Cities Join Jay Gabler
Occupy Support Class Potential February Politics & Organizing 4 St. Paul Join mmandregg
Money, Society and the Spirit: Building Monetary Consciousness (Part II) Ongoing January Business & Economics 4 St. Paul Join Steve G
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot (February) Potential February Bicycles 5 St. Paul Join micahthompson
Complete Bicycle Overhaul at Sibley Bike Depot (January) Potential January Bicycles 5 St. Paul Join micahthompson
Twitter 101 Ongoing March Computers & IT 5 Mpls Join Jay Gabler
The Myth of the Classless Society in America Ongoing April Politics & Organizing 5 Twin Cities Join fluffysingler
Awaken The Mantis: Self Defence with Pete Wong Spring, 2012 February Health & Wellness 6 St. Paul Join exco
Money, Society and the Spirit: An Introduction to Becoming Conscious About Money (Part I) Ongoing January Business & Economics 6 St. Paul Join Steve G
Intro to QiGong Ongoing January Health & Wellness 7 St. Paul Join DrRussell
Wheelbuilding at Sibley Bike Depot (January) Potential January Bicycles 7 St. Paul Join micahthompson
Performance & Poetry Spring, 2012 When Enough Sign-Up Humanities & Cultural Studies 7 Mpls Join JP Hansen
Cocina Spring, 2012 February Health & Wellness 8 Mpls Join exco
Kiswahili Discussion Circle Potential When Enough Sign-Up Languages 8 Mpls Join eric
South Side Free Skool Roots to Revolution: Food February Workshop Series Potential February Do-It-Yourself 9 Mpls Join sarah.hf
Teach-In: Cargill's Corporate Personhood and Impacts on our Food System Potential When Enough Sign-Up Politics & Organizing 9 Twin Cities Join Hillary L.
Rhythm in the 20th Century Spring, 2012 March Music 9 Mpls Join ted.moore
Indigenous Imperative: Native Thought and its Implications for Our Future Spring, 2012 February Politics & Organizing 9 St. Paul Join exco
Screenprinting with Living Proof: Workshop for People of Color Spring, 2012 March Art & Design 10 Mpls Request membership whale
"Games" for Facilitators, Teachers and Learners Spring, 2012 February Do-It-Yourself 12 Mpls Join bjhokanson
On Debt: An Anti-capitalist Reading Group Ongoing March Politics & Organizing 12 Mpls Join eliumn
Improvised Contact Between Luminous Beings Spring, 2012 February Dance 14 Mpls Join ryanpusch
Mahadrin Klezmer Music Ensemble Ongoing Ongoing Music 15 Mpls Join Raysh
Restore Urban Land with Native Wild Gardens Spring, 2012 March Do-It-Yourself 15 Mpls Join ---
Complete Bicycle Overhaul at Cycles for Change (formerly Sibley Bike Depot) (May) Spring, 2012 April Bicycles 16 St. Paul Join micahthompson
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot (March) Potential February Bicycles 16 St. Paul Join micahthompson
DIY Screenprinting with Living Proof Print Collective Potential March Do-It-Yourself 17 Mpls Join andrew.gramm
Street Medic Training Spring, 2012 March Health & Wellness 17 Mpls Join donnelkh
Figure Drawing Co-op Ongoing February Art & Design 18 St. Paul Join ArtAlliance
Programming & Design Potential When Enough Sign-Up Computers & IT 18 still need to schedule a space Request membership gavin
Living Will Workshop: Creating Your Own Advance Directive for Medical Care Potential When Enough Sign-Up Health & Wellness 19 Mpls Join parkx032
Tumbling Composter Building Workshop Spring, 2012 April Do-It-Yourself 22 Mpls Join sarah.hf
Traditional Artisans: Preserving the Folk School Education Potential When Enough Sign-Up Do-It-Yourself 24 Twin Cities Join Steve G
Building an Earth Oven Spring, 2012 March Art & Design 28 Mpls Request membership josh.tolkan
Experiment in Collaborative Creativity. Spring, 2012 April Personal Growth 28 Mpls Join cjemerson
Creating a World Peace Force Ongoing Ongoing Politics & Organizing 30 world-wide electronic group Join exco
Seed starting workshop Spring, 2012 April Do-It-Yourself 32 Mpls Join sarah.hf
Loneliness, Depression, Anxiety, and Death: Our Existential Predicament Potential When Enough Sign-Up Psychology 34 world-wide electronic group Join parkx032
Gourmet Vegetarian: The Diet of Sustainability Ongoing September Health & Wellness 36 Mpls Join samuel.haiden
Basic Bike Maintenance at Cycles for Change formerly Sibley Bike Depot (April) Spring, 2012 April Bicycles 37 St. Paul Join micahthompson
Knit & Such Ongoing Ongoing Do-It-Yourself 41 Mpls Join michelle
Bread! Spring, 2012 March Do-It-Yourself 43 Mpls Join Ainsley
Imprinted Sexual Fantasies: A New Key for Sexology Potential When Enough Sign-Up Love, Sex, & Relationships 50 Mpls Join exco
Are You a Person of Spirit? Six Capacities of Our Human Spirits Potential When Enough Sign-Up Religion 54 Mpls Join parkx032
Voluntary Poverty: How to Simplify Your Life Potential When Enough Sign-Up Politics & Organizing 134 Mpls Join exco
New Ways of Loving: How Authenticity Transforms Relationships Potential When Enough Sign-Up Love, Sex, & Relationships 135 Mpls Join exco
Becoming More Authentic: The Positive Side of Existentialism Potential When Enough Sign-Up Personal Growth 170 Mpls Join exco
XLS

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - 22:56

TEACH an ExCo class this summer! - Class applications due May 19th

YOU ARE A TEACHER.  We can help you share your skills and knowledge.

All are welcome to teach.  Classes are free and open to everyone! 

Classes can be on all kinds of subjects—from gardening and bike maintenance to feminism and anarchist anthropology—and in all sorts of formats—reading groups, skill-shares, workshops, discussions.  Small amounts of funds may be available for class supplies and honorariums.

Join the movement for free, community-led education!

Class applications due by January May 19th  Most classes will start in late June.  Apply at http://excotc.org/ or call and leave a message at 651-998-9268.  

Questions? - email us at excotc@gmail.com

 

Enseñe una clase con Academia Comunitaria y ExCo / Aplica antes del 19 de Mayo.

¿Te gustaria participar en una Academia Comunitaria donde tienes la oportunidad de
ENSEÑAR y APRENDER?

Estamos buscando gente con interés de compartir sus conocimientos con la comunidad.
Únete al movimiento de la Educación Gratuita para tod@s.

Aplica para enseñar antes del 19 de Mayo.

Algunos fondos podrían estar disponibles para el abastecimiento de clase y honorarios.
Para mas información llama al (612) 267-4565 o ver http://excotc.org/academia

Educación Comunitaria Experímental de las Ciudades Gemelas (ExCo)

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Monday, February 27, 2012 - 12:12

Okay, so EXCO doesn't really have a birthDAY per se, but the organizing started in the Spring of 2006, and continues to build today.

So it's time to celebrate! As we kick-off our Spring 2012 season of classes, come party in the park to honor our work together.

Saturday, March 3, 1-3:30pm
at Matthews Park
(24th St E and 29th Ave S in Minneapolis)

Come meet new friends in the EXCO community! Join a SAORI weaving workshop and portrait drawing workshop, hear spoken word by the performance poetry class, play in games in the park, do some screen printing and eat good food.

If you feel able, bring some food to share. If not, there will be plenty for you to eat.

P.S. Check out EXCO's all new FREE classes this Spring!
Visit !uri for full class listings and to register. Most classes begin in early March.

Read More |

Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 00:51

Check out EXCO's all new FREE classes this Spring!

Visit http://www.excotc.org/ for full class listings and to register. Most classes will begin in early March. All classes are free and open to everyone!  Classes include...

 DIY Transportation and Food:

  • Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot;
  • Bread!;
  • Restore Urban Land with Native Wild Gardens;
  • Seed starting workshop;
  • Tumbling Composter Building Workshop;

Art and Music:

  • DIY Screenprinting;
  • Performance & Poetry;
  • Rhythm in the 20th Century;
  • SAORI Weaving;

Education and Languages:

  • Exploring Homeschooling;
  • Midwest French;
  • Francophone & Francophile Festival & Convention Discussion & Planning Series;

Social Justice, Organizing, and Anti-capitalism:

  • "Games" for Facilitators, Teachers and Learners;
  • Occupy Support Class;
  • On Debt: An Anti-capitalist Reading Group;
  • Cargill's Corporate Personhood and Impacts on our Food System;
  • The Myth of the Classless Society in America;
  • Food Justice: Theory and Action;

Media:

  • Finding Your Voice Online;
  • Introduction to iMovie;
  • Twitter 101

Spirituality:

  • Improvised Contact Between Luminous Beings;
  • Reverence: Being Alive in the Sacred and Accountable to the All?;

Academia Comunitaria: (en español)

  • Dibujo Para Niños;
  • Unas Acrilicas;
  • Reposteria;
  • Maquillaje;
  • Mecanica;
  • How to Draw a Portrait;
  • Circulo de Risas;
  • Grupo de Hombres;
  • Información de Cáncer;
  • Cocina Mexicana

See http://www.excotc.org/ for full class details and to register!

Read More |

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - 22:26

TEACH an ExCo class this winter/spring! - Class applications due January 20th

Want to share your knowledge and skills? 

All are welcome to teach. Classes are free and open to everyone! 

Classes can be on all kinds of subjects—from gardening and bike maintenance to feminism and anarchist anthropology—and in all sorts of formats—reading groups, skill-shares, workshops, discussions.  Small amounts of funds may be available for class supplies and honorariums.

Join the movement for free, community-led education!

Class applications due by January 20th  Most classes will start in early March.  Apply at http://excotc.org/ or call and leave a message at 651-998-9268You can also pick up an application at the new South Side Free Skool hub at the Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406).

Questions? - email us at excotc@gmail.com

 

Enseñe una clase con Academia Comunitaria y ExCo / Aplica antes del 20 de enero.

¿Te gustaria participar en una Academia Comunitaria donde tienes la oportunidad de
ENSEÑAR y APRENDER?

Estamos buscando gente con interés de compartir sus conocimientos con la comunidad.
Únete al movimiento de la Educación Gratuita para tod@s.

Aplica para enseñar antes del 20 de enero.

Algunos fondos podrían estar disponibles para el abastecimiento de clase y honorarios.
Para mas información llama al (612)724-7457 o ver http://excotc.org/academia
También puede recoger una aplicación en la South Side Free Skool en Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Avenida. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406).

Educación Comunitaria Experímental de las Ciudades Gemelas (ExCo)

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 22:33

EXCO's Fall Kick-off Party

Come celebrate the kick-off of EXCO's Fall classes!  Join us to enjoy yummy food, spoken word performance, and skill-shares—bike maintenance, screenprinting, and more!  You can also talk with facilitators about the upcoming classes and learn how to get involved.

Saturday, September 24 · 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Location:
Minnehaha Free Space
(3458 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis)

Check out the many new EXCO classes at http://excotc.org/.

 

Everyday Revolutions Workshop and Discussion Series

A workshop series focusing on topics and skills that contribute to building resilient communities and relationships based upon resistance, mutual support, well-being, and joy.  See below for a schedule of the workshops.  More detailed info on each workshop at www.excotc.org coming soon!   Join us for the kick off event Sunday, Oct. 2 and let's discuss the revolution!

Schedule of workshops:
October
Sun. 10/2 (3-5pm) Revolution! kickoff, discussion, food, fun

Wed. 10/5 (6-8pm) Stenciling

Sun. 10/9 (3-5pm) White Privilege

Wed. 10/12 (6-8pm) Mental Health

Sun. 10/16 (3-5pm) Protest: know your legal rights

Wed. 10/19 (6:30-8pm) Zine Making starting 

Sun. 10/23 (3-5pm) DIY Soaps, Shampoo, and More

November
Wed. 11/2 Screen printing

Sun. 11/6 Queer and Trans Issues

Wed. 11/9 Sewing and Fibers (tentative)

Sun. 11/13 Direct Action

Wed. 11/16 How to Deal with Police

Sun. 11/20 First Aid

--------------------All workshops will take place at the Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis)

Read More |

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - 10:13

New Fall Classes!/ Academia Comunitaria Clases Gratis/Everyday Revolutions Workshop series


From Bike Commuting to Queer Theory and the Hebrew Bible, EXCO is ringing in Fall with new FREE classes!

Visit http://www.excotc.org for full class listings and to register, or click on the link from each class below.  Most classes will begin in late September.

Politics and Organizing
Having a Life and Being an Activist/Organizer

Questioning Ourselves
Making Headlines, Making Change: Media Work for Social Justice Activists
World War II: A Rich Source of Metaphor for our Time

Economics
Money, Society and the Spirit: Becoming Conscious About Money

Arts
Writing and Performing Political Theatre

How to Listen to and Appreciate Classical Music
Experiment in Collaborative Creativity.

Dance
House Dance Nation (Youth Only)

Belly Dancing

Building an Earth Oven
Religion
Queer Theory and the Hebrew Bible

Philosophy
Introduction to Marxist Theory

Health and Wellness
Mind-Body Meditation

Expressions for Wellness & Effectiveness (EWE) Workshops

Gourmet Vegetarian: The Diet of Sustainability
Good Vibes: Energy Healing & Increasing Bliss
Languages
Kiswahili Discussion Circle

Navigating American Sign Language Access in Your Activism
Bikes
Commuting by Bicycle at Sibley Bike Depot

Complete Bicycle Overhaul at Sibley Bike Depot (September)
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Radical Parenting Art & Discussion Workshops

The Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence?
Indigenous Imperative: Native Thought and its Implications for Our Future



Facilitator Spotlight: Ray Tricomo
Ray has been an EXCO facilitator every session since we started in 2006! An activist and writer, Ray had this to share in a recent conversation:

My best classes, bar none, have been instances of where we had this wonderful mix. That was part of the original charter of Exco, to get community people and the regular eighteen to twenty two year old college student set together. Case in point, last spring semester, one of my best classes in Native thought, I had three Mac kids and two older, working class guys. A father and a son. And they got along splendidly! A couple years ago I taught my first cinema class. I had these two young women from Albania and India and I had an older Italian lady from New Jersey and a construction worker from New York who actually sounded like he would've been an extra in the Godfather. And I loved it! They got along magnificently. I think the mix works. I support the original intent, and dare I say, the expanding intent of Exco. I hope this spreads, I really do. Like butter on toast...
All of Ray's classes this year are held at Macalester College, Old Main Room 001. The Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-dependence is on Mondays 6:00-8:00pm, World War II: A Source of Metaphor for Our Time is on Wednesdays 6:00-8:00pm, and Indigenous Imperative: Native Thought and its Implications is Thursdays 6:00-8:00pm.

Clases Gratis de ACADEMIA COMUNITARIA

 

(Para mas info llama al facilitador/a o a 651-998-9268)

Aerobicos
Powderhorn Park 3400 15th Av S

Martes 7:00 - 8:00pm

Arte: Mosaico
Miércoles 6:30 - 8:30pm

(612)207-4901

Baile
Waite House 2529 13th Av S

Carmen Casanova (763)442-1094

Belleza: Peinados

Corcoran Park 3334 20th Av S

Lunes y Miércoles 4:00 - 7:00pm

Belleza: Maquillaje
Corcoran Park 3334 20th Av S

Lunes 6:00 - 7:30pm

Belleza: Manicure, Pedicure
Powderhorn Park 3400 15th Av S

Jueves 5:00 - 8:00pm

Cardio Kickboxing
Sabathani 310 E 38th St

Erika Kennedy (612)735-3504

Cocina Latina
Powderhorn Park 3400 15th Av S

Martes 5:00 - 7:00pm

Zumba
Sabathani 310 E 38th St

Emilia Campos (612)298-5114

Everyday Revolutions: A Free Workshop Series

Everyday Revolutions is a series of workshops at the Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Ave S, Minneapolis) focused on skills to empower people in their day-to-day lives as well as for creating and maintaining healthy and accepting relationships with each other. This workshop series, in accordance with South Side Free Skool's radical and DIY emphasis, hopes to strengthen connections and build interest in these topics, creating a strong foundation for future classes in SSFS and fostering revolutionary cultures. Check back on our facebook page to see what's happening!

The South Side Free Skool is focused on
- empowering the southside radical and DIY community
- making this community accessible and relevant to a wider variety of folks
- incubating new projects and campaigns
- fostering intentionally sustainable, anti-capitalist, anti-oppressive communities and cultures
- mapping and strengthening the diverse assets and resources of South Minneapolis

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
EXCO: Where anyone can take or teach a class and all the classes are FREE!
Exco_small.jpg

Want to check in on what's new with EXCO?
Facebook can tell you?! Like us!
For a look ahead, we have a public Exco GOOGLE CALENDAR that will show you upcoming events!

Questions? Ideas? Concerns? -> Please email them to excotc@gmail.com
or call 651/998-9268

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - 10:39

TEACH an ExCo class this fall! - Class applications due August 18th

Want to share your knowledge and skills? 

All are welcome to teach. Classes are free and open to everyone!

Classes can be on all kinds of subjects—from gardening and bike maintenance to feminism and anarchist anthropology—and in all sorts of formats—reading groups, skill-shares, workshops, discussions.  Small amounts of funds may be available for class supplies and honorariums.

Join the movement for free, community-led education!

Class applications due by August 18th Classes will start in mid-late September.  Apply at http://excotc.org/ or call and leave a message at 651-998-9268You can also pick up an application at the new South Side Free Skool hub at the Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406).

Questions? - email us at excotc@gmail.com

 

Enseñe una clase con Academia Comunitaria y ExCo / Aplica antes del 18 de agosto.

¿Te gustaria participar en una Academia Comunitaria donde tienes la oportunidad de
ENSEÑAR y APRENDER?

Estamos buscando gente con interés de compartir sus conocimientos con la comunidad.
Únete al movimiento de la Educación Gratuita para tod@s.

Aplica para enseñar antes del 18 de agosto.

Algunos fondos podrían estar disponibles para el abastecimiento de clase y honorarios.
Para mas información llama al (612)724-7457 o ver http://excotc.org/academia
También puede recoger una aplicación en la South Side Free Skool en Minnehaha Free Space (3458 Minnehaha Avenida. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406).

Educación Comunitaria Experímental de las Ciudades Gemelas (ExCo)

Read More |

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 11:42

In this newsletter:

  • EXCO at Shut Down, Rise Up! Convergence - July 1
  • Summer Classes
  • Facilitating Fall classes at Mpls Parks

 

*** EXCO at Shut Down, Rise UP!

In anticipation of Minnesota's expected government shutdown on July 1st, EXCO community members can contribute to a constructive project during the crisis: "Shut Down, Rise Up!"   Starting on July 1st, we’ll be coming together in Powderhorn Park (3400 15th Ave S, Mpls) every evening to share resources, organize political action, and build community.  We encourage EXCO folks to share your skills and knowledge by putting on skill-shares, workshops, and classes at the convergence. 

A free meal will be provided starting at 5pm every day, followed by a general assembly. We’ll also have music and fun!  Bring what you can and take what you need! - RSVP on facebook

What is Shut Down Rise Up? [para el español, haga clic aquí]

On July 1st, the Minnesota state government will likely shutdown. Tens of thousands of public employees could be laid off, and cutbacks on services ranging from transportation to health coverage, food stamps to nursing homes, homeless shelters to the court system could have devastating effects on many more.

As anti-authoritarians, we recognize both the immediate need people have for the government to return to its regular operations (for many, this is a matter of survival), and also the fact that the government and corporations work in tandem to exploit our communities and strip them of self-sufficiency.

As invested members of our communities, we’re responding by starting to address the needs and issues arising from the shutdown while also presenting our own analysis of the system that has produced this crisis. We are converging to pool resources, services, and political actions that will address some of the immediate needs created by the shutdown. We intend to occupy a shared physical space for the purposes of this resource-sharing and community building, and also to maintain an internet information hub on actions and alternative services related to the shutdown.

For more info and a poster/pamphlet to download, see ShutDownRiseUp.org

For updates, subscribe to an announcements list by sending an email to:
SDRU+subscribe@googlegroups.com

 

*** Summer Classes - Liberate your education this summer with EXCO's free community-led classes!

Over 40 classes!  Visit http://www.excotc.org for full class listings and to register.  Some awesome classes are starting soon.  Many have already started, but you if you contact the class facilitator they often do not mind late joiners.

Más de 40 clases! Visita http://www.excotc.org para las listas de la clase completa y para inscribirse. Algunas clases son impresionantes punto de empezar. Muchos ya han comenzado, pero si se comunica con el facilitador de clase a menudo no les importa carpinteros tarde.

*** Facilitating Fall Classes at Mpls Parks / Facilitar las clases de otoño en los parques Minneapolis

Are you interested in facilitating an EXCO class in the Fall of 2011 at a Minneapolis park building?  If you would like to use a space in the buildings of Powderhorn Park, Corcoran Park, or others, please let us know by July 1st.  Thanks!
 
We need advance notice in order to communicate with the parks people about it.  We are working out an arrangement with the parks to make it easier to have spaces and to get your classes listed in their publicity.
 
¿Está usted interesado en la facilitación de una clase de EXCO en el otoño de 2011 en un edificio del parque de Minneapolis? Si desea utilizar un espacio en los edificios de Powderhorn Park, Parque de Corcoran, u otros, por favor háganoslo saber por 1 de julio. Gracias!
 
Necesitamos antelación con el fin de comunicarse con la gente parques al respecto. Estamos trabajando en un acuerdo con los parques para que sea más fácil tener espacios y para obtener las clases enumeradas en su publicidad.

Read More |

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - 01:08

In this newsletter:

  • EXCO's Summer classes listed on the website
  • Clases Gratis en Español con Academia Comunitaria
  • The Launch Project: South Side Free Skool introductory celebration  - June 17th
  • Facilitating Fall classes at Mpls Parks
  • EXCO events calendar

*** Summer Classes - Liberate your education this summer with EXCO's free community-led classes!

Over 40 classes!  Visit http://www.excotc.org for full class listings and to register, or click on the link from each class below.  Most classes begin in mid-late June.

Classes include...   [ver más abajo para las clases en español]

**Politics and organizing:

Feminism Discussion Circle

Grassroots Organizing: Media 101

Herbal and Community Approaches to Disasters

Introduction to the Commons

Modern Currents in Anarchist Thought

Psychology and Community Activism

Reading Marx's Capital

Working for Social Change: Values that Guide and Misguide Us

 

**Do-it-yourself:

Basic Alterations no. 1 Hems!

Cooking Seminars in Hamline Midway

Designing for a Changing Future: Gasification

Fermentation Basics

Knit & Such

COMPLETE BIKE OVERHAUL at Sibley Bike Depot

Stuff that's tricky to do with a camera

 

**Reading and discussion groups:

Abolition, Race, Science Fiction: Reading Octavia Butler's Kindred and Terry Bisson's Fire on the Mountain

Adventures in Science Fiction

Kiswahili Discussion Circle

Lojban Learning Club

 

**Health and wellness:

Mind-Body Meditation

POST-COLONIAL YOGA

Pure Yoga

The Roving Women's Cycling Club

Yoga and Creativity

 

**Music, art, dance, writing:

Fiction Writer's Workshop: Techniques for Creating and Revising Fiction

House Dance Nation

KLEZMER

Playing with Words: An Experimental Poetry Workshop

Stolen Words: Plagiarism in the Age of Hip Hop, Sampling and the Internet

 

**Math and Science:

BIOCHEMISTRY

Introduction to Precalculus and Calculus I

 

**And more…

Business and Communication Skills

FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE ONLINE

Origins of the Bible: How Stories Were Compiled into the Old Testament

 

***Clases Gratis en Español con Academia Comunitaria:

Clases de Verano:
Llama al facilitador para mas informacion --  o excotc.org/academia

Clase                   Facilitador    Teléfono             Hora, Lugar [lista a continuación]
Baile                    Carmen        763-442-1094    Ma 11:30am,WH
Bicicleta
mantenimiento     Alicia            651-222-2080    J, 6:30-8:30pm,  SB
Belleza                Silvia             612-724-7457    J, 5-8pm, PP
Caminando para salud  Teresa 612-724-8661      L-V, 7-8am, PP
Cardio-KickBoxing    Erika        612-735-3504    Ma, J, 11:30am, SC
Cicloturismo para mujeres  Julia  y Liz    530.574.7508  Mi, 5pm, 3530 E. 28th St., Mpls.
Computacion           Ayanna    612-986-5742    V, 12-2pm, PP
Frances                  John    612-990-3547    Ma, 6-8pm, PP
Fútbol                      Alex    612-724-8661     J, 5-7pm, PP
Inglés                  Ayanna    612-986-5742       J, 6-8pm, PP
Intercambio
(Inglés/Español)  Ayanna y Teresa    612-986-5742    D, 12-3pm, PP
Luchas populares Latino americanas  Christian y Marco    612-207-4901    Mi, 4:30pm, WC
Manicura
y Pedicura             Silvia    612-267-4565     L, Mi, 6-7pm, CP
Maquillaje             Lizbel    612-296-0193    L, 5-7pm, CP
Nutricion
para Niños           Penny    612-259-0068    S, 12-2pm, PP
Ubuntu                 Robert    612-973-6151    llama
Zumba                 Emilia    612-298-5114    Mi,11:30am,SC

Lugares:
CP: Corcoran Park,
PP: Powderhorn Park,
SB: Sibley Bike Depot,
SC: Sabathani Community Center,
WC: Walker Church,
WH: Waite House.

 

***The Launch Project: A South Side Free Skool Introductory Celebration

Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities Presents:
******THE LAUNCH PROJECT******
a south side free skool introductory celebration

Come celebrate the launch of EXCO’s newest chapter, the South Side Free Skool, connecting education with people’s everyday lives and experiences for the southside radical and DIY community!
Friday, June 17 at 7:00pm - late

location: Stone Soup House, 3100 5th Ave S, Minneapolis

7pm – Fire lighting, food roasting, DIY skill shares, info table and group build launch project

~10pm – South Side Free Skool Launch Ceremony

After – DANCE PARTY feat. The Pleasure Principle Team, The Fourier Transformers and possible special guests

Tentative DIY skill shares include:
- Fire building
- Cooking over a fire
- Zine making
- Knitting
- Music
- Basic First Aid
- Bike maintenance
- Basic carpentry
- Banner making
+PLUS group build project to create Rube Goldberg-esque device to "LAUNCH" the south side free skool!

+LEARN+SHARE+EAT+DRINK+TEACH+DANCE+HAVE FUN+

For more information email andrewmeeker@gmail.com
 
*** Facilitating Fall Classes at Mpls Parks / Facilitar las clases de otoño en los parques Minneapolis
 
Are you interested in facilitating an EXCO class in the Fall of 2011 at a Minneapolis park building?  If you would like to use a space in the buildings of Powderhorn Park, Corcoran Park, or others, please let us know by July 1st.  Thanks!
 
We need advance notice in order to communicate with the parks people about it.  We are working out an arrangement with the parks to make it easier to have spaces and to get your classes listed in their publicity. 
 
¿Está usted interesado en la facilitación de una clase de EXCO en el otoño de 2011 en un edificio del parque de Minneapolis? Si desea utilizar un espacio en los edificios de Powderhorn Park, Parque de Corcoran, u otros, por favor háganoslo saber por 1 de julio. Gracias!
 
Necesitamos antelación con el fin de comunicarse con la gente parques al respecto. Estamos trabajando en un acuerdo con los parques para que sea más fácil tener espacios y para obtener las clases enumeradas en su publicidad.
 
*** EXCO Events Calendar
Want to keep track of upcoming EXCO events?  Check out our google calendar here.
 
Questions? Ideas? Concerns? -> Please email them to excotc@gmail.com
Read More |

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - 22:10

Sunday May 22nd, 2-4pm @ Powderhorn Park Community Center

3rd Annual Facilitator Appreciation Event!

 

Join us for a fantastic afternoon in honor of the wonderful volunteers who share their knowledges and skills with us every session.  If you are a facilitator, past, present, or future please let us know if you plan to attend.   There will be plenty of food to go around!

Participants!  We are looking for people to bring food items to share as a way to say thank you to your facilitators.  What better way to let them know how much you appreciate their work than with a fancy baked good!  Please contact Andrew (andrewmeeker@gmail.com) if you plan to bring a dish.

Does your class have something you'd like to share with the EXCO community?  A performance, project, or idea?  Contact Ayanna (clannaddubh@gmail.com)

Everyone!  Please let us know about your experience with EXCO.  Fill out our online survey by clicking here!

________________________________________________________________________

Domingo22 de mayo, 2-4pm en el Centro Powderhorn Parque

Evento Anual de Apreciación facilitador!

Únase anosotrosparaunatardefantásticaenhonor alos maravillosos voluntariosque compartensusconocimientosyhabilidadesconnosotros en cadasesión. Siusted esunfacilitador, pasado,presenteofuturo,por favor,háganos sabersiustedplaneaasistir. Habrámuchacomidapara todos!

Los participantes! Estamosbuscandoagente paratraeralimentospara compartircomo una maneradedecir graciasasusfacilitadores. ¿Qué mejormaneradehacerlessaberlo muchoqueapreciamossutrabajoque conunlujoal hornobien! Póngase en contacto conAndrew(andrewmeeker@gmail.com) si vaallevar unplato.

¿Tienesuclase detener algoque tegustaríacompartir con lacomunidadEXCO? Unaactuación, proyecto oidea? Póngase en contacto conAyanna(clannaddubh@gmail.com)

Todo el mundo!Por favor,háganossaber acercade suexperienciaconEXCO.Llenenuestra encuestaen líneahaciendo click aquí!

Read More |

Thursday, May 5, 2011 - 14:20

¿Te gustaria participar en una Academia Comunitaria donde tienes la oportunidad de
ENSEÑAR y APRENDER?

Estamos buscando gente con interés de compartir sus conocimientos con la comunidad.
Únete al movimiento de la Educación Gratuita para tod@s.

Aplica para enseñar antes del 19 de mayo.

Algunos fondos podrían estar disponibles para el abastecimiento de clase y honorarios.
Para mas información llama al (612)724-7457 o ver http://excotc.org/academia
 

Educación Comunitaria Experímental de las Ciudades Gemelas (ExCo)

Read More |

Thursday, May 5, 2011 - 14:02

Want to share your knowledge and skills?  
            -> TEACH an ExCo class this summer!

All are welcome to teach. Classes are free and open to everyone!

 
Classes can be on all kinds of subjects—from gardening and bike maintenance to feminism and anarchist anthropology—and in all sorts of formats—reading groups, skill-shares, workshops, discussions.  Small amounts of funds may be available for class supplies and honorariums.

Join the movement for free, community-led education! 

Class applications due by May 19th Classes will start in mid-late June.  Apply at http://excotc.org/ or call and leave a message at 651-998-9268. 

Questions? - email us at excotc@gmail.com

Read More |

Monday, April 4, 2011 - 20:06

I. Spring Session Classes

II. MayDay Preparations

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

IV. Whose University? April 20th Day of Education & Workshops

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

 

I. Spring Session Classes

 

There are still opportunities to take part in EXCO’s spring session!

Check out www.excotc.org for more classes/workshops that haven’t started yet (but soon!) – including:

IWW Work People's College

Data Security Now! or, What Your Data is Doing Behind Your Back and What You Can Do About It

Good Vibes: Energy Healing & Increasing Bliss

Basic Hand Stitching and Sewing Machine Class

Child Development and Arts Education

Controversy to Canon: Watching Lucinda Childs' "Dance"

Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot (April), Mantenimiento de Bicicletas)

Learn to fix the brakes on your bike!

Go Wild! Sharing Survival Skills for Uncertain Times

Make Media, Make Trouble – Classroom & Action

If you’re interested in facilitating a class – Summer Session class applications are available here.

 

II. MayDay Preparations

EXCO is hosting an information table at MayDay! We need you to help! Please contact Erin (erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815-302-2481) if you’d like to help out in any of the following ways:

1. Volunteer for 1 or more hours for Heart of the Beast in exchange for our free info table   registration (passing out programs, stuff like that)

2. Do a skill-share at our info table

3. Help pass out EXCO fliers at our info table or during the parade

 

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

A new chapter of Experimental Community Education of the TC (EXCO) is in the works!

By forming this new chapter, we seek to bring more organizers, classes and energy to EXCO, where anyone can teach or take a class and all classes are free.

We hope our efforts will support and create resources for other EXCO groups, too, like

Academia Comunitaria (todas las clases se imparten en español) and the proposed Cedar Riverside chapter. Most of all, we want to see more classes that will help strengthen cultures of community

sustainability and resistance.

Come to our next meeting/meal (April 17 at 5:30pm at 3100 5th Ave S., Minneapolis) or contact Jaime Hokanson at haloka@riseup.net or 612-655-1080 for more information.

 

IV. Whose University? April 20th Day of Education & Workshops

Wednesday, April 20th – 11am to 4pm at Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota

Whose University? is organizing a “Day of Education & Workshops” at the University of Minnesota April 20th, focused on the reality of racial and economic exclusions in higher education.  We will explore what is happening at the University of Minnesota specifically and connections to the daily life of students across the state of Minnesota. We are organizing buses of high school students to come to the University - where we’ll provide lunch, have an event (“teach in”), host a press conference and then break up into workshops.  The day is an opportunity for young people to think more about policy, debate current social issues, engage in collaborative learning, and think critically about the value of higher education.

Check out the Facebook page for Whose University for more info on the event here. RSVP here.

 

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

Featuring Chicago Teachers' Union President Karen Lewis

Saturday, April 9 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Building

312 Central Avenue N.E., Minneapolis

The keynote speaker will be Karen Lewis, recently elected President of the Chicago Teachers Union and a member of CORE- Caucus of Rank & File Educators. In her election acceptance speech last June, Ms Lewis declared, “Today marks the beginning of the end of scapegoating educators for all the social ills that our children, families and schools struggle against every day. Today marks the beginning of a fight for true transparency in our educational policy — how to accurately measure learning and teaching, how to truly improve our schools, and how to evaluate the wisdom behind our spending priorities.”

Organized by Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota

PEJAM is a grassroots community organization of teachers, parents, students, and community members dedicated to defending and supporting a fully funded, just, equitable, and democratic system of public education. Join PEJAM on Facebook.

 

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

The Bruce High Quality Foundation + Creative Time present:

TEACH 4 AMERIKA

A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

Saturday April 9, 4-5:30pm

@ Regis Center for Art, In-Flux Auditorium

Free + open to the public

Hosted in Minneapolis by the Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota, Soap Factory, 1419, and the Experimental College of the Twin Cities

Teach 4 Amerika combines the spectacle and energy of a political rally with the substantive dialog of a conversation series, featuring a multimedia presentation by the group, balloons, t-shirts, and music from local pep bands...

A 5-week, 11-city, coast-to-coast road trip that crosses state lines and institutional boundaries to inspire and enable local art students to define the future of their own educational experience.

Traveling the byways of America in a limousine painted as a school bus, BHQF brings together concerned educators, artists, arts administrators, and—most importantly—students to BRAINSTORM THE FUTURE OF ART SCHOOLS.

***What are they for?

***How should they be organized?

***If not for careers, what is the essence of art itself?

These fundamental questions have long haunted artists, and the BHQF are interested in putting the questions back in the hands of students across America through a combination of dynamic public rallies and intimate conversations.

“Teach 4 Amerika aims to empower artists to create the education they need and not beholden them to a system that professionalizes them out of their own specificity,” said the BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION.

“The Teach 4 Amerika tour will highlight the contradictions and crisis operating at the center of art education in the United States today,” said NATO THOMPOSON, Chief Curator, CREATIVE TIME.

 

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

The U of M’s Social Sciences Tower on the West Bank was recently occupied by a coalition of students for four days demanding the right to peacefully occupy space at our public, land-grant university, that the public has reasonable access to university resources, that the university respect the rights of all workers to organize and to earn at least a living wage, tuition and fee reductions, that regents be democratically elected by the university community, and that the university treat student groups fairly and equitable with respect to funding and space and that student groups on the 2nd floor of Coffman Union be able to keep their spaces.

Check out umnsolidarity.wordpress.com and this “UK Exclusive Interview: UMN Solidarity Occupation” from The New Current.  It was conducted in the midst of the occupation, just before the occupiers were evicted on Thursday night.

Post-eviction, students are continuing to develop the movement, building on the many relationships formed during the occupation.  To learn more, show your support, or get involved, stop by the Social Sciences building, 1st floor, from 1pm-5pm Mon-Fri, to chat.

 

           *******************************************************************************************************

 

In Solidarity,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

www.excotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

(651) 998-9268

Read More |

Monday, April 4, 2011 - 20:01

I. Spring Session Classes

II. MayDay Preparations

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

IV. Whose University? April 20th Day of Education & Workshops

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

 

I. Spring Session Classes

 

There are still opportunities to take part in EXCO’s spring session! If you’re interested in facilitating a class – Summer Session class applications are available here.

Check out www.excotc.org for more classes/workshops that haven’t started yet (but soon!) – including:

IWW Work People's College

Data Security Now! or, What Your Data is Doing Behind Your Back and What You Can Do About It

Good Vibes: Energy Healing & Increasing Bliss

Basic Hand Stitching and Sewing Machine Class

Child Development and Arts Education

Controversy to Canon: Watching Lucinda Childs' "Dance"

Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot (April), Mantenimiento de Bicicletas)

Learn to fix the brakes on your bike!

Go Wild! Sharing Survival Skills for Uncertain Times

Make Media, Make Trouble – Classroom & Action

 

II. MayDay Preparations

EXCO is hosting an information table at MayDay! We need you to help! Please contact Erin (erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815-302-2481) if you’d like to help out in any of the following ways:

1. Volunteer for 1 or more hours for Heart of the Beast in exchange for our free info table   registration (passing out programs, stuff like that)

2. Do a skill-share at our info table

3. Help pass out EXCO fliers at our info table or during the parade

 

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

A new chapter of Experimental Community Education of the TC (EXCO) is in the works!

By forming this new chapter, we seek to bring more organizers, classes and energy to EXCO, where anyone can teach or take a class and all classes are free.

We hope our efforts will support and create resources for other EXCO groups, too, like

Academia Comunitaria (todas las clases se imparten en español) and the proposed Cedar Riverside chapter. Most of all, we want to see more classes that will help strengthen cultures of community

sustainability and resistance.

Come to our next meeting/meal (April 17 at 5:30pm at 3100 5th Ave S., Minneapolis) or contact Jaime Hokanson at haloka@riseup.net or 612-655-1080 for more information.

 

IV. Whose University? April 20th Day of Education & Workshops

Wednesday, April 20th – 11am to 4pm at Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota

Whose University? is organizing a “Day of Education & Workshops” at the University of Minnesota April 20th, focused on the reality of racial and economic exclusions in higher education.  We will explore what is happening at the University of Minnesota specifically and connections to the daily life of students across the state of Minnesota. We are organizing buses of high school students to come to the University - where we’ll provide lunch, have an event (“teach in”), host a press conference and then break up into workshops.  The day is an opportunity for young people to think more about policy, debate current social issues, engage in collaborative learning, and think critically about the value of higher education.

Check out the Facebook page for Whose University for more info on the event here. RSVP here.

 

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

Featuring Chicago Teachers' Union President Karen Lewis

Saturday, April 9 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Building

312 Central Avenue N.E., Minneapolis

The keynote speaker will be Karen Lewis, recently elected President of the Chicago Teachers Union and a member of CORE- Caucus of Rank & File Educators. In her election acceptance speech last June, Ms Lewis declared, “Today marks the beginning of the end of scapegoating educators for all the social ills that our children, families and schools struggle against every day. Today marks the beginning of a fight for true transparency in our educational policy — how to accurately measure learning and teaching, how to truly improve our schools, and how to evaluate the wisdom behind our spending priorities.”

Organized by Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota

PEJAM is a grassroots community organization of teachers, parents, students, and community members dedicated to defending and supporting a fully funded, just, equitable, and democratic system of public education. Join PEJAM on Facebook.

 

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

The Bruce High Quality Foundation + Creative Time present:

TEACH 4 AMERIKA

A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

Saturday April 9, 4-5:30pm

@ Regis Center for Art, In-Flux Auditorium

Free + open to the public

Hosted in Minneapolis by the Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota, Soap Factory, 1419, and the Experimental College of the Twin Cities

Teach 4 Amerika combines the spectacle and energy of a political rally with the substantive dialog of a conversation series, featuring a multimedia presentation by the group, balloons, t-shirts, and music from local pep bands...

A 5-week, 11-city, coast-to-coast road trip that crosses state lines and institutional boundaries to inspire and enable local art students to define the future of their own educational experience.

Traveling the byways of America in a limousine painted as a school bus, BHQF brings together concerned educators, artists, arts administrators, and—most importantly—students to BRAINSTORM THE FUTURE OF ART SCHOOLS.

***What are they for?

***How should they be organized?

***If not for careers, what is the essence of art itself?

These fundamental questions have long haunted artists, and the BHQF are interested in putting the questions back in the hands of students across America through a combination of dynamic public rallies and intimate conversations.

“Teach 4 Amerika aims to empower artists to create the education they need and not beholden them to a system that professionalizes them out of their own specificity,” said the BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION.

“The Teach 4 Amerika tour will highlight the contradictions and crisis operating at the center of art education in the United States today,” said NATO THOMPOSON, Chief Curator, CREATIVE TIME.

 

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

The U of M’s Social Sciences Tower on the West Bank was recently occupied by a coalition of students for four days demanding the right to peacefully occupy space at our public, land-grant university, that the public has reasonable access to university resources, that the university respect the rights of all workers to organize and to earn at least a living wage, tuition and fee reductions, that regents be democratically elected by the university community, and that the university treat student groups fairly and equitable with respect to funding and space and that student groups on the 2nd floor of Coffman Union be able to keep their spaces.

Check out umnsolidarity.wordpress.com and this “UK Exclusive Interview: UMN Solidarity Occupation” from The New Current.  It was conducted in the midst of the occupation, just before the occupiers were evicted on Thursday night.

Post-eviction, students are continuing to develop the movement, building on the many relationships formed during the occupation.  To learn more, show your support, or get involved, stop by the Social Sciences building, 1st floor, from 1pm-5pm Mon-Fri, to chat.

 

           *******************************************************************************************************

 

In Solidarity,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

www.excotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

(651) 998-9268

Read More |

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 22:23

HELLO EXCO participants far and wide!

We are proud to announce OVER 70 CLASSES in Spring 2011...

Want to take one?  REGISTER NOW ONLINE @ www.excotc.org!

Tell your friends! Invite them on facebook!  Follow us on twitter!

<3

exco

 

P.S.  A VERY BIG THANK YOU... to all of you, facilitators, participants, bystanders, and more, for all that you have given and continue to give to making this project a success for our communities!  

If you've thought about it before, now is the perfect time to help out!  Volunteer, OrganizeDonate You can make EXCO bigger and better!

 

 

 

HOLA EXCO participantes a lo largo y ancho!

Estamos orgullosos de anunciar por 70 clases en la primavera de 2011!

¿Quieres tener una? REGÍSTRATE AHORA ONLINE @ www.excotc.org/academia!!

Dile a tus amigos! Invítelos en facebook! Siga con nosotros en Twitter!

<3

exco

PD:  Un gran agradecimiento ... a todos ustedes, los facilitadores, los participantesespectadores, y más, por todo lo que le han dado y siguen dando a que este proyectosea un éxito para nuestras comunidades!

Si usted ha pensado en ello antes, ahora es el momento perfecto para ayudarVoluntarios, Organizar, Dona! Usted puede hacer EXCO más grande y mejor!

Read More |

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - 22:17

 

HELLO EXCO participants far and wide!

We are proud to announce OVER 70 CLASSES in Spring 2011!!!

Want to take one?  REGISTER NOW ONLINE @ www.excotc.org!!!!

Tell your friends! Invite them on facebook!  Follow us on twitter!

 

<3

exco

 

P.S.  A VERY BIG THANK YOU... to all of you, facilitators, participants, bystanders, and more, for all that you have given and continue to give to making this project a success for our communities!  

If you've thought about it before, now is the perfect time to help out!  Volunteer, OrganizeDonate You can make EXCO bigger and better!

Read More |

Thursday, January 27, 2011 - 09:19

Hi EXCO friends,

Remember to RSVP to our Reflection Party this Friday, at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.), 6:30pm to 8:30pm!

There'll be spoken word, raffle prizes, delicious food, mural brainstorming, and, of course, lots of creative reflecting and visioning.

All are welcome! If you haven't had a chance to be involved with EXCO, this is a great opportunity to learn about our organization.

Whether or not you can make it to reflect, please go to the following link to fill out our online survey and help make EXCO a better place - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZPFLNN3

Hope to see you at the event! Childcare provided.

Oh, and don't forget to turn in your facilitator applications by Friday, Jan. 28th in order to have your budget considered!

Cheers,
Erin and the EXCO organizing team

----------------------------------------------------------------

Hola amigos de EXCO,

No te olvides de confirmar su asistencia a nuestro Grupo de Reflexión de este viernes, en el Proyecto para el Orgullo de Vivir (1035 E. Franklin St.), 18:30-20:30!

Habrá palabra hablada, premios de rifas, comida deliciosa, mural de intercambio de ideas, y, por supuesto, mucha creatividad y que reflejan la visión.

Todos son bienvenidos! Si usted no ha tenido la oportunidad de estar involucrado con EXCO, esta es una gran oportunidad para aprender acerca de nuestra organización.

Si o no usted puede hacer para reflejar, por favor visite el siguiente enlace para llenar nuestra encuesta en línea y ayudar a hacer EXCO un lugar mejor - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VMRY6P9

Esperamos verlos en el evento! Habrá cuidado de niños.

Ah, y no te olvides de encender en sus aplicaciones facilitador Viernes, 28 de enero con el fin de que su presupuesto estimado!

Saludos, Erin y la organización de EXCO equipo

Read More |

Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 13:11

EXCO January Newsletter II

Contents:

I. Minneapolis Childcare Collective is seeking volunteers / Upcoming trainings

II. Reminder: We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011
III. EXCO Open House & Reflection Dinner Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open house-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word - see new fliers below

...

I.   Minneapolis Childcare Collective is seeking volunteers to provide
childcare for
Academia Comunitaria classes.
We ask for a weekly
commitment, but occasionally need people for one time events. Most
classes are an hour. We provide training and toys.There will usually
be another volunteer with you. We are currently seeking volunteers to
start in March. For more information, email childcare@riseup.net.
Our mission statement:
We are dedicated to providing high quality child care in order to
support parents’ involvement in organizations of resistance and
community building.  We provide childcare as an act of solidarity with
women, people of color, and poor people, especially poor mothers of
color, who are responsible for a disproportional amount of childcare,
often excluding them from participating in projects of social change
and resistance.

UPCOMING TRAININGS FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS
1. Sunday January 23, 2pm at the Hosmer Library (357 E 36th St.) meeting room
2. Tuesday February 8, 6pm at the Hosmer Library (357 E 36th St.) meeting room

If you can't make either of these trainings but are interested in
providing childcare, let us know at childcare@riseup.net

Minneapolis Childcare Collective esta buscando volunarios a proveer
guardaria por clases de Academia Comunitaria. Pedimos un compromiso
semanal. La mayoridad de los clases son una hora. Tenemos una
formacion y algunos juegos. Usualmente habria dos voluntarios. Por mas
informacion, childcare at riseup.net. La mision:
Colectivo Guardería de Minneapolis Estamos dedicamos a proveer
guardería de alta calidad para apoyar que los padres pueden participar
en las organizaciones de resistencia y fortalecimiento comunitario.
Hacemos guardería como un acto de solidaridad con mujeres, gente
Latina, gente de ingreso bajo, y especialmente mujeres de bajos
ingresos, quienes tienen la mayoría de la responsabilidad por el
cuidado de los niños, y por eso es muy común que están excluidas de la
participación en los proyectos de cambio y resistencia social.

II. Reminder: We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011

Share your knowledge, skills, and passions by facilitating an EXCO class!  Fill out a facilitator application online at www.excotc.org/create_class

Past classes have focused on a variety of skills and topics such as sewing, languages, cooking, queer politics, labor organizing, auto mechanics, radical feminisms, bike maintenance, culture jamming and much, much more. Whether you are new to or a veteran of facilitating, EXCO is ramping up its support system, including providing one-on-one contact people, more and better orientation and education opportunities on facilitation and pedagogical issues and skills. Please contact us as excotc@gmail.com or call (651) 998-9268 if you have any questions about creating a class or the application process.

Applications are due January 28th if you would like your budget to be considered.

III. EXCO Reflection Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open House-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word

EXCO is hosting an open house-style reflection event. Join us for dinner, hot cocoa, spoken word, and an evening with good people. We will also be raffling off fun prizes throughout the night!

Participants will have the opportunity to visit themed stations to reflect on the previous session, offer up ideas for improvement, and vision for the future. Newcomers to EXCO are also welcome! Stations will be themed on various aspects of EXCO, including the facilitator process, events, publicity, our future mural, and more.

We need you to come and share your ideas! Hope to see you there!

6:30 to 8:30pm, Friday, January 28th @ Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St. Mpls)

RSVP at the Facebook event here

Read More |

Sunday, January 9, 2011 - 19:35

Greetings EXCO friends and Happy 2011!

I. EXCO has a new name! Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities
II. We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011
III. EXCO Reflection Dinner Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open house-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word
IV. Check out our new Facebook page
V. Get involved in EXCO through volunteer opportunities
VI. Save the date for our big Spring event on May 7th

I. EXCO has a new name! Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities

The Experimental College of the Twin Cities is now Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities. The new name was voted on and approved at our last citywide meeting in December. The change came after the Minnesota Office of Higher Education informed us that to keep ‘college’ in our title, we would have to fork over some big bucks for a “private career school license”. We had already been discussing a name change that better fits the description of the organization. It would have been nice if it wasn’t a forced change, but we like our new name. Yeah Community!

II. We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011

Share your knowledge, skills, and passions by filling out a facilitator application online at www.excotc.org/create_class

Past classes have focused on a variety of skills and topics such as sewing, languages, cooking, queer politics, labor organizing, auto mechanics, radical feminisms, bike maintenance, culture jamming and much, much more. Whether you are new to or a veteran of facilitating, EXCO is ramping up its support system, including providing one-on-one contact people, more and better orientation and education opportunities on facilitation and pedagogical issues and skills. Please contact us as excotc@gmail.com or call (651) 998-9268 if you have any questions about creating a class or the application process.

Applications are due January 28th if you would like your budget to be considered.

III. EXCO Reflection Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open House-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word

EXCO is hosting an open house-style reflection event. Join us for dinner, hot cocoa, spoken word, and an evening with good people. We will also be raffling off fun prizes throughout the night!

Participants will have the opportunity to visit themed stations to reflect on the previous session, offer up ideas for improvement, and vision for the future. Newcomers to EXCO are also welcome! Stations will be themed on various aspects of EXCO, including the facilitator process, events, publicity, our future mural, and more.

We need you to come and share your ideas! Hope to see you there!

6:30 to 8:30pm, Friday, January 28th @ Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St. Mpls)

IV. Check out our new Facebook page

Visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/EXCO-Experimental-Community-Education-of-the-Twin-Cities/172178909468814 and show your love for EXCO by “liking”, posting comments, and sharing the page. Spread the word!

V. Get involved in EXCO through volunteer opportunities

As an all-volunteer-run organization, EXCO has a variety of volunteer opportunities to suit your interests and skills including:
-Helping out with events through planning, day-of tasks, cooking food, childcare, and more)
-Childcare for Academia Comunitaria and Cedar Riverside classes
-Facilitator support
-Publicity (designing fliers, writing press releases, posting fliers around the Twin Cities, participating in phone-a-thons, and more)
-Organizing

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us through our Facebook page, excotc@gmail.com, or call us at 651-998-9268

VI. Save the date for our big Spring event on May 7th

Mark your calendars for what is sure to be a stellar event. Details to come.

If you are interested in helping plan this event, contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815-302-2481. You can also attend our reflection event (see above) to provide input on what you’d like to see at EXCO events.

In Solidarity,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

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Sunday, November 7, 2010 - 13:34

So sorry for the extra email, but here is an event that was supposed to make it into the newsletter:

Grease Rag's 2nd Annual Winter Maintenance Skill-Share

Sunday, November 21, 2010
12 PM- 3 PM

Sunrise Cyclery
901 W Lake St
Bryant Ave. & Lake St., Minneapolis
612) 824-6144

Like all Grease Rag events this is FREE and open to all WTF (women/ trans/ femme) cyclists

We will be providing:

Yummy vegan treats and hot beverages

Knowledgeable WTFs sharing their skills about cleaning and maintaining your bike during the winter, how to dress, handling and safety, and tires and gear (schedule TBA)

Winter merchandise for purchase from Sunrise Cyclery (Discount for Grease Rag WTFs that come to the skill-share)

The Minneapolis Presents 14-month calendar will also be for sale- Support Grease Rag and support Sunrise Cyclery and purchase a calendar or five!

Bring your winter bike, your experience and/or willingness to learn, and let's get winter-ready together.

RSVP on Facebook, and invite all of your friends!

Can't wait to see you,

Grease Rag Ride & Wrench
greaseragmpls@gmail.com

............

Cheers,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team
excotc@gmail.com
www.excotc.org
651-696-8010

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Saturday, November 6, 2010 - 19:11

I. Facilitator Applications Due January 28, 2011

II. EXCO Fall Party - Many Thanks

III. Seats still open for Indigenous Imperative and The Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence? classes

IV. Save North High Coalition event - Rally to Save North High - Tuesday, November 9, 4:30pm at 807 Broadway Ave NE, Mpls

 

I. Facilitator Applications Due January 28, 2011

Interested in facilitating a class for the next session? Want to get a group of people together to learn about a topic, share your knowledge and skills, answer a research question, or share some knowledge about a movement you're a part of? 

Facilitator applications are due January 28, 2011, and while that may seem to be the distant future, there are multiple benefits to applying early:

  • The longer your class is posted to the website, the more publicity you'll receive, and, thus, more potential participants
  • The earlier you apply means more time to prepare and get facilitation-related questions answered by your friendly EXCO organizers and/or veteran facilitators
  • Procrastination feels good at first ... bad later

II. EXCO Fall Party - Many Thanks

Much appreciation for everyone who attended, performerd for, and/or helped out with our incredibly successful Fall Kick-Off Party on October 9th at Powderhorn Park! It was a great event with over 100 people in attendance, a beautiful day, great skill shares, music, and food.

Bringing together our strong, diverse, and inspired EXCO community was energizing to say the least, and we can't wait for the next event!

III. Seats still open for Indigenous Imperative and The Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence? classes

Seats are still open for the following classes, check out www.excotc.org for more info:

Indigenous Imperative

The premise of course is that our future is not only ecological but
indigenous. We will be looking at not only the Six Nations Confederacy,
but several other cultural and political powers in the western
hemisphere including the Hopi, the Ojibway, the Inca, the Maya, Aztecs
and many others. One of the goals of this course will be to not only
push the envelope but get rid of the envelope. No discussion of our
problems or potentials is possible without our indigenous center.

Mondays 6-8PMMacalester College Old Main, Room 111

1600 Grand Ave St. Paul, MN
 
The Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence?

In other words, there are classic movies which add to our cultural
enrichment such as Joe Macbeth (starring John Garfield), and The
Godfather (starring Al Pacino). However, the co-dependence theme comes
up when we are no longer able or willing to tell our own stories. After
a hard day on the job or at school, all we wanna do is rent a movie so
that we can quote "unwind." This speaks to an intellectual laziness
which could end up helping to unravel a society which is already
unravelling.

Tuesdays 6-8PM

Macalester College Old Main, Room 009

1600 Grand Ave St. Paul, MN
 
 

IV. Save North High Coalition event - Rally to Save North High - Tuesday, November 9, 4:30pm at 807 Broadway Ave NE, Mpls

 

Rally to Save North High
@ Board of Education Meeting
Tuesday, Nov. 9th
4:30pm: Rally Outside School District HQ
5:30pm: March into the Board Meeting
807 Broadway Ave NE, Mpls

Despite widespread community protests, the School Board will vote November 9th on the proposal to close North High. Now is the time to step up the community pressure to demand:

  • Withdraw the proposal to close North High and commit to re-investment in the school.
  • Reverse the decision to open two “Minneapolis College Prep” charter high schools.
  • Re-establish a “home zone” for North High to boost enrollment.
  • In partnership with parents, teachers, and students, develop an aggressive, fully-funded plan to boost enrollment at North High.
  • Support the efforts of North teachers, parents, and students to address academic and enrollment concerns by re-organizing North as a democratically managed community school.

SAVE NORTH HIGH COALITION

Subscribe to listserv for announcements: alturl.com/g7f9c
Committee for North High | marcusgo6@hotmail.com
North High Alumni Association | 612.715.2527
Friends of North Foundation | marcusgo6@hotmail.com
Public Education Justice Alliance of MN | 952.465.5307
Updates @ www.PEJAM.org

 

......................

Cheers,

Erin Dyke and the EXCO Organizing Team

www.exctotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

651-696-8010

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 08:28

I. EXCO Fall Party - October 9th!

II.  October 7th - EXCO's Disorientation Guide to the U of M's History

III. October 7th - National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education!

_________________________________

 

I. EXCO Fall Party - October 9th!

Come check out EXCO's fall party this Saturday October 9 at the Powderhorn Park gymnasium, 1 to 4pm!

  • Live music featuring El Loco y Jo-l, The Muskies, Abre Ojos and more!
  • Skill share workshops
  • Screenprinting demo and free patches
  • Free delicious food
  • Childcare and kids activities

 

II.  October 7th - EXCO's Disorientation Guide to the U of M's History

This event will take place October 7th, Coffman Memorial Union Room 324 on the U of M's East Bank campus, 2 to 4pm

Speakers will discuss the following:

  • 1969 occupation of Morrill Hall that lead to the creation of Black Studies
  • 2005 sit-in at Morrill Hall to protest the closing of the General College
  • The 2007 AFSCME university clerical workers strike
  • Jimmy Johns Union and being a working student

Other highlights include free food, discussion of potential activism at the U, and much more!

 

III. October 7th - National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education!

 

Read the following Indymedia article below to find out about all the cool events going on in the Twin Cities for the Oct. 7 National Day of Actions

Here is a link to the article - http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/oct/minnesotans-mobilizing-defend-public-education-october-7th

This Thursday, advocates of public education in Minnesota are putting on events including a free concert in Loring Park, rallies, marches, teach-ins at the U of M and MCTC, and a student strike and dance party at MSU Mankato.  These are part of the October 7th National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education.  This day was called as a continuation of the struggles in California -- including rallies, strikes, and occupations on campuses -- that spread nationwide on March 4th of this year.

A group coordinating the October 7th activities in Minnesota, Education Action Coalition MN, gives some explanation for their motivations on their website: “public education is facing a dire crisis.  Budget cuts and privatization schemes together represent an unprecedented assault on public education.  Here in Minnesota, the achievement gap between white K-12 students and minority students is among the worst in the nation. At the University of Minnesota, over-paid administrators are forcing the burden of budget cuts -- $47 million proposed by Governor Pawlenty this year -- onto the backs of students and workers.  The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system leadership received bonuses when they laid off faculty and increased class sizes.”

Actions on October 7th in or near the Twin Cities include:

- noon to 1:30pm  - a Rally and March at the University of Minnesota, (East Bank campus, at the Northrop Plaza) – speakers on many issues facing U of M students, workers, and faculty, with the demands: “no tuition and fee hikes, no layoffs to instructional and support staff, shared power in governance.”  Organized by the Chop from the Top Coalition.

- 2:00-4:00pm - a Disorientation Guide to the U of M’s History, (in Coffman Union, room 324) – speakers on the 1969 occupation of Morrill Hall that led to the creation of the Black Studies department, struggles for equal access including the fight to save General College, the AFSCME union's struggles for a more democratic and equitable U, and more – with free food, followed by discussion about how to create a better U of M.

- 5:00-6:00pm - Rally and March at MCTC plaza – speakers on issues facing students and teachers at MCTC and the MSCU system.

- 6:00-9:00pm - Free Concert to Defend Public Education -- in Loring Park -- featuring: Guante, Usual Suspects, Fresh Squeeze, Junkyard Empire, Poetic Assassins, surprise guests, speakers, free food, info tables, and more.  Organized by the Public Education Justice Alliance MN (PEJAM).

- all day – Student Strike (and Dance Party) to Defend Public Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato (at Wigley Administration Building between Morris and the Student Union)

These actions are also connected with Ethnic Studies Week, October 1-7, which is described by its organizers as “a nationally coordinated week of actions to defend ethnic studies and academic freedom.  It was inspired by opposition to the May 11 passage of HB 2281 in Arizona banning ethnic studies in the AZ public schools and the May 21 passage of new social studies standards by the influential Texas State Board of Education.”  In order to defend the right to teach and learn ethnic studies and “the diverse stories that make up the U.S. experience,” the organizers, including many in the Twin Cities, will be facilitating events in which, “in hundreds of individual classrooms, K-12 and college, students will be listening to speakers, watching films and pausing to reflect on the importance of ethnic studies.”

 

Sincerely,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

excotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

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Sunday, September 19, 2010 - 17:27

EXCO's fall session is about to start!

Interested in fermentation? How about experimental songwriting, drawing, or creative writing? Would you like to learn about issues facing the Twin Cities' public school systems or how to make trouble using media, all via free community-led education?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there is still time to sign up for any of the over 40 free and open classes offered by the Experimental College of the Twin Cities!

Classes begin the week of September 27th. Check em out and sign up soon!

Register online at EXCO's website, www.excotc.org. Questions or comments? Email excotc@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 00:40

EXCO August Newsletter/EXCO Boletín de agosto

1. Class Applications Due THIS Friday
2. EXCO Fall Classes Begin September 27th
3. Can You Do Volunteer Childcare for Classes?
4. IWW Labor Day Rally, 3pm Featuring I Self Divine and Guante
5. Send Us Your EXCO News!

1. *Facilitate an EXCO Class this Fall!*

Class applications due THIS Friday, August 20th. Apply online here: http://excotc.org/create_class or contact us with questions at: excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010.

2. Fall Classes Begin Sepetmeber 27th

3. La Acadamia Comunitaria is looking for childcare volunteers for classes. La Academia Comunitaria is a Latino-led exco chapter that offers childcare to all of the bilingual classes. If you have childcare experience and would like to volunteer a few hours a week to have fun with kids while their parents are in class, please contact Kelly at kellyemccarthy@gmail.com for information about training and with any questions.

4. IWW Labor Day Celebration and Rally
Monday Septepmber 6th
3pm, Music 3:30PM, Rally at 4:30pm. University and Pleasent Ave SE.

Speak out, celebration, rally, and action in support of food, retail, and service workers featuring: I Self Divine and Guante
Join the fun, support the organizing, and step up to help organize! Contact twincities@iww.org,  612-378-8845

Or facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118666154849113

6. Want to get something out? Get it in the EXCO Monthly Newsletter. Send items to excotc@gmail.com.

EXCO Boletín de agosto

1. Clase Debido Este viernes Aplicaciones
2. Las clases de otoño empiezan el 27 de septiembre
3. Cuidado de niños
4. IWW Día del Trabajo Rally, 15:00 Con lo Divino Ser y Guante
5. Envíenos Noticias EXCO!

1. *Da una clase en EXCO este Otono!*

Fecha limite para ofrecer clases Viernes 20 de Agosto

Hazlo online aqui: http://excotc.org/create_class o contactanos conpreguntas en excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010.

2. Las clases de otoño empiezan Sepetmeber 27a

3. La Acadamia Comunitaria está buscando voluntarios para el cuidado de los niños clases. La Academia Comunitaria es un capítulo ExCo de la comunidad latina que  ofrece cuidado de niños a todas las clases bilingües. Si usted tiene  experiencia con niños y le gustaría ser voluntario algunas horas a la semana para  divertirse con los niños mientras sus padres están en clase, por favor póngase en contacto con  kellyemccarthy@gmail.com for information about training and">Kelly en kellyemccarthy@gmail.com para obtener información sobre formación y  con cualquier pregunta.

4. IWW Celebración del Día del Trabajo y Rally

Lunes 6 de Septepmber 3:00pm, Música 3:30 PM, Rally a las 4:30 pm.

Universidad y Pleasent Ave SE. Levanta la voz, la celebración, rally, y la acción  en apoyo de alimentos, minoristas y trabajadores de los servicios que ofrece: I Self Divino y Guante

Únete a la diversión, el apoyo a la organización, e intensificar para ayudar a organizar!twincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845"> twincities@iww.org Contacto, 612-378-8845

Evento de Facebooktwincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845">: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118666154849113
twincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845">
5.
¿Quieres conseguir algo? Consíguelo en el EXCO boletín mensual. Enviar  producto para excotc@gmail.com.

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Sunday, August 1, 2010 - 18:15

Facilitate an EXCO Class this Fall!

Class applications due by Friday, August 20th.

Apply online here: http://excotc.org/create_class or contact us with questions at excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010.

 

Da una clase en EXCO este Otono!

Fecha limite para ofrecer clases Viernes 20 de Agosto

Hazlo online aqui: http://excotc.org/create_class o contactanos conpreguntas en excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010."

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 23:35

I. Sign up for summer classes!
II. EXCO Documentary
III. EXCO Summer Kick-off Party and Fundraiser


I. Sign up for summer classes!
Over 50 classes are being offered this summer! Sign up now at http://www.excotc.org

II. EXCO Documemtary
Please send dated, captioned pictures of ExCo activities to becca@wrongway.org -- it would help with an upcoming ExCo documentary.

III. EXCO Summer Kick-off Party and Fundraiser
Date:  Jun 19 2010 - 9:00pm - Jun 20 2010 - 1:00am
Location:  Cult Status Gallery 2913 Harriet Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55408 United States

Join the EXCO community for an Intellectual Underground of Music, Dancing, Art, Palm-reading and more!

Donations (sliding scale) benefit the Experimental College 

Musical Performance and experimentation by: Miss Chief, Virgo, A.B.A.L.L. Muse, Genome, Tshisuaka, Culture Human 

Showing Artworks by: Erin Sayer, J.M. Culver, Gina Loise, Louisa Greenstock 

Palm-reading & Handwriting Analysis by: Phillip D. Johnson

EXCO volunteers will be there to assist interested persons in registering for EXCO's exciting summer classes.

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Sunday, May 9, 2010 - 19:14

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Sunday, May 9, 2010 - 10:42

Apply to teach with EXCO this summer! 

Everyone is a teacher and a learner with EXCO. What have you learned? What are you passionate about? What are your skills? Share them by teaching (or as we say, "facilitating") a class or a workshop this summer. Classes or workshops can be on any subject and can take many forms. Classes are longer-duration while workshops are more autonomous and do not receive funding. Class facilitators are volunteers but we may be able to provide some money for those who could not teach without it. We may also be able to provide money for supplies. 

If you are interested in facilitating a class or a workshop, submit your online application before May 14 for highest funding priority, or before May 22nd at the absolute latest. If you do not require funding you can submit your class or workshop at anytime, although the greatest publicity will be given to those who submit their class before May 26th.

Learn more and apply online at http://www.excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class

Hope to see you soon! 
Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 23:39

 

  • Exco Party in the Park
  • Exco Reflection Dinner
  • Cedar Riverside Collaborative Meeting
  • Reflections on the "Beneath the University, the Commons"
  • Apply to teach with Exco this summer
  • Scholarship opportunity
     

We have quite a few events coming up in the next few weeks.  Come to those that interest you most!  There's something for everyone.

Exco Party in the Park
Saturday, April 24th, 1pm-4pm
Matthews Park
2318 29th Ave. S. Minneapolis

Join us as we celebrate another round of Exco classes.  Come with your Exco class or invite friends and family (all are welcome!) and enjoy a nice afternoon of celebration.  You all are enthusiastically encouraged to showcase what you've been doing/discussing/making/playing at EXCO classes this session!  It will be a Potluck-style event. Some Grillable food will be provided, but do bring a dish to pass and come grill out with us!  Bring your own plate/utensils if you can to help us cut down on waste. In case of bad weather, we will hold the event inside the Matthews Park Community Center.  Bring a shirt for screenprinting EXCO shirts.  Thank you for another great session of classes!  Hope to see you there!

Exco Reflection Dinner 
Saturday, April 25, 5:30-8 pm
Coffman Room 323 at the UMN
300 Washington Ave SE Minneapolis, MN 55455

Building map: http://www.coffman.umn.edu/about/directory/
Free parking around Coffman Union is limited, so plan on taking the bus or biking if possible.  There is a parking ramp behind the building that has an hourly fee. 

As the spring session of classes comes to a close, the U of M chapter of EXCO would like to thank you for your involvement and request your feedback. (EXCO is only possible with community participation!) Please extend this invitation to anyone interested in expanding education, making learning more accessible to university and non-university members. This will be an informal time to eat a delicious meal, discuss our personal experiences and insights to make EXCO better, and form ideas towards the co-creation of more exciting classes.  We hope to build a stronger community at the U of M and better connect our efforts to struggles at the Universities and the needs and desires of our communities. Some things we want to discuss are:

  • What opportunities or challenges do we see?  What has your experience been, what has gone well and how can we make it better?
  • What do we, as individuals want to learn more about? What do we want to teach?
  • What types of classes would we like to see?
  • What are other ways we could contribute to EXCO? (Childcare? Ideas for spaces? Community resources?)
Please join us! RSVP by Friday April 20th (so we know how much food to provide!) by emailing brittnymalec@gmail.com or calling Britt at 414-732-9481

 
 
Cedar Riverside Collaborative Meeting
Monday, April 26, 6-7:30 pm
Brian Coyle Community Center
420 15th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55454
Come to the second community meeting to talk about how Exco can grow in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood as a community-led collaboration to create free quality classes that build community capacity, interconnection, and respond to community needs and desires. Childcare and translation will be provided.  
 
 
Reflections on the "Beneath the University, the Commons" conference (April 8-11, 2010)
"This year marked the third annual Minneapolis conference focused on critically examining and re-imagining the university in our everyday lives. "Beneath the University, the Commons" drew students, faculty, organizers, and many others from throughout the country and globe. In the intimate space of the West Bank Social Center, I got to hear rousing manifestos from University of Minnesota professors, front-lines analysis from students involved in the UC struggles in California, powerful and sobering stories from activists seeing the cultural logic of privatization in the wake of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and hard-hitting theories and calls to action from Italy, Toronto, Finland, and New York. Despite the varied experiences and backgrounds, we drew out many connections, commonalities, and understandings of today's crises as seen through the lens of the university. We raised the importance of organizing sustained projects and institutions that embrace the university as a confluence of resources and energies while also moving away from its corporate machinery; the Experimental College was lauded as one such project. I look forward to where these conversations go, both within EXCO as well as among the myriad groups and individuals I got to meet at the conference who are struggling for another world."
--Stevie Peace, EXCO supporter and former class facilitator and student
 
 
Apply to teach with Exco this summer! 
Everyone is a teacher and a learner with Exco. What have you learned?  What are you passionate about?  What are your skills? Classes can be on any subject and can take many forms.  Facilitators are volunteers but we may be able to provide some money for those who could not teach without it.  We may also be able to provide money for supplies.  If you are interested in facilitating a class or a workshop, submit your online application before May 14.  Learn more and apply online at http://www.excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class
 
 
Scholarship opportunity
The Carol E. Macpherson Memorial Scholarship is a private family scholarship that was established in the 1970’s in Carol’s memory to assist “non-traditional” women in completing their education at the University.  The Carol E. Macpherson scholarship is sustained by the generosity of Carol’s family, and is administered by the Women’s Center.  Each year approximately 10 women are awarded the one time scholarship (ranging from $500 to $4,000). The applicant MUST fulfill each of the following requirements to be considered eligible:
  • Women students (28 years or older)
  • Have had a five-year or longer break in post-secondary education
  • Demonstrated financial need
  • Admission or pending admission to an undergraduate or graduate/professional degree or credit certificate program at any U of M campus
  • Good academic standing at the University of Minnesota
  • Meet half-time enrollment status minimum
Please visit:  http://www1.umn.edu/women/awardsMacpherson.html for more information and to obtain an application. Application deadline Wednesday, April 28, 2010. 
 
 
Other upcoming Exco dates:
May 26: Summer classes posted online/ registration open
June 21: Summer classes begin
 

Please send May newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by May 1.

Hope to see you soon!

Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!

excotc@gmail.com
 | www.excotc.
org | (651) 998-9268

 

 

 

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Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 13:00

 

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshop!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

Collective Home Buying Workshop
Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Oneness Experiential

Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

See the website for more details and to register.


EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

 

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481


Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!


Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

 

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.


To find out more about the EXCO please visit www.excotc.org


Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

 

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

 

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

 

Read More |

Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 12:52

 

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshop!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

 

Collective Home Buying Workshop

Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Oneness Experiential
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

 

See the website for more details and to register.


EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481


Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!


Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.


To find out more about the EXCO please visit www.excotc.org


Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

 

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

 

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

 

Read More |

Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 09:14

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshops!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

Collective Home Buying Workshop

Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Oneness Experiential
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

See the website for more details and to register.

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit www.excotc.org

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Read More |

Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 09:09

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshops!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

Collective Home Buying Workshop

Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Oneness Experiential
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

See the website for more details and to register.

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to excersize your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Read More |

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 19:14

You can still register for an EXCO class!
www.excotc.org/classes
Classes that begin in March or April:
-Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
-Oneness Experiential
-Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act  
-Imagining Revolution
-Introduction to Political Ideologies
-Clases de Yoga
-Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
-Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
-Collective Home Buying Workshop
-From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
-What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
-Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside.  

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010
If you'd like to excersize your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481
Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.
The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka

It's a place where knowledge and skills are aquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are reguarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org

 

Read More |

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 19:03

You can still register for an EXCO class!

www.excotc.org/classes



Classes that begin in March or April:

  • Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
  • Oneness Experiential
  • Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
  • Imagining Revolution
  • Introduction to Political Ideologies
  • Clases de Yoga
  • Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
  • Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
  • Collective Home Buying Workshop
  • From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
  • What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
  • Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:

A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside


When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)




As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing

relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the

co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 



In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning

and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others

at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.



Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and

time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this

project.



Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this

initiative. All are welcome!



End of Season Celebration

Saturday April 24, 2010



If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...




Do you like to par-tay?


You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!



There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!



Haiti Benefit Concert

March 12, 2010, 7:00pm at the Fallout Urban Art Center
2609 S. Stevens Ave.



Come out and support aid efforts for Haiti. Art will be available for purchase. The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play. More bands and DJ's will be announced.



Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka



It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similarities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.



For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.



Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.



A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!



Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.



To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org


Please send April newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by April 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Erin and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268



Read More |

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 18:45

You can still register for an EXCO class!

www.excotc.org/classes



Classes that begin in March or April:

  • Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
  • Oneness Experiential
  • Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
  • Imagining Revolution
  • Introduction to Political Ideologies
  • Clases de Yoga
  • Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
  • Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
  • Collective Home Buying Workshop
  • From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
  • What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
  • Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:

A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside


When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)




As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing

relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the

co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 



In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning

and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others

at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.



Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and

time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this

project.



Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this

initiative. All are welcome!



End of Season Celebration

Saturday April 24, 2010



If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...




Do you like to par-tay?


You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!



There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!



Haiti Benefit Concert

March 12, 2010, 7:00pm at the Fallout Urban Art Center
2609 S. Stevens Ave.



Come out and support aid efforts for Haiti. Art will be available for purchase. The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play. More bands and DJ's will be announced.



Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka



It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similarities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.



For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.



Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.



A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!



Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.



To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org


Please send April newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by April 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Erin and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268



Read More |

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - 18:44

You can still register for an EXCO class!

www.excotc.org/classes



Classes that begin in March or April:

  • Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
  • Oneness Experiential
  • Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
  • Imagining Revolution
  • Introduction to Political Ideologies
  • Clases de Yoga
  • Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
  • Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
  • Collective Home Buying Workshop
  • From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
  • What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
  • Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:

A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside


When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)




As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing

relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the

co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 



In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning

and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others

at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.



Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and

time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this

project.



Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this

initiative. All are welcome!



End of Season Celebration

Saturday April 24, 2010



If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...




Do you like to par-tay?


You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!



There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!



Haiti Benefit Concert

March 12, 2010, 7:00pm at the Fallout Urban Art Center
2609 S. Stevens Ave.



Come out and support aid efforts for Haiti. Art will be available for purchase. The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play. More bands and DJ's will be announced.



Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka



It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similarities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.



For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.



Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.



A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!



Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.



To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org


Please send April newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by April 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Erin and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268



Read More |

Thursday, February 4, 2010 - 00:26

Register for an EXCO class today!
www.excotc.org/classes

Check the website and see the attached brochure for the list of over 50 classes and workshops running this winter and spring.  Help us spread the word!  Tell your friends, family, and coworkers about the variety of classes available and please share the attached poster and brochure.

To register for a class, contact the facilitators by phone or email or register online. To register online you need to sign-in or create a username on the website. Then, go to www.excotc.org/classes and click "Join" to register.

1st Seasonal EXCO Phone-a-thon!
Saturday, February 6th, 5-9pm
2620 30th Ave S. Minneapolis

Want to do your part to help make EXCO classes a success? Come to the 1st ever EXCO Phone-a-thon this Saturday to remind people that classes are starting up. EXCO is no bigger than its community so if you like EXCO and can make it, make it!  We are having food so do let us know: Erin erin.l.dyke@gmail.com, 815-302-2481. See you this Saturday at 2620 30th Ave S, Minneapolis!
 

Exco Winter Carnival
Saturday, February 13, 1-4pm
Aldine Park 1717 Iglehart Ave. St. Paul

The Experimental College of the Twin Cities will be kicking off its Spring 2010 session in winter-y style, Saturday February 13th from 1-4pm at Aldine Park in St. Paul (Poor weather location: Hamline Midway Library 1558 Minnehaha Avenue W. St Paul).  The "Winter Carnival" will feature "fancy" hot drinks, urban winter survival skills, hockey lessons and games, food, arts and crafts, a medallion hunt, and the chance to learn about EXCO's spring classes!  Bring old winter clothing to participate in the clothes swap.  Near 21, 84, 16, 94 bus lines.  All are welcome!

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!
 

State of Emergency in South Dakota—Please support your Dakota Neighbors 
Severe and bitter winter storms knocked out an already shaky resource infrastructure. The bulk of those most affected by the storm—with loss of heat, drinking water, propane and other resources—are located on reservations in Pine Ridge, Standing Rock, Eagle Butte and others. Electricity has been out for five days (since Friday). Crews are working feverishly, but it may be out for up to 30 days in some areas. With no electricity, no heat, no running water, and a wind chill below zero the situation is growing more difficult."

Donations of clothing, staples, and money are all greatly needed and appreciated. Go here to donate or for more information: http://www.pathwaystospirit.org/start.html

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

 

Read More |

Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 00:12

 

EXCO Classes Begin Soon...

 

Register Today!

 

www.excotc.org/classes

 

We have yet another great batch of FREE classes from Musica y Dibujo Hip Hop to Spanish Conversation, Radical Feminisms, Movement Media Making, Sewing and Pillow Making and many, many more. Yay participatory community-driven education!

Find a list of classes on our website www.excotc.org/classes or on brochures and flyers around town. While you can attend a 1st class without registering we'd prefer if you'd register so facilitators can plan for who is coming. To register for a class, contact the facilitators by phone or email or register online. To register online you need to sign-in or create a username on the website. Then, go to www.excotc.org/classes and click "Join" to register.

Please don't register for more classes than you are able to attend.

Want to help spread the word? We need the help! Attend the first ever EXCO Class Publicity Phone-a-thon Saturday February 6th, 5-9pm at 2620 30th Ave S, Mpls. Food provided so please let us know you're coming--contact Erin,  erin.l.dyke@gmail.com. 

Want to get involved in other ways? Contact us at excotc@gmail.com or 651-998-9268. 

Read More | 3 comments

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 23:46

Spring class applications due January 18
Share your feedback
Website update
Winter Carnival skillshare opportunity
Help Save MCTC’s EXCO!

Beneath the University, the Commons
Thoughts on Education: Education for Transformation
Upcoming events


Spring class applications due January 18
Every Exco session brings something new!  Share your expertise or explore new ideas by creating your own Exco class this spring.  Apply online at http://www.excotc.org/create_class.  Exco has also started the creation of community workshops. Workshops are akin to classes, but are usually one-time events that people can RSVP to. Workshops must be free, open, and educational in nature -- and anyone can create them. Check it out! http://www.excotc.org/workshops

Share your feedback
Please take a few moments to give us feedback and share your Exco experience.  Let us know what you liked and didn't like, what we could do better next time, and what you'd love to see happen in the future! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR28V75

Website update
The Exco website is on it's way to becoming a great tool for community building, brainstorming and organizing.  If you have suggestions about things you would like to see on the website to make it more user-friendly, please share that feedback!  If you are a developer who is interested in helping us bring our website to the next level, we need you!  Contact excotc@gmail.com

Winter Carnival skillshare opportunity
On the afternoon of February 13 the Exco community (that means you!) will be celebrating the newest round of classes with our very own Winter Carnival.  We are still in need of more activities for the day.  This is a perfect opportunity for you to lead a short skill share or discussion. Skill shares could be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour long on any subject, just keep in mind that the event will be held outdoors.  Do you have something you could share? Contact excotc@gmail.com.

Help Save MCTC’s EXCO!
This last Fall saw a new organizing group start at MCTC (Minneapolis Community and Technical College), a student organization was continued, and people were excited to build a strong center for free education at the most diverse school in Minnesota. Unfortunately, the project failed to find sufficient traction and has since collapsed. Do you go to MCTC? Do you know people who go to MCTC? Do you live in the neighborhood? Are you willing to step up and help make an EXCO Organizing Group happen there? If so, we can expect it to work, if not we are grateful for the experiences we have had but goodbye MCTC EXCO, at least for now. Please contact David at dboehnke@gmail.com or call 651-315-4222 if you are willing to step up and make EXCO happen at MCTC.

Beneath the University, the Commons
A conference at the University of Minnesota, April 8-11, 2010. 

“Beneath the University, the Commons” builds on the work accomplished by activists, organizers, artists, and academics at the “Re-thinking” and “Re-working” the University Conferences of 2008 and 2009 (www.reworkingtheu.org), while expanding the scope of our discussions and bringing together more international scholars in order to address an increasingly volatile global situation.  Our goal is to aggregate and accelerate our knowledge of university conditions and our collective acts of resistance to them, including alternative forms of engaging with each other and with the world.  To this end, the 2010 conference will draw together a diverse set of people committed to exploring how we can understand, create, and experiment with the commons beneath the university.  Our questions include but are not limited to:

  • How do we create and sustain occupations of the university, not only in the spectacular times of mass demonstrations, but everyday and across all of its spaces?
  • How can we maintain subversive positions as actors within the university without becoming parts of the university’s corporate institution?
  • How can unionization projects and student movements learn from and collaborate with one another?
  • How do we deal with the tensions between the stability of our projects and their transformative effectiveness?
  • How do we open up sustainable and livable spaces for radical research, education, and scholarship without feeling overwhelmed by the pressures to speed up in our precarious working positions??
  • How can we collaboratively map and share research, information, tactics, and cultures?
  • In recognition that our conditions are a part of a larger set of global occupations and injustices, how do we link with social movements outside of and across the university?
  • How can we link struggles against the corporatization and institutional racism of the University of Minnesota, with struggles against segregation, racism, and xenophobia in the surrounding metropolitan area?

This four-day event will consist of two days of conference sessions bracketed by two days of workshops, writing collaborations, skill
shares, and plenty of time for sustained conversations among participants.  We are accepting proposals both for formal papers and for non-conventional forms of participation.  Deadline for proposals is February 1. For more info, see http://beneaththeu.org.

Thoughts on Education: Education for Transformation 
Paolo Freire, a philosopher and practitioner of education, melded transformative theories of education with powerful actions of liberation in Brazil and greatly influenced change within many other communities of the Global South. He helped to form a foundation on which radical education movements have developed, and encouraged us to keep these larger questions in mind: What is the purpose of education? Who does education benefit? How does education take place? Freire understands the responsibility of education as the development of conscientizaçāo (critical consciousness) or “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality”.1

EXCO brings together a community of people that see education, not solely as the credential-building, status quo-keeping, tool for the maintenance of the hierarchical labor economy, but as a Frierian process of critical dialogue, community-building, and critical consciousness-raising. Education’s inherent role in the world is to catalyze change, in its many manifestations. Regardless of the topic of the course, our EXCO community challenges the notion that education is the uncritical banking of concepts or facts, but understands it to be a process that builds relationships and community, builds our identities, and, at its root, humanizes us. 
1.  Freire, Paolo. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, p. 35

Upcoming events
January 18: Application deadline
January 30: Facilitator forum
February 4: Alternate facilitator forum
February 13: Winter Carnival
February 22: Winter/spring session begins!

Send February newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by February 1.


Sincerely,
Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Read More |

Saturday, January 2, 2010 - 22:44

Thinking about facilitating an EXCO class in the new year? This is your chance!

Spring Class applications are due Monday January 18th.

Learn more or fill out our brief application online: http://www.excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class

Have questions or ideas that you'd like to discuss with us? Contact us at excotc@gmail.com/651-998-9268.

As an all volunteer run organization EXCO is no bigger than those who participate. Please do!

Want to help beyond creating a class? We are in great need of more passionate people who want to put time into building the organization and people with
money to spare to help fund our organization. Contact David dboehnke@gmail.com or 651-315-4222 to learn about organizing. Donate online at www.excotc.org.

Happy New Years!

Read More |

Saturday, December 12, 2009 - 17:28

Teach a class this Spring
We want your 2 cents
Help Exco grow in Cedar-Riverside
Exco Winter Carnival
Class brainstorm on Exco forums
Upcoming events

Teach a class this Spring
The application deadline for spring classes is January 18.  What are your skills?  What have you learned?  What are you passionate about?  Share it!  Explore a topic with others, invite a friend to teach, or organize a group of people to teach together.  Whatever the format, whatever the subject, Exco is for everyone and everything!  Fill out the application on our website: http://excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class

We want your 2 cents
Please take a few moments to fill out our Fall 2009 Exco evaluation.  Let us know what you liked and didn't like, what we could do better next time, and what you'd love to see happen in the future!  Help us make EXCO better! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR28V75

Help Exco grow in Cedar-Riverside
There is an exciting new initiative to build Exco's presence in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood.  We are bringing a number of organizations and partners to the table to make this happen and we need your help!  Contact excotc@gmail.com to get involved.

Exco Winter Carnival
Save the date: February 13!  We're planning a day of winter skill shares and activities to celebrate the winter and the start of the new session of Exco classes.  Do you have something you could share?  Think along the lines of a winter clothing swap, medallion hunt, ice hockey, winter survival skill share, winter biking skill share, etc.  Are you a snow sculptor, expert snowball thrower, love to make snow angels?  Come and share your winter talents, whatever they may be!  Contact excotc@gmail.com to propose your ideas.

Class brainstorm on Exco forums
Could you teach or do you know someone who could teach a class on the history of community gardening/farming or auto maintenance?  These classes have been proposed on the Exco forums, but need someone to teach them!  Login to www.excotc.org and post on the forums to join the discussion and propose the classes that you'd like to see this spring.  

Upcoming events:

  • December 18, 4:30-6:30pm: Join us to put up flyers in St. Paul.  Meet at Macalester College Campus Center (1600 Grand Ave. St. Paul, 55105) at 4:30pm
  • January 18: Application deadline
  • January 30: Facilitator forum
  • February 4: Alternate facilitator forum
  • February 13: Winter Carnival
  • February 22: Winter/spring session begins!


Thanks for reading.  Happy holidays!
Callie and the Exco organizing team


Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Read More |

Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 00:29

In this issue:

  • Fall Forward Fest: Eat and get schooled
  • EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off
  • EXCO Community Reflection
  • On the phone with Batucada do Norte
  • Class incubator
  • Spring application deadline: January 18

 
Fall Forward Fest: Eat and get schooled

Wednesday, November 18, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Hamline-Midway Library
1558 West Minnehaha Ave. St. Paul, MN

Google Maps

Class showcase and potluck!  Performaces/Skillshares given by our very own EXCO classes!  There will be turkey (and a vegetarian option)...plus a cook-off.  Bring a dish to share, and if your recipe is the bomb, enter it in the contest and win a prize.  ALSO: Fancy Certificates of Completion for those enrolled in EXCO courses this session!  Come celebrate the end of the Fall EXCO semester! *Please bring your own plate, if you can*


EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off

Friday, November 13, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Helland Center Room 1200, MCTC

1501 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN

Google Maps

EXCO is launching a Wellness Core, a place for people passionate about mental, physical, and spiritual wellness practice to come together to request, design, and/or generally support the creation of amazing Wellness Curriculum through EXCO.

Interested in being involved? This is a great opportunity to meet other folks interested in wellness, and to support EXCO's offering amazing wellness classes for various Twin Cities communities.  There will be food so please RSVP!  Bring ideas, business cards, and friends interested in wellness!

RSVP or send questions to Tess Galati at tessgalati@gmail.com or to David at 651-315-4222. You can also RSVP on our website!


EXCO Community Reflection

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the community reflection event on October 24th!  We had some good discussion and generated a lot of great ideas for how to move forward.  We lost several key organizers over the summer so we are now working to refocus and rebuild the momentum. 

As a group we discussed the things we love about EXCO (the new and improved web site, the chance to explore new parts of the city and meet new people, free education, redistributing resources, flexibility, broad/beautiful spectrum of classes and knowledge diversity, inclusivity); and things we’d like to see changed (more radical/outside/alternative curriculum, more organizers, a greater commitment to classes from people who register, deeper community collaborations, more labor stuff, greater outreach beyond the website, sources of independent funding).
 
We then broke out into three small groups:
•    Communities: focused on specific communities to do outreach in and how we can fill niches that aren’t filled by other organizations.
•    Resources: brainstormed ideas for targeted outreach, building coalitions, utilizing alternative teaching styles that exist in other communities, creating a broader network, creating more discussion groups to generate class ideas, adding more one-time workshops
•    Website: discussed streamlining the front page of the website, making it more accessible to first-time users, adding photos, creating a more personal connection, adding a media center/pressroom, more help docs, FAQs, links to/from other sites

The group agreed that the open process of critical reflection is a good practice to continually engage in.  We will build on this energy to make EXCO even stronger, but we need your help!  Get involved: come to an organizing meeting to help keep the momentum going.  All are welcome!
•    The Macalester chapter meets every Monday at 5:30pm in the Macalester College Campus Center Room 206
•    The MCTC chapter meets every Tuesday at 5pm in the Helland Center on campus 
•    The UMN chapter meets every Thursday at 6pm at the Purple Onion on the UMN campus
•    Contact excotc@gmail.com to get more details


On the phone with Batucada do Norte

Thanks to the Patriot Act, we now have access to transcripts of many private cell phone conversations. Here is an excerpt from an exchange between a happy EXCO participant and a friend:

Hey girl! How are you? What are you doing next Wednesday night? Uh hu…is that what you usually do?....pardon my saying so, but it sounds kind of boring…Well I am glad you asked and I’d be happy to tell you. I play with Batucada do Norte, a Brasilian drumming group of about 15 – 20 people playing a range of Brasilian beats, like Samba, Samba Reggae and Maracatu…..Oh don’t worry I didn’t know much about Brasilian music when I joined either….Sure, we are always looking for people who know hand drumming or stick technique, but anyone who is willing to learn can come give it a try. We welcome everyone and do some basic technique lessons for the first 45 minutes of rehearsal and the remaining time we spend practicing material for gigs that we play every month or so. Drums are provided at rehearsals and best of all, it is a really welcoming group of men and women playing the poly rhythms that make us all want to get up and dance….Yeah that’s right, we are that crazy sound you hear coming out of Kagin Ballroom [at Macalester College] Wednesday nights from 6:30 – 8:30….oh crap my battery is dying…anyway come check us out, or if  you have questions, contact EXCO and they can put you in contact with us….gotta run…my battery is about to…. 


Class incubator
We will be posting class ideas in the newsletter in hopes that people can band together and organize classes around common interests.  If you know something about any of the topics below, contact us (excotc@gmail.com) and let's talk!  Chances are you know more than you think you do, and you could at least get a discussion going with others who are interested.  Real learning happens when we all work together to figure out the answers to our questions, right?  The possibilities are endless! 

Classes people want to see happen:
American Sign Language, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, graphic design, photography, cooking, wilderness survival, hiking/camping, folk music/bluegrass/improv/jam, book club, practical activist skills, violent/non-violent labor struggles, screen printing, canvas stretching, matting/framing, welding, metal working, carpentry, community art and organizing

Use the forums on our website to start a conversation!  Find other people who are interested in similar topics and work together to create a class.  Sign in and post a new forum topic to get started.  Keep checking back to see if you get any replies!

Spring class application deadline: January 18


We want to include your voice in the newsletter!  Submit ideas for the next newsletter to excotc@gmail.com by December 1.

Sincerely,
Callie and the EXCO Organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!

We have a new phone number!  (651) 998-9268
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org

Read More |

Monday, November 9, 2009 - 18:04

Reminder!

EXCO is launching a Wellness Core, THIS FRIDAY a place for people passionate about
mental, physical, and spiritual wellness practice to come together to request, design, and/or
generally support the creation of amazing Wellness Curriculum through EXCO.

Interested in being involved? Come to the EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff, Friday November 13th,
6-8pm at MCTC in room H-1200 (in the Helland Center). There will be food so please RSVP!

This is a great opportunity to meet other folks interested in wellness, and to support EXCO's
offering amazing wellness classes for various Twin Cities communities.

*EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff*

When: Friday November 13th
Where: MCTC room H-1200 (1501 Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis)
Bring: Ideas, business cards, and friends interested in wellness!

Help EXCO, meet other people interested in Wellness, etc. RSVP or send questions to
Tess Galati at tessgalati@gmail.com or to David at 651-315-4222. You can also RSVP
on our website: www.excotc.org/content/exco-wellness-core-kick-off 

Also, in case you are forwarding this on, EXCO is a free experimental college
dedicated to transforming education on the principal that everyone can teach or
take classes and all classes are free
. We offer 40+ free and open classes each
season and are an all volunteer run nonprofit organization in the Twin Cities.

Learn more or get involved at www.EXCOtc.org

Read More |

Monday, November 9, 2009 - 10:24

EXCO Class Creation Fun Time!

Tuesday, 5-6:30pm, MCTC room H-0150.

Have classes you'd like to see taught at or around MCTC? Have skills you'd like to share? Looking for advice on wanting to create classes or help in finding someone to teach the class that is right for you or your community? This is it! Come, eat cookies, and help us create an amazing lineup of classes for this coming spring with the EXCO MCTC Organizing Chapter.

Also a good way to learn what we are up to and get involved.

Questions? contact David: dboehnke(aT)gmail.com or call 651-315-4222

Read More |

Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 17:30

EXCO (the Experimental College of the Twin Cities) is launching a Wellness Core,
a place for people passionate about mental, physical, and spiritual wellness practice
to come together to request, design, and/or generally support the creation of amazing
Wellness Curriculum through EXCO.

Interested in being involved? Come to the EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff, Friday November 13th,
6-8pm at MCTC in room H-1200 (in the Helland Center). There will be food so please RSVP!

This is a great opportunity to meet other folks interested in wellness, and to support EXCO's
offering amazing wellness classes for various Twin Cities communities.

*EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff*

When: Friday November 13th
Where: MCTC room H-1200 (1501 Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis)
Bring: Ideas, business cards, and friends interested in wellness!

Help EXCO, meet other people interested in Wellness, etc. RSVP or send questions to
Tess Galati at tessgalati@gmail.com or to David at 651-315-4222. You can also RSVP
on our website: www.excotc.org/content/exco-wellness-core-kick-off 

Also, in case you are forwarding this on, EXCO is a free experimental college
dedicated to transforming education on the principal that everyone can teach or
take classes and all classes are free
. We offer 40+ free and open classes each
season and are an all volunteer run nonprofit organization in the Twin Cities.

Learn more or get involved at www.EXCOtc.org

Read More |

Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 16:07

Considering getting involved in EXCO and want to know more?

Come to EXCO New Organizer Training this Thursday November 5th from 6-8pm at Kolthoff 132.

This is a great way to understand what we do and how we do it, and there will be food and fun as well!

EXCO is a free experimental college based on the idea that everyone can teach or take classes and all classes are free. We are building an infrastructure for community and movement self-education and working to challenge existing models of higher education by demonstrating a compelling alternative.

EXCO can't happen without people stepping up to make it happen, get involved.

Questions or want to RSVP? contact David at 651-315-4222 or dboehnke@gmail.com. You can also RSVP on the EXCO website: http://excotc.org/content/u-of-m-new-organizing-training

Read More |

Monday, October 12, 2009 - 16:29

  • EXCO Reflection Brunch
  • Green Tomato Cook-off
  • One last chance to sign up for EXCO classes this fall
  • Education as it is/should be discussion
  • MCTC Chapter Class Creation Event
  • EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off Event
  • Interview with EXCO facilitator Ray Tricomo
  • EXCO featured on MPR NewsQ!


EXCO Reflection Brunch
October 24, Noon – 2pm
Brian Coyle Community Center
420 15th Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN  55454
  

Come eat brunch with other EXCO people!  Bring
your thoughts on EXCO: what you like, what you would improve, and ideas
about how to make EXCO the best it can be!  EXCO is an all volunteer run
organization so it can't happen without the participation of folks like
you.

Planning on attending? Let us know by 10-21 so we can get the right amount of food! Questions? Contact Callie crecknagel@gmail.com or David 651-315-4222.

Green Tomato Cook-off
October 15, 6-8pm

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

2742 15th Ave South, Minneapoli
s

Free Event with Gardening Matters and EXCO! Bring a dish for the contest or just show up and eat – ALL ARE WELCOME.
EXCO Skillshare: Learn how to fry green tomatoes with Dan Reddan at 5:30pm.  Contest food entries must be received by 6:15PM. Compete for 3 category
prizes: Savory, Sweets and Sauces/Condiments.


To volunteer and for more info, contact Claudia at cpslovac@msn.com or 612-871-0910. Sponsored by Philips Neighborhood Community Gardens


One last chance to sign up for EXCO classes this fall:
Check out these classes on the website today!

Designing for a Changing Future: Economic Stability Through Local Interdependence
Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence?
Indegenous Imperative
The Richest Man in Babylon: A Study in Personal Finance
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx&Frederick Engels
Liderazgo Transformativo
Klezmer Music Ensemble
Yoga para Mujeres
Interpretative Dance

Education as it is/should be discussion
Tuesday, October 20th, 5-7pm
MCTC, H0150

All are welcome!


MCTC Chapter Class Creation Event

Tuesday, November 10th,
5-7pm
MCTC, H0150

All are welcome, come generate class ideas for the spring session!

EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off Event
Friday, November
13th 6-9pm
MCTC, place TBA

The first ever such gathering and will include a brief
workshop by a Sufi Healer. Interested in wellness of all
kinds?--alternative health, healing, spiritual practices, exercise,
etc!--this is the place for you. We are creating a class creation unit
to bring people together around these common interests and share skills
with our communities. Contact tess.galati@gmail.com with questions or
to get involved.

Want to create your own class creation event by movement, community or
common interest? Contact dboehnke@gmail.com or call David at
651-315-4222

Interview with EXCO facilitator Ray Tricomo

Ray
Tricomo has facilitated at least one EXCO class per session since the
Spring of 2006 when EXCO first offered classes to the public.  His
classes have included The Indigenous Imperative, The Godfather:
Microcosom of the American Tragedy, Black Folk: Culture Defeats
Holocaust, and Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence?

(Note: The interview was not recorded, so Ray’s answers are all approximate)

Aaron:  What made you want to get involved with EXCO?

Ray: 
I had read Paolo Friere before and knew about the EXCO at Oberlin
College and EXCO fit with my ideas about people’s education.

A:  Why do you keep coming back to EXCO?

R: 
I love ideas and bright young people.  Though I do sometimes lecture,
I’m into the idea that teachers can be students and students can be
teachers. 

A:  You mentioned earlier that you really loved your Godfather class last Spring, what were some reasons for that?

R: 
The class had a great dynamic.  There were two young women from India
and Albania respectively, a 61 year-old construction worker from NYC,
and an older Italian woman from New Jersey.  We were able to have many
deeply evolved conversations on topics like crime, the preoccupation
with male power, and the intersection between America capitalism and
organized crime.  Every week the class was interesting.

A:  What about EXCO is similar or different from your past teaching experiences?

R: 
What’s different is that you are not under the gun in a formal academic
sense.  There is no pressure to conform to any institution’s guidelines
or standards.  It is still similar in being based on ideas and on the
reading that we do.  I really like just sitting down and having long
conversations with students about philosophy.

A:  Where do you hope that EXCO will go in the future?

R: 
I would like to see EXCO become a bit less cautious and more
radical—less afraid to take chances.  It is good to not always react to
things but to initiate.

A:  Your classes are still open for anyone who wants to join… what would you say to folks to encourage them to come.

R:
The movies class will be looking at movies both as a source of cultural
enrichment and as a kind of addiction.  We don’t tell our own stories
anymore, and this class will look to movies to uncover why.  The
Indigenous class is looking at indigenous societies as models for
building our future societies, all the while deconstructing the
different stereotypes we still maintain towards indigenous peoples.

Ray’s
classes meet on Tuesday’s (Movies) and Thursday’s  (Indigenous
Imperative) from 6-8pm at Macalester College, Old Main room’s 009 and
011 respectively.  If you would like to take a class give him a call at
651-714-0288 and let him know.


EXCO featured on MPR NewsQ!

The story can be found at the link below:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/16/exco-experimental-college/


Thanks for reading!  We hope to see you soon.

Callie and the EXCO Organizing Team

www.excotc.org | excotc@gmail.com | 651-696-8010

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - 05:35

Test body here

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