"Othering" Assignment and a little Lacan

Here are the details of the "Othering" Assignment.


1. Find someone you consider to embody "the Other," that is, the Other to YOU. Definition of "Other" in the philosophical sense from Wikipedia


2. Develop a set of interview questions that seek to get this person to define their identity, their perception of WHO THEY ARE AS A HUMAN BEING.


3. Interview the person using these questions. Take notes on what they say, and, very importantly, how they appear/act/behave when they are speaking.


4. Prepare a short (one page) reflection on the experience. Tell us what this assignment made you understand about this "Other" what it made you understand about yourself, maybe even what this made you understand about the world in general.


5. This is due next Friday (March 4th) when we will present our findings in class.

Here's a little bit on Lacan's concept of "The Mirror Stage" of Ego development (not necessary for the assignment, but very interesting nonetheless)

A Visual Representation of the Mirror-Stage

The young child views him/herself within the mirror and finally sees him/herself as viewed from the outside, correlating the internal self- what s/he feels as s/he manipulates the limbs only partially visible from his/her viewpoint- with a representation of her outer self as set against the external world. However, the mere fact that the subject's sense of self is dictated by an external source, one that s/he has no control over, forces subjectivity into his/her world, and becomes insecure in the very systems of meaning and identity that allowed him/her to attain a sense of unity in the first place.