The ways in which we speak about our lives make a difference. Sometimes the ways in which we talk about what happens hardly correspond at all to what actually happens. These discrepancies are often intentional, as people in positions of institutional power seek to make their actions invisible and their positions unassailable. However, more importantly, such discrepancies are often unintentional. Often we are unaware that how we make sense of our lives may serve to greatly limit our understanding of how we ourselves participate in those same lives, in effect diminishing our experience of power, diminishing awareness of how we continue to make a difference, whether we realise it or not. When we speak about the lives of others, in turn, we also run the risk of greatly underestimating the value of their particular experience.

For me, the purpose of learning critical or analytic skills is to come to a better understanding of the ways in which we speak about our experience, and to come to less partial ways of making sense of who we are, what we do, what we say, and how we relate to each other. We may never be able to come to an exact correspondence between what we say happens and what actually happens, but we can adopt critical strategies to identify those ways of speaking about the world that leave us and others more alienated than not from possibility and from each other. Once we identify less helpful ways of making sense of the world we can then perhaps begin to work towards some more helpful ones.

These courses invite you to acquire skills of critical thinking and analyis that will generally be of help to you in your life. Be prepared, though, to work through some moments of confusion and uncertainty in the process. It might be helpful to think of the lecture situation as a learning laboratory, in which you are invited to consider new ways of thinking and then critically compare them with ways of thinking with which you are already familiar. It is hoped that you will find the lectures personally and ethically challenging.

You are strongly encouraged to attend the lectures. Lectures will start on time. The purpose of lectures is not to dispense basic information relating to the field in question, but rather to focus upon specific issues, themes, and questions, the exploration of which are, I feel, of particular importance for approaching the relevant topic from a critical perspective. The critical perspectives which I will promote are person- and relationship-centered. They allow us to consider the implications and effects of certain ways of thinking and doing for the ways in which we relate to others in our lives. I will be most critical of ways of thinking and doing that blind us to those implications and effects.

Each student comes to the course from a different place. Students are encouraged to draw upon the whole range of their experiences in their contributions to discussions. No sincere thought-process is too weird. If it makes sense to you, give it a go.

When you come to lectures, I would be grateful if you come with a willingness to listen to others. Listening does not mean waiting to speak. A little respect can go a long way.

I would also be grateful if you come to this course with a willingness to question yourself and others in a helpful fashion. To get a sense of some of your unquestioned and foundational assumptions, ask yourself: "What am I willing to fight for?" You may find some of the issues under consideration controversial and they may at times elicit strong emotions. Try to remember, disagreement can be voiced without being oppositional.

It’s okay for others to question your opinion, and it’s also okay for you to question yourself. Remember, you don’t have to think the way that someone else thinks, but neither do you have to continue thinking the way you think. Ask yourself: "What ways of thinking are most helpful to me?" "What would I like my thinking to be helpful for?" As (now historical) TV character Judge Harry Stone once said: "I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out." A couple of proverbs that I find useful to keep around: It’s always darkest at the foot of the lighthouse; Even monkeys fall off trees.