[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.25.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/img-intensives-climbing-down.jpg” alt=”Promotional image for Climbing Down 4-Week Intensives” title_text=”img-intensives-climbing-down” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n What is an \u201cintensive\u201d? Not quite a writing workshop, not quite a philosophy or literature course, but some other, third thing.<\/p>\n For the past few years, I\u2019ve looked for ways to combine my love of teaching, shared inquiry, and collective commitment to writing projects with my interest in strange, \u201chard to teach\u201d books. Philosophy and creative writing should not be locked away in the ivory tower, they should not be kept separate if\/when they want to mingle, and above all, they are pursuits (only sometimes professions).<\/p>\n My years of teaching have shown me that while I probably can\u2019t teach you how to write, I can help you sharpen your mind and your senses through close textual analysis\u2014if that\u2019s what you want\u2014and the writing you produce will be informed by this in unpredictable and exciting ways.<\/p>\n As of 2025, intensives are in-person only. Check instagram (@climbing_down or @lindsay.lerman for the latest updates.)<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon=”off” quote_icon_color=”#40282C” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”2rem||1rem||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Together, we\u2019ll read Theory of Religion<\/em> and selected essays from Visions of Excess<\/em>. We\u2019ll examine Bataille\u2019s claims about religion as the search for lost intimacy; the relation between humanity and animality; violence and destruction; the origins of capitalism; gnosticism and some mystics; and the nature of writing and other forms of communication.<\/p>\n Our guest for this session will be Stuart Kendall. Stuart is the single most prolific translator of Bataille’s writing. He is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. His extraordinary work has made the (anglophone) study of Bataille, Blanchot, \u00c9luard, Debord, Baudrillard, and Ren\u00e9 Char possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon=”off” quote_icon_color=”#40282C” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”2rem||1rem||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Focusing on Near to the Wild Heart<\/em> and The Passion According to G.H.<\/em>, we\u2019ll think and feel our way through questions related to authorship, subjectivity, love, death, knowledge, and transcendence. We will also read selections from\u00a0Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing\u00a0<\/em>by H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Cixous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our guest for this session will be Canadian poet, philosopher, and master gardener Karen Houle<\/a>. She specializes in issues of animality, plant ontology, micropolitics, friendship, copyright, and reproductive technology. <\/span>She is the author of three critically-acclaimed books of poetry, numerous essays on art, philosophy, and literature, and a singular work of theory: Toward a New Image of Thought: Responsibility, Complexity, and Abortion <\/em>(Lexington 2013). She is also a translator. She runs The Art of Soil Collective<\/a> in Guelph, Ontario.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” body_line_height=”1.6em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Focusing exclusively on The Red Book<\/em>, we’ll examine the book’s conceptual framework, its emphasis on meditation and “soul-retrieval,” its understanding of creativity and expression, and its singular, obsessive nature. We will explore techniques and methods used in the book. This will be a month of digging deep and seeing what emerges.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Climbing Down: 4-Week Intensives What is an \u201cintensive\u201d? Not quite a writing workshop, not quite a philosophy or literature course, but some other, third thing. For the past few years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-214","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":927,"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/revisions\/927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindsaylerman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Session 1<\/h4>\n
The Search for Lost Intimacy: reading Georges Bataille<\/h4>\n
Session 2<\/h4>\n
Disgust, Despair, Courage: reading Clarice Lispector<\/h4>\n
Session 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n
My Soul, Where Are You? reading Carl Jung’s\u00a0The Red Book<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n