Teach a course
Toronto is the home of an intellectual legacy that punches above its weight. McLuhan, Frye, Atwood, Hacking, Ratto, Hinton… not to mention public intellectuals like Harold Innis and Ursula Franklin. What is it about this place that produces new and exciting thinking? How can we use our specific blend of centrality and remoteness to develop our original ideas and create a body of work that we are proud of?
irid aims to be a vehicle of original thinking through supporting thinker-creators in becoming teachers and public intellectuals. In teaching, we incubate our ideas, and are forced to think with greater depth, rigour and accessibility. We are compelled to be grounded in the now, in the needs of the present, while considering how our current concerns echo the past and potential futures. We must necessarily extend beyond the tweet, the quick thesis, the splashy thought, and into the realm of systems of thought, complex argumentation, and new intellectual worlds. In the process, what might we uncover about ourselves, the world, and each other?
To teach a course with irid, you must come with original questions you believe teaching will help you answer, and come prepared to be critiqued with love, care and rigour. You must believe in the value of investing in Toronto's socio-intellectual infrastructure and be excited to play an active part. Finally, you must come prepared to teach, which is to say, to give yourself to a group of students wholly and thoroughly, keeping in mind their development not only as thinkers but human beings.
If this is interesting to you, irid's course incubation program can offer:
- A classroom and physical setup (e.g. chairs, projector, etc.)
- Our brand and network
- 100% IP of your own course material
- Most importantly, 1-on-1 coaching by our founding team, whose coaching experience spans over a decade of thought and practice
What you share with us in return:
- Your enthusiasm, spirit and energy, willingness to work
- 50% of net proceeds to irid
At its best, this program pays you to create your own material, be coached by an expert design coach, and run your own class in the city of Toronto.
We are currently taking applications for irid's inaugural courses, development for which will begin on a rolling basis over the summer. Classes are expected to begin in late summer and early fall.
Application
For the following application, we encourage liberal use of a range of media such as hand-sketches, skits, photographs, sculpture, recorded video; etc. Use the media that allow you best to think.
Completed applications are to be sent, by email, to teach@irid.space .
NAME
AGE
GENDER IDENTITY
EMAIL / PHONE (whatever you prefer for contact)
WEBSITE / SOCIALS (if you have/like/want)
Please describe your work / craft to us. It can be in as many or as few words as you like. We understand (and hope!) that your work and work history do not fit neatly in a box!
How do you envision you and your work ideally changing by going through this program?
Another phrasing: what are some questions you hope to answer by teaching with irid? This can be related to your work (e.g., topics you want to research more in the process of teaching) or related to your personal and professional development (e.g., what does it mean to me to be a teacher?).
What might you want to teach, and why?
Please specify not just your qualifications to speak on the subject, but what your relationship is to this topic and your work within it. What motivates you to share it, and with whom?
Who do you imagine your students to be?
Is this an existing audience of yours, or are you looking to find them through us?
What would you like your students to come out of your class knowing, thinking, asking, and feeling?
irid's vision is to enable the great artists, thinkers, activists, creators of Toronto to refine and enrich their crafts through cocreation and community. How do you see yourself as a part of this vision?
Why do you want to do THIS program in particular?
Upload a clip of you presenting SOMETHING, anything.
This could be from a previous talk/workshop/class you've given, or just a video of you directly teaching us a skill or topic. Show us what it's like when you're relating to a learning audience.
Send us 3 "first person accounts" from people who have seen you give a talk or teach or worked with you.
What is the tenor of your presence? How would they describe what you are good at? What does it feel like in the room? One paragraph each max (keep it short and sweet) or equivalent in video / audio form!
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and are expected to formally close by mid-summer.