Fall 1999 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies
The Continental Origins of Postmodernism

To: TOC Cyberseminar <cybersem@objectivistcenter.org>

Sent: Friday, December 31, 1999 12:12 PM

Subject: Cyberseminar: Aloha Fall 1999

Dear Cyberseminarians and Observers:

December 31 seems an appropriate day to officially call a close to the Fall
1999 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies. In the next few days I will be
posting the last installment of the Fall archive . I hope you all will check it
out to remind yourselves the interesting essays and discussions we have
enjoyed over the last three-and-a-half months.

I would like to thank all of the active participants for your work in
building up a solid body of formal posts, and for the general quality of the
discussions. As I hope will become a tradition with cyberseminars, I will
be back in touch with you individually about revising some of your essays
for further publication, on the web in an open site or perhaps in a small
volume as in our monograph series. I would also especially like to thank
Stephen Hicks for leading us magisterially through the topic of
Postmodernism by means of his elegant and insightful survey essays.

I learned a great deal in my role as a participant, and enjoyed
corresponding with you all in my role as moderator. I hope the cyberseminar
was a valuable experience for you all as well. I will be circulating a
short questionnaire about the cyberseminar to participants, and I welcome
comments from all quarters. We at TOC are always working to improve our
various training vehicles, so as to provide scholars and students with the
resources they need to continue to enrich and develop our distinctive
philosophical perspective.

Don't forget that starting January 24 that Spring 2000 Cyberseminar in
Objectivist Studies will be looking at Nietzsche and his influence on Ayn
Rand. Stephen Hicks returns as Resident Faculty to oversee the seminar. I
encourage those of you who have not already applied to do so. This will be
an exciting discussion that will allow us to explore a single thinker in
some detail, touching continually on issues pregnant with implications for
the development and content of Objectivism.

Best wishes to you all for the new year,

--Will Thomas

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William Thomas
Manager of Research & Training,
The Objectivist Center
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To: TOC Cyberseminar <cybersem@objectivistcenter.org>

Sent: Friday, December 31, 1999 12:27 PM

Subject: Cyberseminar: Comments, please

Dear Cyberseminarians:

Would you please take a few minutes to answer the following questions about
the Fall 1999 Cyberseminar in Objectivist Studies? Your comments will be a
great help to me in attempting to improve the cyberseminar for the coming
year.

FALL 1999 CYBERSEMINAR COMMENTS

1. How valuable was the cyberseminar to you, overall? (on a scale from 1-5)

2. Did you find the reading load too heavy, too light, just right? Why?

3. Did you find the time allowed between readings too long, too short, or
just right? Why?

4. What do you think of the system of "formal posts?"
---Was the writing load too much, too little, just right? Why?
---Was this a useful format for studying the material? Why or why not?
---Was this a useful format for generating new work? Why or why not?


5. How was the level of discussion in the cyberseminar?

6. Was there too much or too little instruction and other critical feedback
in the Cyberseminar?

7. What did you think of the moderation?

8. Please comment on the topic of the Fall 1999 Cyberseminar, "The
Continental Origins of Postmodernism."
---Possible future topics include epistemology and rights theory. Do you
have any comment or other suggestion?


Please feel free to add any other comments that occur to you.


Your comments are extremely valuable to us here at TOC. Please do not delay
to send them in. Thanks!

=======================
William Thomas
Manager of Research & Training,
The Objectivist Center
Cyberseminar Moderator
=======================