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Essays from Transparency have been used as assigned readings in dozens of college classes in the United States and other parts of the English-speaking world. In addition, students have used works from the site as a basis for papers and class assignments. I'm interested in hearing from other teachers who want to discuss these ideas in class or use some of these essays in assignments. I'm also interested in hearing from students who want to write about the philosophy elaborated on the site. Since these essays deal with the creations of popular culture, from news and theme parks to movies and television, they are ideal for involving students. Ultimately, many of them have the same theme -- that the human mind contains an ethical vision based on our desire to recreate our selves, society and nature in a higher form. The creations of popular culture express this desire and our fear of fulfilling it. In addition, those in power manipulate the creations of popular culture to play to these fears and desires in order to sell us candidates, products and ideas. These themes are expressed throughout the essays and web sites of Transparency. The essay "The Fake Heaven of Claritin" shows how our desire to live in a paradise is manipulated to sell us an allergy medication. A section on media criticism expands on this approach, providing essential ideas on the way the media, corporations and political groups contrive and control information to influence public opinion. Essays on the television program, M*A*S*H, examine the way the television series depicts a society of life that is in conflict with a society of death. Essays on Gilligan's Island (yes, Gilligan's Island) demonstrate that it is a metaphor for the state of exile that characterizes the human condition. And the essay "Groundhog Day: Breakthrough to the True Self" describes how that movie evokes our own desire to become whole. In addition, a long essay on the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is one of many on the site that show how works of popular fiction contain a number of domains of meaning that converge on a single ethical vision. It examines the way the movie offers disguised depictions of birth, families, the mind, the power relations of society and ancient myths, all of which tell the same story about our desire to progress to a higher level of ethical development. The site also includes numerous essays on the growing role of simulations. An article that appeared in the Boston Globe in 1992 is one of many that offer an overview of how simulations are now made to seem like something authentic, both to trick and entertain us. The column, The New Culture War, updates this theme as does a site on The Truman Show, which reveals how the movie tells the basic story of our time, about a character who has to escape from a realm of theatrical illusions to be free. A summary of The Truman Show, which was a letter published in Salon Magazine, similarly provides a good starting point for a discussion about contemporary culture. The site also includes a number of unique features. It uses image captures as a new tool of culture criticism that can allow readers to see what is being referred to and not merely try to imagine it from the author's descriptions. The site is also an effort to create a model for how large, content-rich, sites should be designed, with a home page that gives readers an overview and one-click access to many of the essays. Ultimately, the site is based on the idea that all our cultural creations can be made transparent. When they are, we discover that they contain our own understanding -- and misunderstanding -- of our selves and society. By seeing these works clearly, we take a step closer to the classical and humanist vision of education as one in which we learn to know ourselves. When we accomplish this, we find that (clichéd as it may sound) the truth was inside us, waiting to be released. I am the sole author of these essays (a question that is frequently asked) and they reflect some 23 years of work. I am a former newspaper journalist and have published a handful of articles in prominent magazines and newspapers. You can examine this page to see some of what others have said about the site and how it has been used in classrooms. Although you won't find it written anywhere else, it is also worth noting that many of the ideas you will find here on simulation, news as narrative and cultural manipulation predate the current use of these concepts in academic and intellectual circles. If you are interested in making use of this web site or reprinting some of the essays for classroom use, or if you need additional information on what essays might be of value to you, please don't hesitate to contact me.
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