For the second project in the class, I tried to construct a "tongue-in-cheek" project called the
Human
Identity
Rhizome:
String Theory Run Amok

The basic concept was to perform a group project (inspired by Ji-Hye's first project) in which we would each answer a set of multiple choice questions. Everyone was asked to choose a gender (male or female), a religious belief (Judeo-Christian, or other), an ethnicity (White or other), etc. Basically, we were each forced to set ourselves into a number of very tight fitting ideological boxes. After filling out the forms, each group of respondents (ie: everyone who answered male) was connected with one color of yarn while the other group of respondents (ie: everyone who answered female) was connected with another color of yarn (thanks to the Hobby Lobby.) We worked through each of the categories until we had constructed a rather tangled web of identity. After we were all interconnected in our "Human Identity Rhizome," I then instructed people to get into groups (without letting go of the threads). Af first, when students were asked to move into two groups based on political affiliation, some tangling and problems arose, but mostly it was manageable. The more complex the task, however, the more tangled the web became. The last task that the students were asked to perform was to divide themselves into two groups - those supporting same-sex marriage would go out into the hallway while those who opposed same-sex marriage would stay in the classroom. Of course this task was impossible, leading to an impasse that could only be solved by cutting our connecting threads.

The debriefing after the activity explained to each student that, in fact, Identity is impossible to maintain if you try to REALLY connect rhizomatically. The problem with a lot of theorizing is that it maintains the fiction of identity at the same time that it tries to deconstruct binary thought. To be successfully rhizomatic, you must eschew identity...

And, of course, our HIR (Human Identity Rhizome), is a nod to the work of Kate Bornstein. To learn more about these issues, click one of the images below... Photos from the project will be forthcoming shortly...