Last month, we reported that Oregon State University was offering a course entitled Philosophy School of Phish, based around the jam band’s summer tour. Now it seems the professor wants to document the whole experience in a film. To do so, however, she launched a Kickstarter to raise $25,000 towards the goal.
You can watch the short video by Dr. Stephanie Jenkins has made regarding the project:
Here’s a short note that she wrote as well, justifying the roots of Phish music within philosophical framework:
“I’m a phan and philosopher. My greatest teachers have been Foucault, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Phish. Your music and their texts make up the sound track of my life. In his dialogue, Theaetetus, Plato recounts Socrates’ statement that philosophy begins with “wonder.” In my experience, wonder begins at a Phish concert, dancing. Thank you for saving my life and being my muses. For these things, I will never be able to repay you, but I hope to share with others some of the joy you bring me. For my students, this means they get lectures about “Crowd Control,” “Slave to the Traffic Light,” and “Maze.” These are two books that you have taught me much about. I hear your music in them when I read. In the lights and crowd of a live concert, your music brings me concepts. Thank you for all that you do and for bearing your heart on stage.”
Supporters of the film are eligible to earn a t-shirt, an eBook of the class material, the DVD of the film, a personalized essay on any Phish-philosophical subject matter, tickets to the film’s premiere, a manifesto written about your personal love of Phish, and even dinner with the professor. Jenkins explains that the money will mainly be used for production, as well as obtaining the rights to use the band within the documentary.
Here’s a description of the class, for those curious:
