David Strom:
My first thought was: were there indigenous universities pre-Columbus? Did they do microbiology or physics?
The wheel had yet to be invented in Mesoamerica, so I doubt it. They didn't have the wheel. I doubt that physics was high on their list of pursuits.
Victoria University has put a high focus on bringing the "First Peoples" of Canada onto their campus, which is admirable. But turning the university into a place where members of the science department are teaching the myths of the tribes as modern science doesn't strike me as an advance but a retreat from the mission of a Western university.
People of indigenous origin can certainly be scientists; there is nothing in the genes or the blood to prevent it. But there is no way indigenous "ways of knowing" can coexist with modern Western science. Pretending otherwise is as silly as pretending a man can be a woman or a child can be a cat.
Of course, universities make those claims as well. Absurdity is now a core component of modern education.
# posted by Ranger @ 9:31 PM
