planting the estuary
on campus
please find reflections and resources from our reading group sessions below. these living records of the questions, tensions, and ideas that surfaced when gathered brings together different voices, disciplines, and experiences into conversation. if you would like a copy of the readings, please feel free to contact us via email!
by Joe Sheridan (York University) & Roronhiakewen “He Clears the Sky” Dan Longboat (Trent University)
what is imagination? we explored different perspective of imagination and the boundaries build around self and surroundings. some topics and recommended readings that surfaced are linked below.
The Alphabet versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word & Image
Ecosia (there is both a browser extension and a desktop version)
Bioremediation (there is a specific group that focuses on fungal bioremediation aka mycoremediation!
by Banu Subramaniam
what does it means to decolonize the current scientific curriculum (and curricula in general)? we wondered how we can approach the existing structural and institutional barriers that exist to maintain the status quo. while dominant culture resists re-imagined, decolonized knowledge, we must be careful to avoid "fetishizing the indigenous" (Kim TallBear).
an excerpt from the reading reminds us of the history of colonization in the sciences and cautions us to avoid repeating history:
"But decolonization must not become recolonization. Decolonization must not mean appropriating indigenous knowledge as science. Colonization was built on practices of appropriation, stolen land, and broken promises. As many Native scholars ask, Do we want sacred knowledges to be appropriated by academia? If they stole it once, might they not do it again? After all, science has commodified, bought, and sold knowledge for centuries” (p. 57)
by Ben Goldfarb
Listening to the River: How Indigenous Peoples Weave Story and Science to Chart a New Course
by Jeferson Panche Chocue
a close to our spring semester discussions left us with much to sit with as we prepare for further readings in the fall semester.
what counts as science? we discussed how Western science came to be treated as the only "legitimate" form of knowledge, yet many scientific fields originated from everyday, embodied, and Indigenous knowledge that was later formalized and stripped of its origins
how deeply tied is science to capitalism? so much of scientific research follows economic incentives. when the academic must chase government and private funding to conduct their research, the work can often become colored by the expectations and desires of the funder (as much as scientists and researchers would rather not admit this). when scientific advancement relies on questionable funders, is it truly "progress"?
what are the limits of reversibility? some harms, like contaminated land, radiation, and ecosystem collapse cannot be undone. we wrestled with who bears that burden, and who gets to decide when land, and its people, is abandoned.
how can we learn through relationship? models of education have increasingly become impersonal, with the rise of technology in (and our of) the classroom. through example and practice, we brainstormed how meaningful learning tends to happen through connection, not just content.
other resources shared during the session: