TIME | 14 October 2010, 4pm onwards
LOCATION | CSAFE Seminar Room, , Dunedin
SPEAKERS | Marc Schallenberg & Heidi Piña-Gasca
Our understanding of the physical world has been shaped by science for more than half a millennium. Modern science is a product of western European society, and so represents just one of many cultural approaches to knowledge gathering. By recognising the potentialities and limitations of science and other knowledge gathering systems, we can explore the possibility of a complementary approach among them. Regardless of semi-conflictive epistemological cores that define the existence of science, social science and local knowledge systems, their self-organizing capacities encourage us to re-interpret their boundaries in a quest for fair contextualisations. Thus, we think that objective study and reflexive understanding of the differences among ?ways of knowing? are necessary. A successful collaboration between these ways of knowing may or may not be essential for a prosperous society, but collaborations may be best served by sharing different 'ways of knowing' while maintaining their respective integrities.
Heidi is currently starting a PhD in Sociology within CSAFE? S Energy Cultures project, exploring social constructions of energy practices through community groups.With a background that comprises anthropological sciences and education, her research interests fall into three areas: Tertiary Education Research ? particularly interested in the local cultural configurations of internationally applied socio -constructivist pedagogical models. Social networks and Communities of Practice ? with a strong interest in understanding the collective nature of learning and practice within routines and habits. Inter-cultural Communication Research ? focusing in community-based environmental initiatives among Mayan villages of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Outside academia, she has been strongly involved with environmental-value-centered educative programs, undertaking teacher/academic coordinator roles from the levels of primary school to university.