A dinnertime discussion
My roomates and I were sitting around chatting yesterday and we somehow got onto the concept of religion, education, western perspective, and numerous other things that reminded me of this class. Discussions like that make me optimistic, to a certain extent, because they remind me that people are aware that the education system they’ve been through has a strong European, Christian approach to history, as hidden as it often appears to be. However, they also revive my original sentiments of frustration, and to a certain extent anger, that originally evoked the desire to start this course. Because people are open and willing to listen, to learn, but the information is so hard to find and simply just not taught in our Education system.
I’m not sure how different the education systems in Islamic countries actually are to ours – although I know some of you have experienced them. After reading those chapters on the “decline” of science in Islam, I have the impression that the colonial powers imposed their Education systems and more importantly the content taught and their approach to scientific learning on the Islamic countries which they occupied, and this has forever changed (or perhaps abolished) the tradition of learning that once existed in these places.
Anyways, my point in writing this post was that I think it’s important that we engage in these types of conversations with as many people as possible. Change of perspective starts one dinnertime discussion at a time.