All tagged Education
This article critically examines the evolution and current state of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education, focusing on the intersection of transdisciplinary approaches, ideological forces, and the pressing need for diversification.
To many, the secession of the British Raj was a weight lifted off the shoulders of the residents of a newly independent subcontinent. The subjugation under English authority had long been considered entirely exhausted without the mutiny of its laborers laid out to dry under the same sun which baked the clay of their buildings. But the simmering warmth which once scorched the surface of the skin of India was beginning to emanate from underneath. Growing pressure surrounding the emergence of the Muslim bloc of Pakistan had already been faced with debates over its legitimacy, fueling the migration of 15 million across borders drawn by their former settlers. In a final attempt to secure authority in the Global North, the wardens of the Empire handed over their keys to what would soon become the new ruler of the South Asian psyche: separatism. As the dynamic between Pakistan and India continues to be barraged with statements of ‘conflict,’ ‘tensions,’ and ‘violence’ for the 77th year since their independence, the notion of peace has become increasingly difficult to conscribe, often by virtue of the difficulty of ascribing an antecedent dilemma. Responses from impassioned citizens will often give the impression that the archetypal Pandora’s box which has erupted into the social fabric of the diaspora today may very well be just that- an artifice constructed from the traumas of the Partition for those profiting and in charge.
The 1920s marked a period of great social and technological change within American culture. Following the end of World War I and decades of industrialization, the country experienced an economic boom and rapid industrialization. Innovations such as the radio and automobiles flooded the market, as factories shifted towards mass production. Due to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, women were now allowed to vote and take a greater role in the political scene. America was quickly becoming a center of opportunity as immigration rates increased substantially, leading to urbanization in big cities. On the other hand, tensions were rising in rural areas, often populated by religious fundamentalists. They saw the changes occurring in large cities as a sign of America’s moral decline (Greenburg, 1983). What was most alarming to them, however, was the topic of evolution which directly contradicted the idea that human beings were created by God. Evangelical leaders pushed for legislation that would outlaw the teaching of evolution in schools. This moral and societal divide would come to a head in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. The Scopes Trial, often referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a symbol of the clash between urban secularism and rural traditionalism within American society in the early 20th century.
