I have found this class and its content to be very relatable thus far. This class has revealed to me the importance of differing approaches to knowledge. As we read in the article “Land as a Pedagogy” it is critical to independently think, and come to our own conclusions before coming together to discuss and hear other approaches to the subject. Reflecting (as I am doing in this paper) is critical to the development of knowledge. The Land as a Pedagogy discussed through a story, the importance of diverse and independent thinking. It also conveyed the significance of coming together once you have gained your own knowledge and opinion, and to share it with others to gain a stronger understanding and a new knowledge. But the most important part of this story was to first gain your own thoughts and come to your own conclusion independently. In life this is a very important aspect that I find sometimes gets brushed under the rug. Not to say that disciplinary learning isn’t important, because it is extremely important, but there will be no growth in learning without the use of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies.
So far in this class we have not had many guest speakers, but I found that Lindsay McIntyre was a very interesting guest speaker. She shone light on how important it is to do what you love, and not always what will create the biggest conversations, and bring you the most money. She is a perfect example of how perseverance can bring you success, not only around you but within you. She worked for years to uncover a technique that no one would help her to discover. Once she uncovered what she was wanting to, she did not stop there, she continued to use her individual and gathered knowledge to come up with something even more creative. She used different understandings and different areas of study to continue growing in her own area of expertise. I find that liberal studies 100 thus far has showed me how critical it is to have differing knowledge’s to succeed. Not only did she persevere to get to where she wanted to and discover what she wanted to discover, she is an indigenous woman. As an Indigenous woman, she also has the ability to give us knowledge on the Indigenous people and the struggles they have gone through to be where they are today. Bringing her love of film work and production into connection with her culture of Indigenous.
The idea of differing opinions and uses of knowledge has always existed, but it is something that I have never put much focus on. For example, as we read in class, the creation of the field of acoustic archaeology. It was created when different fields of studies; a computer music specialist, an anthropologist, and an electrical engineer, came together. They are all from very different fields of studies that would not normally be connected, but by connecting these things a really cool new innovation was created that would not have been created otherwise. I am sure there are numerous examples of innovations that would never have been created if it weren’t for differing knowledge’s and differing approaches to that knowledge.
Personally, this class has begun to shape my perspective about knowledge in other aspects of life such as work. I work as a server at Cactus Club, important necessary knowledge would be the basics of how to do my job and be a server. What I have started to think about more, is the importance of taking into consideration how the other aspects of the restaurant work, for efficiency for myself and those around me. For example, if I know how things are done in the kitchen, and my table had an issue with the way something was cooked, I would be much more ready to handle the situation if I had knowledge on how the kitchen generally cooks this item. This may seem very small, which it is, but when all of these different aspects of the restaurant work coherently it is much more effective for everyone involved.