Here we go again!  The pattern re-asserts itself once more.  You know, the
one where the sci-stud crowd, confronted by critics, indignantly declares,
"How dare you acccuse us of being relativists!"  But leave 'em alone for a
few minutes, and they can't resist falling into their sentimental old
relativist folkways!

It makes little sense to confront the "authority" or "truth" os science as
such.  If you think science has it wrong about something, suggest an
observational or experimental protocol that will demonstrate this.
Maundering on in sanctimonious phrases about cultural cognitive relativism
sure as hell won't do it.

I quite agree that the initial proposal to infuse a science curriculum
with Indian-flavored "spirituality" is condescending nonsense. But so is
the cultural-relativist alternative Mattila proposes.  It's really quite
simple: teach Indians science the way you would Cinese Americans, Jewish
Americans, Italian Americans, and white-bread WASPS.

I note with dismay and disgust, but no particular surprise, that the NSF
sponsored this folderol.  Figures.  I personally repine for the good old
post-Sputnik days when the NSF went about its proper educational business
of digging up bright kids and providing all sorts of opportunities and
inducements to learn science--without carrying on about whose ethnicity
counted for what.

For more on these matters, see Chaps. 7 & 8 of my forthcoming book,
"Prometheus Bedeviled: Science and the Contradictions of Contemporary
Culture" (Rutgers U. Press, spring 99).

N. Levitt

PS:  I have to admit that I'm on friendly terms with only one person of
substantial Indian heritage, though he has a lot of old-line Hudson Valley
Dutch in him as well. (I have some relatives who have a little bit of
Native American mixed in with African, English, and Russian-Jewish).  My
friend has a doctorate in mathematics (differential topology), and a
degree in science journalism on top of that, but he's currently pursuing
another doctorate in Chinese history (with particular attention to the
political institutions of the Ch'ing Dynasty)--this after years of travel
in China, with a particular interest in the non-Han peoples of Yenan
Province.  He's also the world expert on the origins and diffusion of the
board game "Mancala," whose epicenter is sub-Saharan Africa (where he has
also extensively traveled and worked).  He initiated the idea of applying
the claddistic approach to evolutionary biology to ethnographic questions
(the deveopment of Mancala in particular).  Towards this end, he spent
several months learning claddistic theory at the American Museum of Naural
History.

Now, THAT'S what I call "multiculturalism".



On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, Erik A. Mattila wrote:

> How wonderful it would be if 99 began with a good debate:  this is good raw
> material.
>
> A few years back I was involved with planing curriculum under the auspices
> of a NSF grant that was designed to cause ethnic minority student to become
> interested in careers in science.  In this case it was Native American
> students at a Native American college in Northern California.  The overall
> strategy was pretty straightforward, to create a sense of 'cultural
> ownership' among our students by showcasing the Native American
> contribution to science.
etc.