Imagine a kitchen. Maybe the one you have at home, or perhaps the one you saw on MasterChef. You open the drawers, and they are filled to the brim with a single utensil: forks. Gleaming, identical forks. Every drawer, every cabinet, forks upon forks.
Your friend comes over, eager to bake a complex, multi-layered cake, requiring delicate folding, precise mixing, intricate decorations. But all you have is forks. Sure, forks can be used for some things, but they lack the versatility for the task at hand. Frustration mounts and together you cry: “For Forks’ Sake!”
Now, if you will, imagine a kitchen filled with a variety of tools: whisks, spatulas, knives of all sizes, measuring cups, and even a pestle and mortar tucked in the corner. Each tool, with its unique design and function, is ready to be utilised. Your knowledge, combined with this diverse array of utensils, turns the kitchen into a haven of possibility. Baking that intricate layer cake? Easy.
“Now, you take that layer cake and cut into history as if it were a layer cake and begin to unpack the layers of meanings. Unpack the layers of meanings of all of the pleasures and all of the problems that these layers of meanings produce.”
This kookie pretext brings us nicely to introduce our Epistemic Diversity (EpiDiv) reading group. Much like the diverse kitchen and the layered cake, our group aims to unpack the multiple layers of meaning within scientific and philosophical discourses—delving into the intersections of gender, race, and knowledge to explore how diverse perspectives shape and enrich scientific knowledge.
The reading group is currently curated & cordinated by Rose Trappes and Nathanael Sheehan. The group meets every two weeks and reads texts primarily in English. Discussions are typically facilitated using the finger rule.