Dr. Ron Eglash: Complexity in Indigenous Knowledge tonight

Thursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m.
Wendy Williamson Auditorium

UAA Complex Systems Group presents Dr. Ron Eglash: "Complexity in Indigenous Knowledge." Indigenous knowledge is often associated with simple tasks--counting to 100 or making a box--but such stereotypes ignore the rich conceptual and material structures that have resulted from the co-evolution of native cultures and their environment. African fractals, Native American cybernetics, and indigenous nanotechnology are just some of the complex hybrids that emerge when we open up the space for more sophisticated models.

Dr. Eglash, Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic University, holds a B.S. in Cybernetics, an M.S. in Systems Engineering and a Ph.D. in History of Consciousness, all from the University of California. A Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship enabled his field research on African ethnomathematics, which was published by Rutgers University Press in 1999 as "African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design."