Arjun Appadurai
United States of America
"EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION"
Among the many big challenges faced by educators around the world, at all levels, is the process by which knowledge is being defined as information, information is being turned into data, and the most powerful forms of data are digital. This process has definite virtues, since it gives all teachers new tools for teaching science, geography, cultural knowledge and also allows young people to develop new ways of seeing, representing and shaping the world of objects and images. But it also has many risks, which are seen in the tendencies towards mechanical search processes, cut-and-paste mechanisms for writing assignments, a thinner line between originality and rote learning, and a blurring of the line between information and knowledge. I will explore this tension between education and information in my lecture.
Arjun Appadurai is Goddard Professor (Emeritus) of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. He was born in India and educated in India and the United States. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1976, and has held distinguished appointments at The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Chicago, Yale University, and the New School. He has published many books and articles relating to globalization, cultural conflict, urbanization and nationalism. His most recent book, (with Neta Alexander) is Failure (Polity, 2019). He was a Member of the High Level UNESCO Commission on The Futures of Education.