Category Archives: Native Science

The Indian Brain

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

How much of our prejudices worm their way into our thoughts about American Indians? Folks thought that brain structures determine how people think and act, and scientists in the 1840s looked at Indian skulls to determine their behaviors.

Posted in authenticity, Indian, Native Science, repatriation, science, science communication, writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Republican Brain, the Indian Brain

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

An intriguing talk at a recent conference I attended discussed the Republican Brain. Seems that scientists have been studying how people respond to different scenarios and then measure their responses, both on a written questionnaire and by looking at brain … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, human origin, Indian, journalism, Native Science, science, science communication, writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Get over your Self

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

What if there is no self? How would we approach life, discourse and communication if we were able to put our Self in abeyance? On hold? I listened to a talk recently about how selves–our egos, I guess–get in the … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, Indian, Native Science, science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

New Book on American Indians & Popular Culture

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Our new book on American Indians and popular culture arrives in February, right on the heels of ruminations about how politics and science are fused. Because my work examines how Native American cultural values are treated in mediated discourse within … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, cinema, film, framing, journalism, Native Science, science, science communication, writing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Can We Engage Indians in Science?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Recently I was asked to give a talk at a conference for serious science writers and bloggers who wondered what it would take to engage more American Indians in science communication. In traditional native circles, science isn’t separated from other … Continue reading →

Posted in ethics, journalism, Native Science, science, science communication, social media, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Science Conversation Bubble

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Over the last few days I’ve been floating in a bubble of conversations about science with some 350 writers, bloggers, teachers and scientists from the US and abroad. We gathered under North Carolina storm clouds to talk about science. What … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, censorship, Kennewick Man, Native Science, science, science communication, social media | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Emotion, Cognition and Indigenous Ways-of-Knowing

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

In daily discourse we distinguish between the heart and the mind, emotion and cognition. And as a former journalist and professor of journalism we learned to separate feelings from facts, and to view the world though an unjaundiced, distant and … Continue reading →

Posted in framing, health, Native Science, science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Separating Facts from Values

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

One critic charges that Western Science separates facts from values. The provenance of science is to define the facts, while “politicians and moralists” are left to define values. Problem is, according to Bruno Latour, you cannot distinguish facts from values, … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, Indian, Lakota, Native Science, science, science communication, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

What Does Your Theory Look Like?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

When I think about what I’m grappling with concerning science, Indian ways-of-knowing, and western ways-of-knowing, I imagine a picture. The current metaphor allows me to picture ways-of-knowing as a constellation, like an image of the Milky Way. I imagine a … Continue reading →

Posted in Native Science, science, science communication | Tagged | 2 Comments

Look under the Light

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I learned a lot from an illustrated storybook I received when living in Iran, called Once the Mullah. The mullah lived in a village with this wife and children, and offered advice to the local denizens. He was sometimes wise … Continue reading →

Posted in framing, Native Science, science, science communication | Tagged , | Leave a comment