Week 8 (Leslie Do): The Violence of Secular Hierarchies in the Imperialist University
Leslie D.
Week 8 Blogpost
The Violence of Secular Hierarchies in the Imperialist University
In the context of colonial modernity, legacies of secular hierarchies (such as morality, sex, and age) in colonized countries can create hierarchies of knowledge that creates conflicts between the spiritual self (the altruistic sense of self that is connected to spiritual rituals and the spirit realm) and the sense of self that wants to be accepted as rational and modern by liberal, Western imperialist societies and institutions – such as the contemporary American public university. For instance, I felt heartbroken when I learned that some secular, Muslim men have also said Islamophobic jokes and anti-Arab jokes to be seen as desirable by whiteness. My mixed race, Palestinian and Mexican friend has had similar experiences with these men, and her awareness of her white-passing privilege made me realize that their Islamophobic jokes and anti-Arab jokes are products of secular hierarchies suppressing religion and traditions and ideas from the spirit realm. Without realizing it, people who practice spirit realm traditions can also devalue their own practices in order to be seen as rational, modern, and progressive on the standards of Western, Marxist standards of intelligence and valuable knowledge production. Therefore, even though university is considered a trusted authority on new knowledge and information, we have to be critical of how our university can produce Orientalist, inaccurate ideas about the spirit realm due to secular hierarchies where knowledge on Eastern religions and spirit realm are considered less valuable than scientific knowledge (Shahjahan, 687-688.)
Question: How can we envision a public university where secular hierarchies are removed and where spirit realm is a majorly accepted, predominant framework in the social sciences, humanities, and STEM as interconnected fields? What would the structure and classroom of this type of university look like?
Week 8 Blogpost
The Violence of Secular Hierarchies in the Imperialist University
In the context of colonial modernity, legacies of secular hierarchies (such as morality, sex, and age) in colonized countries can create hierarchies of knowledge that creates conflicts between the spiritual self (the altruistic sense of self that is connected to spiritual rituals and the spirit realm) and the sense of self that wants to be accepted as rational and modern by liberal, Western imperialist societies and institutions – such as the contemporary American public university. For instance, I felt heartbroken when I learned that some secular, Muslim men have also said Islamophobic jokes and anti-Arab jokes to be seen as desirable by whiteness. My mixed race, Palestinian and Mexican friend has had similar experiences with these men, and her awareness of her white-passing privilege made me realize that their Islamophobic jokes and anti-Arab jokes are products of secular hierarchies suppressing religion and traditions and ideas from the spirit realm. Without realizing it, people who practice spirit realm traditions can also devalue their own practices in order to be seen as rational, modern, and progressive on the standards of Western, Marxist standards of intelligence and valuable knowledge production. Therefore, even though university is considered a trusted authority on new knowledge and information, we have to be critical of how our university can produce Orientalist, inaccurate ideas about the spirit realm due to secular hierarchies where knowledge on Eastern religions and spirit realm are considered less valuable than scientific knowledge (Shahjahan, 687-688.)
Question: How can we envision a public university where secular hierarchies are removed and where spirit realm is a majorly accepted, predominant framework in the social sciences, humanities, and STEM as interconnected fields? What would the structure and classroom of this type of university look like?
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