Conference on Knowledge across Cultures Universities East and West 9 -12 Rabi' al Akhir 1413 / 7-10 October 1992 Toronto, Canada

Abstract

This conference was organized by the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education (OISE), Toronto, Canada. Approximately 166 participants,
representing various disciplines and different countries, attended the
eight plenary and twenty concurrent sessions. Its purpose was to bring
together Eastern and Western knowledge through culture via an exchange
of ideas and deliberations, an exposition of theories, and an examination
of the contributions of various cultures-mainly China's-to human
civilization.
The papers presented and the discussions that ensued were extremely
enlightening and concentrated on the following issues: a) the contributions
made to knowledge by specific cultures (mainly Chinese, Indian,
and Muslim); b) knowledge transferreed from the West to the East does
not consider the attributes of the East; c) the East is responsible for
finding ways to adapting its cultures to imported knowledge; and d) social
science knowledge is better generated when social science researchers
abandon natural science methodologies (i.e., realism and positivism) and
recognize that the social sciences should be based on qualitative research.
There were a few papers on the above-mentioned themes that were
outstanding. Abdul Rahman, in his "Spheres of Life: Inheritance, Creativity,
and Society," emphasized the holistic nature of knowledge. This
knowledge does not underestimate or neglect the contributions of different
countries (races) in developing the present (current) civilization.
Abdul Rahman indicated that the lack of a holistic view of knowlege at
present has also led knowledge to be fragmented ...