After winter break, we continued with what we were doing

before the holiday, which was learning and discussing the 8 areas of
knowledge. This lesson, we had a discussion about Indigenous
Knowledge Systems. When I first heard the term Indigenous
Knowledge Systems, I was expecting something so complicated and
hard to understand. However, after asking questions, being asked
questions, and discussing certain things, I learned that IKS is not as
complex as I thought it would be.
Indigenous knowledge is the local knowledge that is unique to
a given culture or society. It is the knowledge acquired over
generations by communities as they interact with their environment.
Although this seems like a simple definition, IKS has its positive and
negative implications or effects on different parts of the world.
When thinking of IKS, we ask questions like:
1. What is your opinion about globalization?
2. Does it represent progress?
3. Who does it benefit?
Questions like these help us understand Indigenous
Knowledge Systems instead of just indigenous knowledge in
general. Globalization is the process of international integration
arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and
other aspects of culture. I think globalization is important in allowing
us to understand the way other people think and live their lives. This
is important so that we become well-rounded people who
understand one another. This is also important so that we know
what to say, and how to treat people from different cultures or
different parts of the world. Globalization expands our knowledge on
things that dont involve our cultures or us, which is why I think it
represents progress. However, globalization does have a few
setbacks. Some people from certain cultures might not agree with
other cultures. Some people might say or do things that oppose
other cultures. This can create tensions between people that are not
open minded or not so accepting of beliefs that are not their own.
Globalization in my opinion means getting to share and
understand different IKS from all over the world. Although it has its
drawbacks, I think it is so important because whether we agree or
disagree, we need to be aware of what is happening around us. We
need to learn things that dont just come from our countries and
cultures. We need to expose ourselves to the world around us. That
is how we improve, develop, and change.
After discussing a few things about IKS, we listened to a
Turkish song. We didnt know what the song meant, or anything that
was being sung in the song. However, Turkish people did of course
know, since Turkish is part of their IKS. We then listened to the

English version of the song. It sounded a bit different, but we were

able to understand the lyrics. Even though the song was translated
to English, the music was the same, and this way we were exposed
to Turkish music and melodies. The smallest things such as listening
to a Turkish song is a form of globalization.
Afterwards, we were divided into groups of four and each
group was given an area of knowledge that we hadnt researched
before. We were asked to give a presentation similar to the one we
did in the first semester. My group consisted of Christina, Celine,
and George. We had to research about religious knowledge systems.
I was honestly surprised by what IKS meant and how it was
related to globalization. Its such a simple topic, yet I can spend
hours discussing questions about it. I actually had fun learning
about this area of knowledge. It is the most interesting AOK by far.
Ive begun researching about religious knowledge systems, and I
think it is just as interesting as this AOK.