Overview
This Conference aims to rescue an important and little-known part of our past as countries of the South. It is about acknowledging the South's contribution to universal knowledge and disseminating scientific heritage as a strength of culture and identity. Today, just like a thousand years ago, ideas and knowledge can unite the societies and nations.
Whereas human societies are considered knowledge societies as they understand the methods of science and its disciplines to generate knowledge, a paradigm of unbalanced scientific development between North and South depicts our understanding of knowledge society. There is a misleading idea that innovation would always have arisen from North to South, neglecting intellectual traditions and contributions to science from the South.
In fact, little has been studied from a heritage perspective about memories of science and technology in the countries of the South. However, both the Middle East and Latin America have been at the crossroads of many knowledge societies that throughout their history have safeguarded a vast scientific heritage, made up of stories, characters, places and documents that have allowed the construction of intellectual traditions, such as mathematics, astronomy, natural history, and water engineering. Science, innovation, and wisdom as societal values have been part of the idiosyncrasies of both societies and providing insight not only to our identity and culture but also to our current societal challenges regarding innovation, cooperation and scientific development.
To make visible the scientific heritage of our regions is extremely important. The historical mobility of ideas and knowledge between continents and regions has connected the world and has allowed scientific disciplines to be heirs of international scientific work. We need to discern that science is universal not only in theories but also in societal practice, providing important values and structures at the level of international relations. There have been scientific and cultural exchanges that forge the cultural and scientific identity of countries and regions. For instance, the importance of Islamic algebra to modern mathematics or botanic exploration in Latin America to the identity of the New World.
The conferenceis the starting point of collaborative work between the UNESCO Chair on Science Diplomacy and Scientific Heritage at UNAM and the University of Sharjah. It will bring scholars from all over the world to advance in an initial conversation about scientific heritage in the Middle East, advancing preparation for common research and teaching projects, and bringing scientific communities from Mexico and Sharjah closer together.
It is in this context in which both the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the University of Sharjah have decided to organize a conference that will examine the role of science heritage in public diplomacy. This event is organized as part of the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by both institutions and within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Chair of Science Diplomacy and Scientific Heritage. The event will be organized by both institutions but hosted at the University of Sharjah as a part also of its 25th anniversary.
