Cunning criminality is nothing new. But the “faithful duplicity” of some recent forgeries has stunned art experts and shaken the markets and social organizations that envelop this area of knowledge. Stories of stolen fortunes and international detective work however, can kick-start student interest as we use fake art to raise questions about real art. The […]
Read more “Only art has the power to build bridges between communities,” asserts an art historian in response to a current exhibit in Srinigar, Kashmir. One of the hosts of the exhibition similarly affirms, “Art is dialogue and conversation about difficult subjects.” As TOK teachers, we have a world of examples to bring to class on art […]
Read more May in the northern hemisphere. The return of long daylight. But also IB exams. Tired students. Tired teachers. Time to take a class into the calm and beauty of pattern, with gentle TOK reflection on the deep intersections of mathematics, nature, art and technology. This year, my favourite vehicle is the animated sculpture of John […]
Read moreDo we expect to understand art and the natural sciences in the same way? Today, here’s a cartoon to open a comparison in class discussion, with questions and a download at the end. I hope it gives you not only material for class but also a smile. “How am I supposed to appreciate it?” cartoon […]
Read more Standing at the centre of the world: it’s a compelling image. But just who or what is at the “centre”, and what does planting that centre do to our knowledge? Clearly, this question of “centrism” threads through the Theory of Knowledge course, and there are plenty of good entry points to take students into discussion […]
Read more How could students NOT love this 2-minute dance video ? And how could you, as a TOK teacher, NOT seize the chance to ask (just a little!) about the role of the arts in knowledge? The Maritime Bhangra Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada gives a joyful lift to questions about what is communicated in music and dance. […]
Read more At first glance, it’s a most unlikely statue to ignite a diplomatic row: a barefoot girl sits on a chair, her hands passively in her lap. Nevertheless, the placement of this gentle statue by South Korean activists in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan has set off a storm of controversy and provoked […]
Read more As a PS to my previous post on creativity and ways of knowing, I’d like to add a short (3:44) video clip of scientist Neil de Grasse Tyson speaking of the importance of the arts. In context of defending the arts from funding cuts, his appreciation of creativity and culture, embodied in the arts, gains […]
Read more Where do new ideas come from? Is it inevitable, I wonder, that in trying to talk with students about using ways of knowing creatively I’m inclined to turn to individual stories of “getting ideas”? Today I’d simply like to share two or three resources for raising discussion of creativity in class. The first is a very short […]
Read more On this fine day in May, most Theory of Knowledge students in the northern hemisphere are surely preoccupied with only a certain aspect of knowledge: how well to demonstrate it, in relevant forms, on examinations. So today let me suggest that tired students deserve to be invited away from exam stress through their senses and […]
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