Thinking and writing draw on those who have gone before, in a more than abstract way. In this article, I answer the call of one philosopher--Novalis, the early German Romantic--in the form of a séance, which is really a dialogue with the dead. I speak to him, as a Maori writer, about the abstract philosophical issues that Maori encounter and…

This article highlights cultural appropriation in the literary representation of the Sámi (the indigenous people of the European Arctic) in two Swedish YA series: the "Soppero" quartet by the Sámi author Ann-Helén Laestadius, and the "Idijärvi" trilogy by Charlotte Cederlund, a non-Sámi writer. Despite their different origins,…

Each nation has its motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" is the motto of the Indonesian nation which first appeared in the Sutasoma Text written by Mpu Tantular. The purpose of this study is to find the character values that exist in the motto. This study uses a hermeneutic approach and follows the research steps of Paul Ricoeur. The primary…

Where has all the hilarity gone -- and, with it, the ethics of the dark? In this article, I engage with our metaphysical entities of darkness (in Maori, Te Po) and nothingness (Te Kore). Undermining and re-declaring (only to un-declare once again) are more than just pleasurable exercise for my own indigenous group -- Maori; they are ethical…

This article compares and analyses factors that impact when creating a network on both online and live networking platforms, designed as spaces for artistic and critical engagement both within Africa and beyond. As I draw on the African Womens' Playwright Network as my example, I consider how we can acknowledge the materiality of the processes and…

The identities of Indigenous young people in Australia have increasingly been recognized in the health and education research literature as being significant. Over half of the Indigenous population in Australia is under the age of 25 years, emphasizing the importance of centering the voices of this cohort. In this paper, two Indigenous scholars…

How might mathematics educators recognize discourses as resonating harmonies in their practices as researchers? In this paper we share individual experiential narratives guided by Ojibway author Richard Wagamese's Medicine Wheel teachings in the four directions of East (humility), South (trust), West (introspection), and North (wisdom). As we…

Philosophy confronts two existential crises: the threats to its existence from scientists like Stephen Hawking who claim that philosophy is dead; and the threat to life itself from catastrophic climate change. The essay's first theoretical part critiques Nietzsche's claim that philosophy's primary function is to guarantee the future of life. The…

Online digital platforms can increase access to educational opportunities for marginalised students, authors and communities, but digital platform design can further marginalise Indigenous knowledge because such platforms are structured according to western epistemological assumptions. They do not accommodate for Indigenous or alternative…

This comprehensive qualitative examination of two groups of Canadian picture books, 57 titles published in 2005 and 120 titles published in 2015, offers comparative data that demonstrate patterns related to authors, illustrators, characterization, genres, audiences, and particular elements of "Radical Change", Dresang's (1999) notion…

Background / Context: This conceptual essay contributes to recent education research on immigrant youth from West African countries that examines the interplay of popularized narratives of immigrant youth and young adults, and their Diasporic literacy practices. Specifically, we examine embodied Diaspora literacies as affirming and extending…

Australian children's literature has traditionally provided a space for colonial Australia to perpetuate ideas about segregation, assimilation, and reconciliation. Children's literature offers a complex medium for readers, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to question and challenge prevalent attitudes, in particular, the notion of…

In the small ex-mining village of Langold, North Nottinghamshire, no one could have predicted the disruption a discovery of bats would cause, halting building work on the new Sure Start centre in West Bassetlaw. Further uproar ensued when it became clear that re-housing the bats would be an expensive--and, for many, a pointless--exercise. At the…