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Ania Lian,
born in Poland, in years 1980-1984 completed her studies in German at
the University of Lodz, Poland
(incl. Diploma of Education), speaks Polish,
German, English, and has some knowledge of French and Russian.
After
a short time of 1.5 years spent between Germany and France in years
1984-1986,
she migrated to Australia. Since then, she continued her studies
in Australia, and subsequently taught at various universities (see Ania Lian's
Résumé or Ania
Lian's CV). See Ania's PhD
thesis.
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Today,
Ania is Director of Critical
Pedagogy and Technology Consultants, Pty Ltd., Australia. Her work
involves
a number of educational and community projects whose general goal
is to create opportunities which translate the objective of education
through communication into reality (see examples: Projects
2004). The contexts of these projects range from a number of
experimental
studies conducted by doctoral students at the University of Canberra,
Australia
(e.g. see Thai News
Network),
to some newly formed ideas some of which are available through
this
website. One of those recent ideas is the Multilingual
Database of Concepts (members can view the website).
The general framework of Ania's work you can
explore
by beginning with Ania's more recent discussion paper 'Beyond
illusions or facts'. Have fun!
Also, please do check the link to my Italian friend, Victoria Surliuga, a poet and literary critic who is gaining increasing prominence (English, Italian). |
 Some of Ania's thoughts on a most fascinating ancient philosopher, Zeno The concept of finality neither determines, nor excludes the infinity of, the possible ways to count. Hence our limitations are not inherent in our condition, but reflect our perceptions of it, i.e. the elements which we bring into play or account for. Ania Lian 2005 (see also Ania on Zeno) To get to the point: did Zeno's tortoise ever move thus proving that time and space do exist? As they say in quantum mechanics, the conclusion is already implied in the logic of your question. Thus a more interesting question would be, whether we can imagine our own existence without invoking the dimensions of time and space? We can agree that from the idea of
finality not
implying determinism follows that what
holds things
together are the finalities which we enact, i.e. the logics that
validate
and shape our reality. I cannot see us breaking out of finalities as
each construction implies a form of boundary, i.e. finality. On the
other
hand, embracing finalities means working with them, working with
perspectives. In this way, we avoid turning a finality (a point of
view) into an ideology. Instead, we commit to a process of inquiry
where our finalities (ways of seeing things) do not exclude the
possibilities
which they do not see (account for).
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Australian Association of Research Education International
Conference,
Melbourne, December 2004
If you want a definition of critical
thinking,
I can tell you that its essence is in thinking.
Thinking, by nature, is critical. Not
thinking,
by nature, is uncritical.
Ania Lian (2004)
Other interesting thoughts:
"So I
find that teaching and the students keep life going, and I would never
accept any position in which somebody has invented a happy situation
for me where I don't have to teach. Never."(Richard Feynman
on teaching)
Science advances
funeral by funeral. - Paul
A. Samuelson paraphrasing M. Planck
A new scientific truth does not triumph
by convincing its opponents
and making them see the light, but
rather because
its opponents eventually die[..] Max
Planck
There is an old saying that the
course of civilization
is a race between catastrophe and education.
In a democracy such as ours, we must
make
sure that education wins the race. - John F. Kennedy
We see things not as they are but as
we are.
- Anais Nin
Strong winds caress strong trees, but
break
the weak ones. 'Break-out' Polish rock group
The great tragedy of life is not death,
but
what dies inside of us while we
live. - Norman Cousins
"One beautiful summer day my Aunt Mary took me to a pond in the country. She told me to look in yonder pond and I would see all the obstacles that could possibly beset me in this world. I looked into the pond and, at first, saw nothing. Suddenly, mirrored in the reflection of the beautiful blue sky and occasional cloud, there I stood, the only obstacle in my journey." Dr. Seaton