Lyne Starling Trimble Public Event Series

Science in the Post-truth Era: A Decolonial Approach

Katemari Rosa, Federal University of Bahia

Abstract

A discussion on how ideas about fake news and fears of science disbelief are not new for Black people in relation to our knowledge production. Although post-truth may be considered “new”, I argue mainstream science has long been a state of post-truth, as it systematically disregarded science and technology developed by people of color throughout history.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Rosa holds a degree in Physics from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, a master’s in Teaching, Philosophy and History of Sciences from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), a master’s in Science Education from Teachers College, and a Ph.D. in Science Education from Columbia University. She is a professor at the Institute of Physics (UFBA), where she is a local Physics coordinator of a Federal Teacher Education Program (PIBID). Her interests involve research and practice in physics teaching, physics for children, and additive manufacturing. Dr. Rosa grounds her work on feminist perspectives, Critical Race Theory, and Decolonial thought. She is interested in discussions involving the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in the construction and teaching of science.

Dr. Rosa is a member of the Brazilian Physics Society, where she acts as a member of the Minority Working Group in Physics and as a representative of the Northeast region in the Physics Teaching Commission. She is also a member of the American Physical Society, serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Forum on the History of Physics (2018-2021). Katemari is part of the American Association of Physics Teachers, on which she is vice-chair of the Committee for International Physics Education (2018-2021). In addition, the researcher is a member of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) and the Brazilian Association of Black Researchers (ABPN). She coordinates a large national project for building an oral history archive of Black scientists in Brazil and is one the founders of the LBsTem group, an organization for lesbian, bi and trans women in STEM.