The View from Nowhere

Can scholars ever stand outside the knowledge they study? Beginning with a dispute over the title of a single university course, this episode examines larger debates about objectivity, evidence, and whose ways of knowing universities recognize as legitimate. Drawing on classroom practices, student reflections, and the work of scholars who offered public lectures for the program, episode 3 of this five-part series argues that contemplative traditions are not merely objects of scientific investigation but can also contribute concepts, methods, and questions to contemporary research. As discussions of first-person inquiry, decolonization, and reflexive scholarship unfold, listeners are invited to reconsider the hidden assumptions that shape modern universities—and to ask who ultimately decides what counts as knowledge. To learn more about the circumstances described in this series, see https://pathuoft.net/ This series was produced by Frances Garrett, with sound editing by Jesse Whitty, music by Kilian Kramer, and logo design by Kayla Bowland. The series has been organized by the Engaging Education in Buddhist Studies initiative at the University of Toronto, with generous support from the Khyentse Foundation.