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Quantum entanglement, the observer effect, probability, and non-linear time are often presented as discoveries of modern physics. Yet many African cosmological traditions have long offered ways of understanding reality that emphasize interconnectedness, consciousness, possibility, and cyclical understandings of time.
This workshop explores points of convergence between African knowledge systems and contemporary scientific thought. Participants will examine concepts such as Ubuntu and quantum entanglement, Aṣé and the observer effect, the 256 Odu Ifá and probability structures, and Akan conceptions of cyclical time alongside modern theories that challenge linear understandings of the universe.
Rather than asking whether these traditions are identical, the class considers how different systems of knowledge can arrive at remarkably similar questions about existence, causality, connection, and becoming. What can we learn when African cosmologies and contemporary physics are placed in conversation with one another?
In the second half of the workshop, participants will engage with the Entangled Time Tree framework, a tool for understanding history as a network of multiple, overlapping narratives rather than a single linear story. Together, we will explore histories that have been preserved, forgotten, contested, or carried forward through family and community memory.
Through discussion and collaborative mapping, participants will consider how our understanding of the past shapes the futures we imagine. By tracing multiple historical pathways, we can envision multiple futures—each emerging from what was remembered, what was interrupted, and what is still unfolding.
Quantum entanglement, the observer effect, probability, and non-linear time are often presented as discoveries of modern physics. Yet many African cosmological traditions have long offered ways of understanding reality that emphasize interconnectedness, consciousness, possibility, and cyclical understandings of time.
This workshop explores points of convergence between African knowledge systems and contemporary scientific thought. Participants will examine concepts such as Ubuntu and quantum entanglement, Aṣé and the observer effect, the 256 Odu Ifá and probability structures, and Akan conceptions of cyclical time alongside modern theories that challenge linear understandings of the universe.
Rather than asking whether these traditions are identical, the class considers how different systems of knowledge can arrive at remarkably similar questions about existence, causality, connection, and becoming. What can we learn when African cosmologies and contemporary physics are placed in conversation with one another?
In the second half of the workshop, participants will engage with the Entangled Time Tree framework, a tool for understanding history as a network of multiple, overlapping narratives rather than a single linear story. Together, we will explore histories that have been preserved, forgotten, contested, or carried forward through family and community memory.
Through discussion and collaborative mapping, participants will consider how our understanding of the past shapes the futures we imagine. By tracing multiple historical pathways, we can envision multiple futures—each emerging from what was remembered, what was interrupted, and what is still unfolding.