Our goal is to facilitate the aquisition and exploration of knowledge that is essential to understanding our world and to foster dialogue and action based on increased awareness and global understanding.

HELP US DEFINE THIS NEW WEBSITE!

Hi Everyone! We at Knowledge Forward would love to have YOUR suggestions about what website features would be most helpful to you. Please JOIN OUR GROUP and post your comment or email it to julia@knowledgeforward.org!

In addition to other features, the website will be built around three core functions: a LEARN component, where users can discover pivotal books, crash-course reading lists from professors and other knowledge resources; a DIALOGUE component for discussion on website topics and for forming global partnerships; and an ACTION component, which will highlight innovative and impactful organizations projects that users can get involved with to effect change.

In particular, WE WANT TO KNOW what kind of interactive DIALOGUE would be most helpful/inspiring to you? Would you prefer a blog format where users could comment on weekly/monthly posted content, or an open discussion forum, with threads for different books, ideas, projects etc?

How can Knowledge Forward help you to learn more, challenge your assuptions and work for change?


THE WHY OF KNOWLEDGE FORWARD:

Information is so easily accessible if you're in college. You can walk into a class, pick up a syllabus, and have an instant list of books handpicked by a knowledgeable professor. The information is usually reliable, credible, and if read pretty much guarantees the student a good basis for understanding the class topic.
Unfortunately, we can't stay in college forever, and many people choose not to or are unable to attend university.

Outside of the classroom, where can we go to keep learning? What opportunities do we have to build our knowledge without the luxury of an expert reading list? As conscious and responsible citizens, we have a duty to try and make a dent in the multitude of issues confronting our global society, but we need access to good information to serve as a basis for our action. Where can we go to learn more about the issues that we are passionate about, challenge our assumptions and strengthen our capacity to act?

Fortunately, we have the internet, which is pervaded by thousands of reading lists on thousands of blogs and stores like Amazon. Unfortunately, these are often inconsistent and authored by self-proclaimed "experts" with little or no accountability (really, babyz45 is not a name). It also takes time to troll the web for the best, most reliable sites and then sort through their book lists to find the truly exceptional reads. With limited time and resources, how can we find the exceptional books without resorting to trial and error?

One day I happened to pick up the book "No God but God" by Reza Aslan and was instantly inspired. Aslan's scholarly, poignant, yet concise history and analysis of Islam was so accessible and informative that I wanted to share it with everyone I met. This is the kind of book that should be highlighted on every website and featured on newscasts everywhere, and I wanted to create a website that would do just that.

This website will be a gateway for the intellectually curious and provide users with scholarly resources on topics that are indispensable to understanding our modern world. The site will contain reviews of truly exceptional books, suggested reading lists and other resources for dialogue and action that can be cross-referenced and linked to present the user with topic-based references from credible, reliable sources. It will feature books that range from basic introductions to academic disciplines or current events, to specialized and in-depth explorations of specific topics.

No idea, discipline or phenomenon exists in isolation, and in order to truly understand our world we must be able to make the connections between that which seems disparate. It is my hope that this site will be a place where people can come to fill in their knowledge gaps and gain a deeper understanding of our most important challenges.