Situated Knowledge: Swinzle Chauhan at TEDx Terry Talks

By Kamil Somaratne, November 24, 2014

Do our attitudes make us who we are more than our circumstances? Swinzle Chauhan certainly thinks so.

Chauhan, a fourth-year undergraduate student, believes that different people have their opinions based on different ‘places of knowing’ – that these are shaped by their experiences or beliefs.

As a result, in order change any negative attitudes or labels, Chauhan thinks that we should not view them as signs of prejudice or ignorance, but engage them by reaching out and seeing it as an opportunity to educate.

Using her own experience growing up with Vitiligo, an autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with at the of 6, Chauhan tells the story of confronting her own “labels” – using it as a method to educate people about her circumstance.

In this TEDx Terry Talk, she gives the audience a new perspective on stereotypes and judgment, and provides two mechanisms for dealing with labels and negative attitudes.