Black Panther Thoughts on Shuri and STEAM:

Black Panther Thoughts on Shuri and STEAM:

Rather than the face of STEM, I think Shuri is if anything the face of STEAM. I think most people know that this stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, though they may be less familiar with rationales for what the arts provide to that construction.

There is an unfortunate assumption that it either serves only to make STEM ideas palatable to non-scientifically inclined people or that STEM has the power to make artistic ideas a reality. What the Arts actually do is incorporate a human element. If you are considering user-centered design, whether from the aesthetic, cultural, or experiential angle, then you are required to envision and react to those potential users using knowledge that exists solidly in the artistic realm.

You can see Shuri’s appreciation for the arts in how she dresses and carries herself, and in her general practice of looking forward while still maintaining a cultural connection to Wakanda. Her designs are functional and elegant, and clearly reference designs, patterns, and uses that have emerged over the centuries in the isolated Afro-utopia that is Wakanda. You can also see this design philosophy in the nation’s buildings, styles of dress, rituals, and more or less every other aspect of life.

The various disciplines in STEAM can’t really be isolated in these constructions, so seamlessly are they integrated together. This is something of the whole point of STEAM for me, that concepts coexist to the point of complete synthesis. Essentially, STEAM ceases to exist because it is integral to thought.

This also points out part of the problem with using either STEM or STEAM within this context, which is that they are essentially Western divisions and unifications of thought. The terms (in my head canon) would be meaningless to a Wakandan, because they do not impose those separations in the same manner. Certainly, they would understand technology as an area of specialty, but to pull it apart from their history, philosophy, and people? Never.