KIE Faculty Colloquia Series: Dr. Joseph Florez and Colleagues

9001 Stockdale Hwy,Bakersfield CA 93311

14 October, 2022

Description

“Re-Centering Indigenous Knowledge through Community-Driven Research”“Community-based research” and “participatory research” are now buzz words in projects targeting Indigenous communities. And yet, despite attempts to include Indigenous voices in research development, western-centric efforts to address the various types of disparities faced by Indigenous communities have yielded mixed results. In response, Indigenous frameworks to decolonize western-centric research processes have emerged. One such approach, community-driven research, begins with a focus on creating processes for community engagement that are led by the community's priorities, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences. As such, the shape and content of research agendas are directed by the communities themselves, rather than non-Indigenous perspectives which so often eschew equal sharing of knowledge and perpetuate colonial and postcolonial patterns of domination. The challenge, then, is to develop projects in which expertise is mutually constructed and in which no one is the object of research. The primary ethos of community-driven research requires more than a reconsideration of the power dynamics of researchers relative to Indigenous communities, but also the creation of an evolving and dynamic dialogue among Indigenous knowledge, research objectives, and the researcher to prioritize Indigenous agency and experience. The aim of this roundtable discussion is to emphasize the potential benefits of re-centering Indigenous knowledge and priorities for both Indigenous communities and researchers. Our goal is elaborate on the necessity of creating new opportunities for Indigenous communities and researchers to build authentic relationships and engage in ongoing conversations that promote culturally grounded and responsive research and programming as well as work toward Indigenous autonomy and self-determination.