NEWS They are called theme seminars and the aim is to reach a broader target group with important issues within indigenous research.
Research should take responsibility in relation to the societies it affects and contribute to their well-being
Speaker Shawn Wilson, a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Canada and residing on Syilx territory in Kelowna, British Columbia, is a professor of Indigenous Studies and holds a research professorship at the University of British Columbia focusing on Indigenous knowledge systems.
The seminars are conducted entirely digitally to enable the participation of internationally prominent researchers and to make the seminars as accessible as possible.They are part of Várdduo's Higher Seminar, an academic meeting place for in-depth discussion and critical reflection on current research.
Each semester, one to two seminars are offered within an overarching theme that runs over a semester or, in some cases, an entire academic year. This format creates a gathering and dynamic arena for engaging and in-depth conversations about pressing research issues.
Indigenous Methodologies are research methods that are rooted in indigenous peoples' worldviews, values, and relationships. Rather than treating knowledge as something to be extracted, they emphasize respect, reciprocity, and responsibility, and assume that knowledge is relational between people, land, and more-than-human contexts.
Scholars such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Shawn Wilson (who will be giving a talk at the seminar), and Jelena Porsanger emphasize that research should take responsibility in relation to the communities it touches and contribute to their well-being. This means that indigenous methodologies prioritize collaboration, ethical anchoring, and the protection of cultural knowledge. In practice, they challenge conventional research by centering indigenous ways of knowing and ensuring that research is both respectful and relevant.
