Symposium to explore research and Indigenous peoples

Linda Tuhiwai Smith will present “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples” at the Viola Cordova Memorial Symposium on Wednesday, April 5, 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building Lobo Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith is a professor of education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her work in Indigenous education, development and research methodology has influenced the way scholars throughout the world conduct research in Indigenous communities.

The annual symposium was created in 2003 in honor of Viola Cordova, who died in 2002, for her contributions to the field of philosophy. When Cordova graduated from UNM in 1992, she was one of the first Native Americans to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy in the United States.

Cordova helped to found the first graduate program in Native American philosophies at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She was also founding co-editor and later editor of the American Philosophical Association Newsletter on American Indians in Philosophy.

A book on Cordova’s collected works is being prepared by colleagues from UNM and the University of Oregon.

The event is co-sponsored by Native American Studies and the Native American Studies Indigenous Research Group. For more information, call 277-3917 or email nasinfo@unm.edu or nasirg@unm.edu.