Horizons of Insight Seminar Series (2011)

Just as there is no global economic justice without cognitive social justice, equally there can be no equity within academia without cognitive equity. However, indigenous knowledge remains inequitably positioned within the academy yet in this great transitional moment, indigenous knowledge is more critically relevant than perhaps ever before. In this seminar I will examine some of the tensions that surround the place and function of indigenous knowledge in the academy, contextualize these tensions in terms of global crisis and transformation and present some thoughts about the place of indigenous knowledge as a crucial response and contribution to this time of great change.

Dr Stewart‐Harawira holds a PhD from The University of Auckland and is an Associate Professor in Indigenous Education and Global Transformation in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, where she has been a faculty member since July 2004. She is a former Research Fellow of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and has held teaching positions at The University of Auckland and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, where she taught for 8 years in the postgraduate programme. Dr Stewart‐Harawira is of Māori and Scots descent, her primary iwi affiliation being Waitaha ki Te Waipounamu. She is the author of The New Imperial Order: Indigenous Responses to Globalization and a number of edited book chapters and articles.

Dr Stewart‐Harawira's research focuses on the intersections of indigenous ontologies, global transformation and global governance. She has recently been the lead investigator on a project that explores the intersection of energy development, extractive industries, indigenous communities, and indigenous wellbeing and sustainability in northern Alberta.