Decolonizing Interdisciplinary Collaborations in STEM: Intentional Processes at the Nexus of the Academy and Community

• In Event: 63.085 - MTCC Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: 63.085-10 - Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy to Honor Indigenous Approaches to Education

Abstract

This manuscript conceptualizes Indigenous knowledge to reinterpret what it means to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. The manuscript stories (Archibald, 2008) the development of a scaffolded pre-college STEM mentoring program. This Indigenous STEM (Indigi-STEM) Project began when Indigenous scholars at a university located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States sought to ground their work within the community and to engage in decolonizing STEM practices. The Indigi-STEM Project, which is conceptually grounded in the larger discussion involving Indigenous knowledge and culturally-relevant education, serves as a case-study to demonstrate how program collaborators enacted Indigenous logics with practices of Indigenizing and decolonizing education. Main contributions of this manuscript are directed toward sharing the learned lessons when enacting decolonization of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Authors

• Chris A. Nelson, University of Denver

• Michelle C Garcia-Olp, Beloit College

• Angel Hinzo

• Viki Eagle, University of Denver