Bio:
Methodologically, I am part of a constellation of scholars with backgrounds in philosophy, political theory, and legal theory whose current work draws heavily on and contributes to research in Indigenous studies, environmental studies, and related fields. While I retain a firm foothold in philosophy, I routinely engage with scholars across the humanities and social sciences. The main audiences for most of my current projects include researchers of decoloniality, decolonization, and environmental justice both within and beyond philosophy.
Indigenous research methodologies are land-based, sense-making tools that promote relationship building, responsible knowledge exchange, and epistemic sovereignty. Often drawn from ancestral teachings and protocols, these methodologies are grounded in place and community. Within my current work, I engage with scholars who center these methodologies and are well versed in their application.
I likewise incorporate a Western research framework that has come to be called synthetic philosophy. While conceptual analysis is part of my methodological toolkit, it serves a synthetic approach to philosophy that is “largely a matter of trying to put things together, trying to get the pieces of very large puzzles to make sense,” as Peter Godfrey-Smith states. This methodology routinely brings together philosophical research with insights and knowledge from the social sciences, grey literature, and the natural sciences with two main aims. The first is to offer coherent accounts of complex systems and problems. The second is to connect these accounts to wider social, cultural, and ecological concerns.
Disciplinarily, interweaving Indigenous research methodologies with synthetic philosophy offers a necessary reminder that Indigenous philosophy may be relatively new as a scholarly subfield but remains the first philosophy ever practiced. This reminder is critical for diversifying the discipline, decolonizing academia, and increasing the scope, flexibility, and innovativeness of Western research frameworks.