Research summary
Dr. Kristina Bidwell’s research program focuses on how stories interact between communities, both different Indigenous communities and Indigenous and settler communities. Challenges in understanding, making space for, and valuing one another’s stories across boundaries of culture and power underlie many high-stakes conflicts over land, identity and knowledge in Canada. How can a better understanding of how stories interact across difference help address such conflicts? Bidwell examines how stories create meaning, circulate, and influence actions in cross-cultural social contexts. Based on this research, she will offer principles and practical tools to improve inter-Indigenous and Indigenous-settler collaborations across many domains.