Practices of Decolonial Research

What is the role research can play in efforts to address epistemic violence throughout the world? This panel sets a range of decolonial practices in conversation: A collaborative documentary on indigeneity in the Brazilian Amazon; An archival investigation on the effects of colonial legislation in conflating queerness with criminality in India; and an analysis of how training by U.S. police departments perpetuates colonial-era models of policing and military control in the Middle East.

Francisco Clar Kowarick, Screen Studies; Photography Minor ‘28

How does documentary praxis and grassroots engagement with the communities of the Amazon Rainforest illustrate the mechanics of collectiveness? Can the role of the director be reimagined as a shared locus of power, belonging to the territory?

Sumiko Fujihara, Global Studies; Law and Social Change Minor ‘26

How do U.S. police departments' international training programs in the Middle East reflect and perpetuate colonial-era models of policing and military control, and in what ways do these programs contribute to the continuation of imperialist structures in the region?

Esha Nair, BAFA: Sociology / Communication Design  ‘27

How did colonial legislation prime a post-colonial India to conflate queerness with criminality?

Faculty: Marcos Davi Silva Steuernagel, Theater