Blog Post 1 | Topic Interest
I spent the past two semesters in and out of class working on an article about online cookies, and since that has been submitted, I decided to shift my attention to something that has more meaning to me. I am a Tsimshian Indian from Alaska, and a big part of that is the regional Alaska Native Corporation: Sealaska. Giving something back to a corporation that was put in place to serve the communities, heritage, and land significant to Natives in Southeast Alaska would make the blood ties feel stronger and fulfilling. The only problem is that I can fill the different roles they need, but finding a research method is tricky. Like everyone in this class, I want to research ethically. So, finding a goal that serves an ethical advocacy position is difficult.
What I know without a doubt: I want to research Sealaska. I have interests in communication, discourse, advocacy, collaboration, user experience, and design.
What I don't know: how to pinpoint a research goal or question within the scope of this class.
Another topic of interest is a continuation of my undergraduate thesis. Interdisciplinary collaboration can further explain the relationships between people working together in an academic or professional setting.
I like this train of thought. I don't know if you've done this already, but what if you used this semester to study up on the ethics of various research methods? I think you can do this by using Sealaska as a sort of example of what to do and what not to do. Maybe the bulk of it could be ethics and a smaller part could be Sealaska. Then this can be another step towards a greater research project later on. Maybe they have an existing ethics code within the corporation?
ReplyDeleteIf this doesn't interest you, then maybe you can look into the written things that Sealaska has already put out, make note of certain formats, phrases, and the like, and then report on it from a TWDR standpoint? Then you can build your experience and knowledge to give something back, like you said, in the way that would benefit Sealaska the most. I hope this makes sense/helps!
Think back to Joy’s class on theory. We discussed ethics to TPC by looking into the humanistic values that we pad onto technical writing—as for research, there have been standards set since the Nuremberg trials and lenses created by indigenous peoples. Think back to when I presented on decolonizing methodologies in her class. Agboka, Tuhiwai-Smith, and Itchuaqiyaq (who is a member of the noorvik native community) will be your bestfriends. I think you already have somewhat of a research question:
ReplyDeleteHow does a researcher ethically research communication, discourse, advocacy, collaboration, user experience, and design in the regional Alaska Native Corporation: Sealaska?
You can always refine this question to pinpoint what you do not know but first you need to see if this question has already been answered by other scholars (hence the lit review).
Anyway, that’s my process. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi Merika,
ReplyDeleteGood initial blog regarding your interest in Sealaska. Indeed, investigating how this corporation fulfills its mission of giving back to the community it serves is always a worthy endeavor.
One baby step might be to identify a specific element, practice, etc. by Sealaska to document and highlight. I like some thoughts you’ve mentioned in your post: “I have interests in communication, discourse, advocacy, collaboration, user experience, and design.” These are great with so many possibilities for you to narrow down your focus based on these.
For now, start plowing through some scholarly articles for ideas and once you're ready to identify your direction -- whether content analysis, qualitative, and/or other types of research method -- let me know and maybe we can set a brief conference to talk about it, ok?
OR please let me know soon if you want to BRIEF zoom meeting before you move forward, ok?
Am here.... =))
Dr. B