Engaging Indigenous Research Methodologies and Ethics to Understand How Indigenous Communities are Leveraging Social Media for Health Communication
Since time immemorial, Indigenous communities have demonstrated strength and wisdom as they have utilized diverse technologies to support the ongoing health and wellbeing of their citizens and communities. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, Indigenous communities joined many others worldwide in leveraging social media to share timely and relevant information, including critical health communication. In the United States, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) nations, health organizations, and individual content creators have increasingly responded to COVID-19 and subsequent health challenges by sharing health content on some of the most popular social media platforms. AIANs continue to experience significant health disparities related to COVID-19 and a myriad of other ongoing health concerns. Delivering effective health messaging to AIAN communities is an essential part of addressing these health issues and understanding current AIAN health content on social media is a key part of this work. Despite the critical need for this information, however, limited research has supported the development of appropriate methodologies that respectfully engage AIAN communities on this important topic.
Through her dissertation research, Nicole Kuhn seeks to uphold tribal sovereignty and self-determination as she utilizes community-engaged research to understand how AIAN communities are leveraging social media to deliver health information. Her work diversifies and broadens human-computer interaction (HCI) and social media research by centering Indigenous research methodologies and ethics and by increasing the representation of AIAN health research in these fields. Through this work, she develops three core areas of research:
(1) increasing our understanding of Indigenous research ethics as they are developed through tribal research review boards,
(2) broadening HCI research to consider Indigenous health communication on social media, and
(3) developing Indigenous research methodologies and ethics for Indigenous HCI social media research.
This lecture will be held both online & in person. You are welcome to join us either in South Hall or via Zoom.
Speaker
Nicole S. Kuhn
Nicole S. Kuhn, MSIS, is an enrolled member of the Skidegate Band of the Haida Nation on Haida Gwaii (Canada) and a Ph.D. candidate at the Information School, University of Washington (UW). With a background in informatics and human-computer interaction, her work focuses on the intersection of information, technology, and Indigenous communities in the US and Canada. Her community-engaged dissertation research centers upon Indigenous research methodologies and ethics as she considers how American Indian and Alaska Native communities are leveraging social media to deliver health information. Her work is supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and UW’s Graduate Student Equity & Excellence Ronald E. McNair Fellowship.
Contact
If you have questions about this event, please contact Kimiko Ryokai.
