FPA Research Excellence Symposium Launches Lively Discussion
Snow was falling steadily outside the River Building conference rooms as a group of scholars discussed the lives of people a world away—the Indigenous people of Bolivia and neighbouring countries.
They were gathered for the annual FPA Research Excellence Symposium, which honoured the research of Cristina Rojas, the Director of the Institute of Political Economy, a Professor in the Department of Political Science and in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA).
The symposium marks the launch of FPA Research Month, which features 30 days of public lectures, panel discussions, and research symposiums.
Professor Rojas’ research centres on the Indigenous people of Bolivia, comprised of 32 different nations and 62 percent of the Bolivian population. She contrasted the experience of “moderns” with that of the Indigenous, who have brought a different definition of land and nature into Bolivian politics.
“The moderns see nature as separate from their culture, while the Indigenous people live in a state of nature,” said Professor Rojas in her remarks. “The Indigenous people in Bolivia want to change the modern perception of land as a separate being.”
Professor Rojas was joined on stage by several panelists, including Carleton Political Science Professor Hans-Martin Jaeger, who observed that Indigenous culture is perceived to “have stories, while [the elites] have History”.
You can learn more about Professor Rojas’ research here.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016 in Celebrating Excellence, Department of Political Science, FPA Research Series, International, Justice, News, Policy, Symposium
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