What counts as "research" is bound up with history, in this case the history of academia. And the history of academia has its foundations in colonialism, patriarchy, racial capital, militarism, and other systems of domination. Most notably, many academic disciplines find eugenics interwoven into their foundations, with many founding fathers also self-identifying as eugenicists. While scholars today may disavow this racist pseudoscience, they have not fully reckoned with the legacies of eugenics and other (il)logics of oppression.
This must change.
Research justice reckons with these biases based in racist, sexist, imperialist histories.
Research justice uncovers ongoing assumptions that reinforce stereotypes, practices that tell aspiring scholars that they do not belong, and methods that undermine lived experience.
Research justice centers the voices, knowledge, and methods that have been appropriated, exploited, disappeared, devalued, and disdained.
Research justice shows us how to create more accurate, impactful knowledge.
Asking Different Questions
Asking Different Questions is a training program that teaches researchers how to reckon with the histories of their field in order to create research that counters harmful biases and forge new research agendas. We do this by teaching how seemingly innocuous norms, practices, foundations, and processes of science may perpetuate systems of exclusion.
Want to hear some examples? We have a library of training videos available for viewing.
Interested in hearing about upcoming workshops or seminars? Join our listserv.
Would you like to bring this training to your research community? Contact us to plan an in-person or virtual training.