In early April, the FEELed Lab had the welcome opportunity to co-convene the next installation of the Storyteller’s Series run by UBCO’s Institute for Community Engaged Research. This session featured Cree scholar and UBCO Associate Professor Shawn Wilson, discussing his influential work on Research is Ceremony – what it is grounded in, and how and where these ideas have continued to take root. Raising important questions about how we understand taken-for-granted terms like “Community”, “Engagement” and “Research,” (!) Shawn reminded us all of the importance of accountability remaining at the centre of all we do. Shawn also spoke about the fact that a lot of comunity-engaged research, as it enters academic contexts, by necessity narrates what is actually on the periphery, since its heart (ceremony, practice, and other kinds of knowledge) must remain in and of community.
As the event came to close, a few of us were discussing some of the logistical problems in terms of getting to the FEELed Lab: it is not easily accessible to guests who don’t have use of a car, or time to spend at least an hour on the bus (and then still walk for about 10-15 minutes after that). As a gathering place committed to increasing accessibility in all we do, this is a real challenge.
At the same time, we also remarked that there is a small gift in this remoteness, too. The FEELed Lab is also a peripheral space. It is peripheral to the city, and peripheral to the university campus as institution. Deer wander into our meeting. The creek murmurs in the background. These days, norther flickers tap their presence against the boards of the buildings. Thank you, Shawn, for also reminding us about the significance of what happens in the periphery to point us towards the heart.
The FEELed lab 