Peter Gow

Preliminary abstract: This workshop will bring together experienced anthropologists, indigenous collaborators, indigenous university students and representatives of Atalaya’s Association for Interculturality for three days on the campus of the bilingual and indigenous branch of Universidad Cat’lica Sedes Sapientiae (NOPOKI) located in the provincial capital of Atalaya in the Region of Ucayali, Peruvian Amazonia. The main themes we will discuss are: the significance of previous ethnographic encounters from the perspective of anthropologists and their indigenous hosts/interlocutors; the impacts of anthropological research and practical engagement on contemporary life, with a specific focus on the creation of Native Communities; and, ongoing research by indigenous students from NOPOKI in their own home communities. The program for the event is built around both scholarly and indigenous forms of communal assembly and discussion. The guiding framework for the event is an interest in conjoining two current prominent theoretical orientations in Anthropology, which both offer grounds for elaboration and refinement: the ontological turn and collaborative research approaches. The workshop will bring these diverse people together in a setting specifically designed for reflection, symmetrical engagement and collaboration to explore the productive potential of conjoining these approaches with the objective of building a collaborative research agenda with wider comparative value.