Research Areas
John McDowell's research among Quechua speakers
Since the mid 1970s I have been actively engaged in research concerning the Quechua language and the
people who speak it. The bulk of this work has concentrated on Inga, the northernmost dialect of Quechua, and
the Inga communities in the Sibundoy Valley, Department of Putumayo, of highland Colombia. I have also worked
extensively with Kamsá, a language isolate derived from the ancient Quillasinga stock, also spoken in Colombia's
Sibundoy Valley. My earliest Quechua research was with speakers of Bolivian Quechua, and I am currently working
with two extended families residing in the environs of Otavalo, in the north of Ecuador, whose members speak the
dialect called Quichua. My research falls into the broad category of the ethnography of communication, and I
have paid close attention to traditional narrative, ceremonial speech forms, and song lyrics, in an effort to
illuminate the role these expressive forms play in personal, social, and political contexts. Read "Características del Discurso Narrativo en Inga"
here.
Multicultural Politics in Peru
Shane Greene's recent work is on the impact of multicultural reforms in Peru on both indigenous and afro-descendant peoples. After
several years of research into the history of the Amazonian movement he has expanded his focus to the national level. He is now
working on a new project in collaboration with a variety of indigenous and Afro-Peruvian activist organizations. The goal is to
document the possibilities and obstacles to ethnic alliance building in negotiations with the multicultural state.
Politics of Culture in the African Diaspora
Steve Selka's research focuses on the politics of culture in the African Diaspora. He is particularly interested in the intersection
of cultural heritage policy, social activism, and the commodification of culture. Accordingly, he is very excited about the 2008-2009 working group
on Culture Heritage and Politics. His current research project focuses on the intersection of religion and politics in the festival of Our Lady of
Boa Morte (Good Death) in Bahia, Brazil.
The Nahuatl-Pipil Language and Culture CD Project
The Pipil project began in 2003 with Pablo Garcia's trip to the small town of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in El Salvador.
As part of the community's effort to record and teach their disappearing language, Pablo recorded interviews with some of the town's last speakers of Nahuatl-Pipil.
At IU, we digitized the interviews and created
an initial version of a Pipil multimedia language-learning CD. Visit the
Pipil page for more information.
Yaqui Indians of Northwest Mexico
David Shorter has been involved in the ethnographic study of indigenous
religiosity among the Yoeme ("Yaqui") Indians in Northwest Mexico. See his
web cuaderno for more information.
