In the United States, universities are beginning to engage more closely with Indigenous communities to conduct participatory research. Leslie Cornick has worked extensively with Indigenous communities in Alaska and says “participatory research is more than community engaged research, which we talk about a lot and which is a good thing. When we work with these communities it’s really important that they have agency.”
Professor Leslie Cornick is provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at California State University, Chico. She took up this position weeks after the filming of this interview at which time she was Dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics at the University of Washington, Bothell.
Leslie is also the President of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences in America. It is the national council of Deans of arts and sciences.
This interview was recorded at the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences Annual Meeting in San Diego in November 2023 by Executive Director Jane Ryan. DASSH warmly thanks the US Deans’ Council for its generosity and ongoing friendship.