Congratulations to Dr. Kristen Barnett and the 12 interdisciplinary researchers who make up the new Research Excellence Cluster: Indigeneity in and out of place. The cluster just received a 2025/26 GCRC grant.
This research cluster explores the complex meanings, responsibilities, and potentialities of being Indigenous and “out of place,” or living beyond one’s traditional ancestral lands. Drawing upon the field of trans-Indigenous methodologies as a means for co-creation of knowledge, Indigenous faculty who have recently arrived at UBC, recruited with the development of UBC’s commitment to UNDRIP and the creation of the ISP, will work together and with First Nations and Indigenous partners, including xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ and urban communities, to develop trans-Indigenous partnership, direct research potentials, and establish and meet responsibilities to our Nations and to each other.
This new research cluster also aims to establish an archive of Indigenous experience on campus, establishing a record that acts as an Institutional memory of these experiences.
About Research Clusters
Research Excellence Clusters are interdisciplinary networks of researchers addressing societal and cultural problems, and working together to solve challenges that transcend traditional boundaries associated with departments, institutions, and funding agencies. Funding is awarded through Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters (GCRC) competitions. Dr. Barnett’s research cluster is one of 23 new clusters funded through the 2025/26 competition.
