ERIC Number: EJ1451190
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1052-5505
EISSN: EISSN-2163-3630
Available Date: N/A
Hayoolkáál (a New Dawn): Diné College Students Envision AI through a Lens of Diné Epistemologies
Brie Jontry
Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, v36 n2 2024
In spring of 2024, Diné College students in the course College Composition II began the semester by reading "Making Kin with the Machines" (Lewis et al., 2018), an essay by four Indigenous scholars who suggest their understanding of kinship drawn from Hawaiian, Plains Cree, and Lakota epistemologies offers a productive model for envisioning a future where humans and machines work ethically alongside one another. This coursework created space for students to explore the technological zeitgeist alongside Diné perspectives encountered in their other core courses. This article are reflections from four Diné College students whose ages span from late teens to mid-life. They met numerous times after the semester ended to continue thinking and talking about how sa'ah naaghái bik'eh hózhóón, the foundational Diné lifeway principles, might inform the adoption of various artificial intelligence (AI) tools. From those meetings, they reenvisioned the central elements of their research projects into a collaborative "multiplicity of epistemologies" modeled after Lewis et al. (2018), which they hope to contribute to Werito's (2014) call for Diné critical theory focused on "consciousness raising, community revitalization, and decolonization" (p. 26). By integrating their interpretations of how Diné epistemologies can inform views on AI, these writers aim to encourage wider-reaching, sustained conversations about AI within their local and academic communities.
Descriptors: Navajo (Nation), American Indian Students, College Students, Writing (Composition), Writing Instruction, Indigenous Populations, Indigenous Knowledge, Technological Advancement, Artificial Intelligence
Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. P.O. Box 720, Mancos, CO 81328. Tel: 888-899-6693; Fax: 970-533-9145; Web site: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A