University of Central Asia Mountain Societies Research Institute

 

 

 

The University of Central Asia Mountain Societies Research Institute is a world-class university in Central Asia that has researchers working in community to thread western science and traditional, local knowledge. They are dedicated to researching how to sustainably manage natural resources, mitigate the effects of climate change, and build community resilience. Their latest studies focus on conservation and management of critically endangered plant biodiversity in Tajikistan and can be explored more here.

Sundance Indigenous Program

The Sundance Indigenous Program includes a variety of offerings, from labs and fellowships to screenings, that support Indigenous-created stories throughout the world. Their core values center on “decolonizing the screen and uplifting the voices of Indigenous artists, recognizing that telling their stories comes with great responsibility and obligation towards Indigenous peoples, communities and their sovereignty.”

This Accident of Being Lost

This Accident of Being Lost by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a powerful and experimental collection of stories and songs that blend Indigenous Nishnaabeg storytelling traditions with contemporary forms like science fiction, realism, and lyric prose. Through vivid and often surreal narratives—such as a deer addicted to road salt or Toronto flooded by Lake Ontario—the collection challenges colonial narratives and linear time. With sharp, fragmentary storytelling, Simpson crafts a decolonized vision of reality that resists categorization, offering a raw and poetic reflection on Indigenous identity, resistance, love, and survival.