History of Higher Education among the Shuar and Characterization of Shuar Epistemology

This research project addresses the challenges of higher education within the context of the Shuar people, focusing on how Shuar epistemologies and methodologies are or are not integrated into existing academic practices. The main goal is to propose an intercultural and interepistemic higher education model that moves beyond the reproduction of Eurocentric scientific knowledge, which often relegates indigenous knowledge to secondary or decontextualized content. The research is structured around two fundamental outputs: a historical study of the presence of Shuar higher education and a detailed characterization of Shuar epistemology. The methodology seeks to overcome traditional anthropological patterns by adopting a reflexive relational anthropology approach, incorporating principles from the decolonial turn, such as border thinking and decentering. A co-labor methodology, inspired by Leyva and Speed, will be implemented to promote equity and the collective construction of knowledge. This involves submitting the thesis plan to the criteria of Shuar participants at the outset and agreeing on the final report format with them, ensuring the results align with their political and academic interests. Participatory workshops, in-depth interviews, and bibliographic analysis will be used to engage with local knowledge systems and build a shared, differentiated knowledge base.<br/><br/><b>Goal</b>: <br/>To contribute to an intercultural, interepistemic higher education by exploring and applying the specific epistemologies and methodologies of the Shuar people, thereby proposing new critical and proactive educational practices.<br/><br/><b>Research lines</b>: <br/>Epistemologies, knowledge and interculturality