Biography & Scholarship
Born in Eagle River, Alaska, David E. K. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Land-Based Education at the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) in the University of Idaho. My research interests are broadly focused on educational strategies for connecting youth, especially Indigenous youth, with land, culture and heritage.
Current projects include: partnering with National Parks sites to create educational programming toward engaging Native American and Alaska Native youth in natural and cultural heritage stewardship, management, and promotion; the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP) which prepares and certifies culturally responsive Indigenous teachers to meet the unique needs of Native American students in K-12 schools; and Cultivating Relationships (CR) a multiyear learning process where K-12 teachers partner with Tribal Nations and University researchers to examine the relationships between people, place, lands, and waters.
David holds a PhD in Social and Comparative Analysis in Education from the University of Pittsburgh where his dissertation work was an extensive ethnography of two Iñupiaq dance and drumming groups exploring participation of other-than-human members and highlighting potential insights for building more culturally relevant learning experiences. Previous projects include an investigation of the use of flamenco music for community building among Muslim immigrants and refugees in southern Spain as a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow, and the use of popular music for language revitalization in Germany, Mexico, and Australia.
An avid musician, composer, and educator, David has taught, written, and performed in Nepal, Uganda, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland, and Alaska.