During my doctoral studies in sociology at the University of Lancaster in England, I was interested in the Peruvian Inca heritage revival steered by tourism mobilities (Urry, 2007). This field of research led me to study cultural festivals in terms of identities renewal, and in connection with Andean indigenismo discourses. Sustainable tourism and regional development issues from a postcolonial perspective, with projects such as the Andean porters of the Inca Trail or topics related to the heritagization of "extraordinary" world heritage sites and their Western appropriation, are still current research themes in my collaborations with Peruvian and other colleagues. These critical leisure studies, and my new environment at the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa since 2006, led me to develop new interests in working with Indigenous peoples of the northern Hemisphere. My research project "Building Meaningful programs for Indigenous youth" (SSHRC 2011-2015) afforded me significant insight into the intellectual world of Northern Indigenous peoples, in particular regarding epistemological issues, emerging Indigenous methodologies, about resurgence through a settler colonial lens, and on a critical self-reflective reconciliation. Respecting Indigenous knowledge and land-based pedagogy are now at the heart of my forthcoming research.
Professor Arellano is accepting new students for thesis supervision.