Intent-Understanding — Professional Outreach Research
Why This Packet Exists
The founder is building a decolonized AI platform (IAIP) grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and relational accountability. Nicolas Renaud (Program Director, First Peoples Studies, Concordia) is a potential intellectual partner — filmmaker/scholar bridging Indigenous knowledge and institutional contexts.
Current Reality
- Founder has domain expertise but limited institutional/academic outreach strategy
- Risk: Generic "we want to partner" framing missing the intellectual bridge
- Misalignment: Transactional approach (ask-first) conflicts with relational frameworks Founder espouses
Desired Outcome
- Founder prepared for authentic, relational conversation with Renaud
- Communication grounded in shared inquiry (epistemology + media + technology), not institutional need
- Potential pathway: intellectual partnership → research collaboration → program co-design
Structural Tension
| Dimension | Current Reality | Desired Outcome | Tension Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framing | "We want to partner with your program" | "We recognize your work; we're exploring similar terrain" | Transactional vs. relational |
| Audience Understanding | General academic outreach knowledge | Specific understanding of First Peoples Studies + cinema practice | Institutional blindness vs. epistemic alignment |
| Communication Approach | Founder's domain expertise (tech/epistemology) | Add institutional/relational communication patterns | Expertise gap in translation |
| Trust Building | Minimal; first contact | Demonstrate intellectual rigor + respect for Renaud's autonomy | Stranger vs. peer |
Creative Tension (not gap): The space between "we have something to share" and "we have much to learn" is where authentic partnership emerges.
Decisions This Packet Supports
- Email framing: Should I lead with domain work or program director role? → Lead with domain; recognize his intellectual territory
- Meeting strategy: What tone? Pitch or conversation? → Conversation; invite his perspective
- Ask clarity: Should I ask for institutional partnership immediately? → No. Invite intellectual dialogue first; partnership emerges from alignment
- Communication patterns: Which ones will resonate with arts-based scholar? → Those honoring narrative, relationality, epistemological humility
Success Looks Like
- Renaud responds with genuine intellectual engagement (not polite deflection)
- Conversation surfaces common ground (epistemology, media sovereignty, decolonization)
- Follow-up: invitation to co-explore specific research questions (his students + founder's team)
- Long-term: research collaboration or co-designed course/lab grounded in shared framework
Related Tensions Being Held
- Institutional survival ↔ Indigenous sovereignty — First Peoples Studies programs hold this; so does Renaud's practice; IAIP must honor both
- Western epistemology ↔ Indigenous ways of knowing — Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) frames this as creative tension, not problem to solve
- Extraction ↔ Relationality — Cinema and relational AI both reject extraction; both are epistemological practices