Kim Christen

Biography

Dr. Kim Christen is the Associate Vice President for Research Advancement and Partnerships. Dr. Christen is the founder of Mukurtu CMS an open-source software platform designed with Indigenous communities globally to meet their unique information, curatorial, and data needs. She is a co-Director of Local Contexts, a global initiative to provide digital tools and legal frameworks for stewarding digital cultural heritage and the management of intellectual property by Indigenous communities. Her research and scholarship explore the intersections data management, software systems, and information ethics specifically addressing issues of access, use and reuse of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge in global network. Her work has been published widely in international journals. Dr. Christen collaborates broadly emphasizing community-engaged research including working closely with Native American nations across Washington state and nationally as well as with Indigenous communities globally to build digital tools and networks as catalysts for social change.

Dr. Christen is also a Professor in the Department of Digital Technology and Culture and was the founding director of the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation at Washington State University.