News and Events
FALL 2012 EVENTS
Thurs Dec. 6 Professor Pesantubbee’s American Indian Environmentalism class will be having a poster display 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., on the third floor of Gilmore Hall. Students have prepared posters and brochures about sites of environmental conflict in Native North America, and will be available to answer questions about their projects.
Fri November 9 Hip-hop artist Frank Waln and Native American Hoop Dancing at 7:00 p.m. in Currier Residence Hall – MPR; Native Heritage Month event co-sponsored by the American Indian Student Association and the American Indian & Native Studies Program.
Fri October 26 Dr. Steven Williams will present a talk entitled Smudging the Book: The Role of Cultural Authority in Tribal Historical Narratives and Revitalization at Rocky Boy at 4:00 pm in 704 JB
Steven Williams completed a PhD in American Studies and a graduate certificate in American Indian & Native Studies in summer 2012. He will also teach 149:085 Native American Material Culture for AINSP in spring 2013.
Fri September 28 Professor Bernard Perley (Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee) will present a talk entitled “Then, a miracle occurs:” Metaphors at the intersections of language and social relations at 4:00 pm in 140 SH
Professor Bernard Perley is a member of the Tobique First Nation and author of Defying Maliseet Language Death. Emergent Vitalities of Language, Culture, and Identity in Eastern Canada (University of Nebraska Press, 2011). Here is the abstract for his talk: “Lakoff and Johnson (1980) have argued that more attention must be paid to everyday metaphors because of their constraints on our actions as well as our perceptions of possible actions. This is an extremely important insight when critically examining the rhetoric used by language experts as they disseminate information regarding the global crisis of language endangerment. At first glance, it seems that biological metaphors would be naturally suited to talk about the life and death of languages. However, upon closer examination, the biological metaphor privileges ‘language’ as the object of expert focus rather than the speakers who use language in their everyday interactions. I argue the metaphors ‘languages live by’ (borrowing and adapting the Lakoff and Johnson book title) must highlight the intersections of language and social relations. Recent research on metaphors, neuroscience and cognition, biological anthropology, and my own work in ‘emergent vitalities’ identify those intersections as the point where the ‘miracle’ of communication, meaning, and language life occurs.”
Tues October 2 Filmmaker Cathleen O’Connell will present a screening of her new documentary film, “Sousa on the Rez: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum” at 7:00 pm in 109 EPB
Cathleen O’Connell has served as an associate producer for WGBH/American Experience, and worked on the 2009 We Shall Remain: America through Native Eyes series. Her new film explores marching bands in Native North America, focusing especially on the Fort Mohave reservation. She was inspired to make this film, in part, after reading Philip Deloria's Indians in Unexpected Places. For more information, see: http://www.nativetelecom.org/producer_profile_cathleen_oconnell
Wed August 29 Professor Matthew Fletcher (College of Law, Michigan State University) speaks on “Tribal Membership and Indian Nationhood” at 3:30 pm in BLB Room 235
Professor Matthew Fletcher is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. He is a prolific author in tribal law and federal Indian law and policy, and Director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at MSU. For more information see his blog, Turtle Talk (http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/), his online biography (http://www.law.msu.edu/faculty_staff/profile.php?prof=494 ), and a “Room for Debate” item in the NY Times from last fall: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/09/15/tribal-sovereignty-vs-racial-justice
AINSP spring 2012 event
Many thanks to all who attended! A resource list of readings from speakers' presentations can be found HERE
RETHINKING CULTURAL COMPETENCY: Insights from Native American Studies
DATE/TIME: Wednesday April 25, 9:30AM-2:30PM
LOCATION: 1117 UCC
For further information, please contact Erica Prussing, Academic Coordinator for AINSP (erica-prussing@uiowa.edu).