Welcome back, and Happy New Year to all of our friends and colleagues! We are excited to return to campus this semester and be back in our space at 67 George St. ("the house").
We will have a number of events planned for the semester, so be sure to check our events calendar often. Many will be virtual or hybrid, but we hope to return to as many in-person events and activities as soon as possible. We're excited to welcome to campus three Mellon grant-funded adjunct faculty (offering courses that expand Native American and Indigenous Studies at Brown): Robert Caldwell, Marina Tyquiengco and Nitana Hicks Greendeer, as well as Narragansett scholar Mack Scott. We are grateful to have these amazing educators on campus this semester sharing their knowledge in the classroom and with our community.
Makana Kushi, NAISI's Program Coordinator, is also offering another semester of an innovative language course: Indigenous Language Learning: A Crash Course. Through a GISP (Group Independent Student Project), Makana is helping undergraduates learn their Indigenous languages through self-study and mentorship with language keepers from their home communities, and we are so thankful to her for all she is doing to support this learning! If you missed the article about Makana and these students last December, be sure to read it!
We are also excited to welcome Muriel Borst to campus this semester, who is teaching a course on Native American Theater. Her course examines Native American Theatre from its origins of traditional storytelling to the politics of race involved in Native theatre today. It includes explorations of creation stories in literature and theatre, the study of interactions with Europeans and the Doctrine of Discovery, Native American boarding schools systems, outlawing of traditional culture and how Native culture has survived in these systems. It also examines the modern era of Native Theatre and the UN Declaration of the Rights on Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
We hope to invite you back to 67 George St. soon for regular gatherings and conversation. In the meantime, stay well and stay warm!
Rae Gould and the NAISI staff
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Meet Our Public Humanities Fellows
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Felicia Bartley
John Hay Library Fellow &
2020-2022 Public Humanities Fellow, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative
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Felicia Bartley (Pueblo of Isleta (Teu-I)) is a second-year Public Humanities MA Student at Brown, and a first-generation student from the Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico. As a Tiwa scholar at Brown University, her interests include exploring how Pueblo cultural centers, museums, and ecomuseums contribute to the well-being of their respective communities and citizens through their programs, exhibitions, and systems of teaching.
1. What's your favorite project or paper that you've worked on as a Public Humanities student? What do you like most about it?
My favorite project as a Public Humanities student is probably the work I have done as a Public Humanities and NAISI Fellow with the John Hay Library. The work of implementing protocols for Native American archival materials has been gratifying. While working on papers can be a fun investigative exercise for me, I think I enjoy working towards the completion of an actionable step much more. Perhaps, to me, papers feel like fantasy and projects feel like reality. I liked working on this long-term project because it allowed me to grow and step into a specific set of expertise that I was unaware of possessing. I think of all the things I have done at Brown I learned the most from the practical application of NAIS for the Hay. I found this project to be fulfilling because it has created a pathway for the Hay to follow the 4 R’s model that centers reciprocity, responsibility, relevance, and respect towards Native American and Indigenous peoples and our cultural belongings.
2. What will you miss most about the community at Brown?
I am going to miss the intellectual discourse. Almost everyone here at Brown has taught me through their generosity in conversation, scholarship, and compassion. I have learned so much from the Native undergraduates (you guys are AMAZING!) and from my colleagues in Public Humanities. YET, the biggest thing I am going to miss is the love and acceptance that has poured out from NAISI Staff, undergrads, and my Public Humanities cohort. They all made me feel at home and comforted. The community-building that has happened from these people have made all the difference for my time at Brown, and I am going to deeply miss the feeling of warmth from everyone. I will miss the care and compassion everyone has shown me.
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Miranda Worl
2021-2022 Public Humanities Fellow, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative
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My name is Kaagwéil; my English name is Miranda Worl (she/her/hers). I am Tlingit-Filipino, from Glacier Bay, Alaska. I received a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College with a major in Anthropology and minor in Linguistics.
My research interests are in Alaska Native and Indigenous Cultural Heritage, History & Education Studies. At Brown, my research focus has been on current issues and concerns of Alaska Native peoples, such as subsistence rights, cultural appropriation, repatriation, and inequities in public education. Recently, I have been studying the colonial impacts on Southeast Alaska Native peoples through complex power dynamics and political and scientific constructions that shape sociopolitical barriers, such as intergenerational trauma and legislative inequities, in Alaska Native subsistence policies. I aim to serve as a resource on Tlingit ethnohistory and as a facilitator between cultural heritage centers, museums, and schools, to spark engagement critical to the education of our future generations. In part, the direction I go is reflective of my personal career interests. In another sense, it is responsive to direct feedback from my community and the critical needs of Alaska Native peoples.
Ax tlein Gunalchéesh!
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Brown Events & Opportunities
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The Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice welcomes applications for two summer institutes (high school + undergraduate) as part of the Reimagining New England Histories project. The information about both institutes can be found here.
The Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America invites applications for Fall 2022 Faculty Fellowships, Spring 2023 Practitioner Fellowships, Course Innovation Grants, Faculty Grants, Humanities Lab, Postdoctoral Research Associates, and Graduate Student Research Grants. All applications are due February 28, 2022. For more information about all of these opportunities, click here.
The Swearer Center Howard R. Swearer Engaged Faculty Awards for Teaching and for Research recognize colleagues and their community partners for outstanding engaged scholarship and contributions to the public good. Nominations (all faculty are eligible) will be accepted in UFunds through February 21, 2022. Learn more here.
Did you know that Brown University, as a member of the Talloires Network, now has access to CommUniversity: Workshops & Grants to Support Community-University Research? Learn more here.
The Brown Arts Institute is happy to offer a Summer 2022 UTRA opportunity for an undergraduate student to work with Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman on Helga: The Brown Conversations, a new podcast co-sponsored by the BAI and New York Public Radio, and featuring host, Helga Davis. Deadline to apply is February 9th at noon. Apply at https://ufunds.brown.edu by searching for "BrownConnect SPRINT Summer Award Funding," then selecting "UTRA Award 2022."
Any faculty member planning to develop and/or teach an engaged course in 2022-23 can apply to work with a Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) Fellow; academic year-long partnerships are encouraged but one-semester collaborations will also be supported. Faculty and student applications are open in UFunds and will be accepted on a rolling basis through February 15, 2022.
Join Us at Brown
The Sarah Doyle Center invites applications for Assistant Director. (Congratulations, Felicia Salinas-Moniz '13 on becoming the new Director of the SDC!)
The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology is searching for an Associate Director, Administrative/Communications Coordinator, and Circumpolar Laboratory Inventory Project Manager. Questions? Contact: HaffenrefferMuseum@brown.edu.
The History of Art and Architecture Department invites applications for the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Native American and Indigenous Art/Architecture. For full consideration, please apply by February 15th, 2022.
Brown University welcomes applications for Assistant Director, Brown Experiential Learning Programs.
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Save the Date!
Cross-Talk: Conversations on Race and Language
February 24-25, 2022
Hybrid conference by the Center for Language Studies, Brown University
Featuring a NAISI-sponsored keynote by Antonia Carcelén-Estrada, “Amazonian Indigenous and Black Pacific History: Intercultural Translation and Orality,” and a presentation by Makana Kushi, “Supporting Indigenous Heritage Language Study.” More information and registration here.
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External Events & Opportunities
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Oregon State University’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge Club is excited to announce the 2022 National Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit, which will be held May 10-12, 2022. The Summit is free for all attendees and will be held virtually. Learn more at their website.
The 2022 Harvard Forest Summer Research Program is now accepting applications from a diverse group of undergraduate students to join an immersive research experience. Deadline is Feb. 4, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Learn more
The Indian Arts Research Center (IARC) at the School for Advanced Research (SAR) in Santa Fe, New Mexico is offering two nine-month paid internships for college graduates and emerging museum professionals interested in working with Native American collections. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2022. For more information and to apply, click here.
The American Philosophical Society Library & Museum announces 2022-2023 fellowship opportunities. Learn more about 2022-2023 opportunities and how to apply here.
Harvard invites applications for the 2022 Scholarship & Social Justice Undergraduate Research Conference. The deadline is February 11, 2022.
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Registration information coming soon!
Seeding Relations: Beyond Settler Colonial and Racialized Ecologies
March 25-26, 2022
A Graduate Student Conference hosted by the Harvard University Mahindra Humanities Center Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, the Harvard University Native American Program, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Brown Learn more at seedingrelations.com.
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Be sure to follow our events calendar and join our listserv from the NAISI website!
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