NATIVE STUDIES IN THE APOCALPSE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8  FROM 1-2 PM PST

In this dialogue with the Newberry’s Blaire Topash- Caldwell (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians), Shannon Speed (Chickasaw) will discuss the present and future of Native American and Indigenous Studies in apocalyptic times. Native Studies, like virtually everything else, will be reshaped by the dramatic dynamics affecting the world, from pandemic pandemonium to climate change chaos, from rising calls for racial reckoning to escalating totalitarian threat. What is the current state of Native Studies? What are its longstanding tensions and contemporary challenges. More importantly, what are its potential contributions to the radical revisioning of the world that is so urgently needed now? 

Check D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library for taped event.

IAC 2020-2021 VISITING SCHOLAR/ RESEARCHER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IN ETHNIC STUDIES

The applications site will open on October 15, 2020. Completed applications must be received by 11:59 pm on January 7, 2021. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Applicants will be notified in March. 

To Apply: https://sa.ucla.edu/IAC/VisitingScholar/

The Inter-American System of Human Rights: Lights, shadows and new paths

Thursday, December 10, 2020 (International Human Day) AT 1 :00 PM PST
Zoom - online event

Register online or stream via YouTube

FOOD SOVEREIGHTY, WATER RIGHTS AND THE COVID-19 ON THE NAVAJO NATION

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 AT 11AM  PST

Join UCLA AISC and Institut des Amériques for an in-depth conversation about the struggles for food sovereignty and environmental justice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Navajo Nation has been, and is still deeply impacted by COVID-19, in large part due to the structural inequalities on Indigenous territories. What are the impacts of the pandemic for farmers and activists? What can and should be done?

Register: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/
WN_0Ync27A_TfqXuobPLFZAbw 

IAC 2020-2021 RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM IN ETHNIC STUDIES

Grant Period: July 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022. Applications available October 15, 2020 and must be received by 11:59 p.m., March 1, 2021. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Applicants will be notified in May.

To Apply: https://sa.ucla.edu/IAC/ResearchGrant

UCLA AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES CENTER

The UCLA American Indian Studies Center (AISC) was founded in 1969 as a research institute dedicated to addressing American Indian issues and supporting Native communities. The AISC serves as a hub of activities for Indigenous students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community, as well as serving as a bridge between the academy and indigenous peoples locally, nationally, and internationally. We foster innovative academic research by students and faculty, publish leading scholarship in the field of American Indian Studies, and support events and programming focused on Indigenous issues.

AICRJ IS REORGANIZING! Under the stewardship of Editor-in-Chief Randall Akee, AICRJ is in the process of reviewing its editorial board and peer review procedures. Current editorial board members have served many years, some a decade and more, as reviewers, advisers, and guest editors. Keep your eyes out for the January AISC newsletter when Editor-in-Chief Randall Akee will discuss some of the forthcoming changes and his vision for the journal moving forward. 

AICRJ CALL FOR REVIEWERS 

AICRJ is soliciting qualified scholars to review submitted manuscripts and to write book reviews. We seek scholars from a broad spectrum of fields but are particularly interested in those with expertise in California Indians, Pacific Islanders, performance, art, healthcare, communications/social media, labor, poverty, voting, commerce, data, biopolitics, and any aspect of science. Please email Managing Editor Pamela Grieman and request a reviewer form at aiscsubmissions@aisc.ucla.edu.

MAPPING SOCIAL JUSTICE!

AISC Director Shannon Speed and MSO Jamie Chan presented the Hate Crime Map at the inaugural UC GIS Week conference as part of the “Mapping Social Justice” panel, along with copresenter Chris Lam, a fourth-year undergraduate studying computer science. The Hate Crime Map is a crowd-sourced platform created as a space where victims of hate-related assault and harassment can document the incident, without having to file a police report. It gives data and sophisticated visualizations by state of the types and causes (race, gender, religion) of the attacks. It also includes a separate map documenting COVID-related hate-based incidents. In addition to the stories published in newspapers, the Hate Map is where you can read the stories you can’t find anywhere else. 

American Indian Studies Center Library

Sedna worked closely with AISC Librarian Joy Holland, who serves as chair of the advisory board on the Blackburn Project at LACMA and is working along with collection professionals, cultural historians, and other experts to create guidelines for LACMA to observe best practices and engage Indigenous communities represented in the photos. Joy and Sedna worked together on other matters related to advocating for Indigenous acknowledgments at LACMA, and Sedna also consulted with AISC Director Dr. Shannon Speed, as well as Tongva experts and colleagues, to contribute to a newly implemented land acknowledgment that LACMA has crafted. Kudos to Sedna on her great work!

AISC’s “Giving Tuesday” campaign this year focused on a project to get the AISC Library’s collection barcoded, which would enable it to circulate to provide equitable and better access to materials in the American Indian studies field. The project will provide better opportunities for research patrons and students and create a more welcoming environment for students when campus activities resume by allowing books and materials to be checked out. The project will also allow responsive collection management and purchasing to keep the collection connected to scholar and student needs! Please consider adding to this fund! Click here!