Recent News
An Autumn quarter AIS course titled "Engaging with the Waterways: Welcoming the Willapa Spirit canoe to campus" was featured in an article by the UW Daily. The class focuses on the history of the tribal lands upon which the UW is built and with it, the waterways that surround and cut through campus and the tradition and culture of local tribes that lived and still depend on those waterways. Highlighting this is the donation of a beautiful honor canoe, the Willapa Spirit, to the UW campus this... Read more
The Department of American Indian Studies is excited to announce a new search for a tenure-track Assistant Professor to be jointly appointed between The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs (SMEA) and the Department of American Indian Studies (AIS) at the University of Washington. We seek a scholar who will advance our understanding of the relationships between health and environment in Arctic Indigenous communities and are currently... Read more
We've got some great news and it's getting people excited all across campus! The UW has just approved the creation of a new Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Led by Jean Dennison, associate professor of both American Indian Studies and anthropology, and Chadwick Allen, adjunct professor in American Indian Studies, professor in English, and... Read more
Congratulations to Scott Pinkham! AIS Faculty member, Scott Pinkham (Nez Perce), '87, received a Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2018. Scott is the counseling services coordinator who leads the Minority Scholars Engineering Program in the College of Engineering. In his various roles and efforts at the university, he recruits, advises, and mentors students all across campus. He lectures in American Indian Studies and is adviser to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society student... Read more
Dr. Stephanie Fryberg has been appointed the William and Ruth Gerberding University Professor for a three-year term beginning this year. The professorship, named in honor of William P. Gerberding (1929-2014), who served as the 27th president of the University of Washington from 1979 to 1995, and his wife, Ruth Gerberding, recognizes Professor Fryberg's exceptional contributions and accomplishment in her fields of research - American Indian Studies and Psychology.
Please join us in... Read more
We've always known AIS courses are something special, and this month, the College of Arts and Sciences is sharing the news for us. Professor Charlotte Coté's course was highlighted in the College's September newsletter for being an outstanding example of what happens when you take students beyond the classroom. The story emphasized the experiential nature of the class and how it allowed students to meet and interact with Native communities in the area, something completely new for some of the... Read more
AIS faculty member, Professor Stephanie Fryberg's, article "Reclaiming Representations & Interrupting the Cycle of Bias Against Native Americans" was published in the Spring 2018 issue of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The issue is titled "Unfolding Futures: Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the Twenty-First Century" and... Read more
Timothy J. Greene Sr., is a former chairman of the Makah Tribal Council, and a trustee for The Nature Conservancy in Washington. His opinion piece was published in the Seattle Times yesterday, in anticipation of the March for Science, happening this Saturday.
He writes, "While others debate the causes of climate change, we who live close to the land are experiencing major impacts from our changing climate and call for immediate and strong... Read more
Clear Sky, a non-profit 501(c)(3), is part of the Urban Native Education Alliance, and is a Native-led, grassroots, volunteer-based organization. Clear Sky was founded by urban Native students in Seattle as a youth centered program, serving thousands of Native youth since its inception in 2008. The most impressive piece of its history is that it boasts a 100% high school graduation rate for its students. Scott Pinkham, a lecturer in the American Indian Studies department, is involved with the... Read more
Affiliated faculty, Katie Bunn-Marcuse, received a National Endowment for the Humanities-Mellon Fellowship for Digital Publication, for her project centered in the Kwagiulth First Nation entitled, “A Collaborative Reframing of Franz Boas’s Documentation of the Kwakiutl First Nation in 1930.” View announcement.
Bunn-Marcuse has taught courses at the UW for the Division of Art... Read more