CXCS Newsletter Issue December 2019
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Greetings!
Happy holidays
and a Happy New Year!
Welcome to the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies (CXCS) monthly newsletter. As you may know, the CXCS department offers a
PhD and MA in Indigenous Studies
to students that can earn their graduate degree via distance audio-conferencing.
Our faculty and staff are here to help you succeed, please contact our office at (907) 474-1902 or email uaf-cxcs@alaska.edu if you have any questions or concerns. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for news, updates and events.
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Sharon Lind Guenther
PhD Indigenous Studies
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“Alaska Native corporations hold the Indigenous values of our people.” Sharon Guenther Lind, Ph.D.
In 1989 I was hired by the Aleut Corporation, one of twelve Alaska Native regional corporations, to run their shareholder department. They handed me a copy of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the 1991 Amendments. That was my classroom for ANCSA, that and the
school of hard knocks. My mentor at the time, John Larsen, wanted me to explore my Aleut (Unangan) roots and really immerse myself in the Unangan way of being. I was 22, young and eager to work for my people. I didn’t really comprehend what John wanted, but I realize now, what he wanted, what my mother, Angelina (Snigaroff) Guenther wanted, and what I needed, was to understand and appreciate the Unangan way of being. Although I was born and raised in Alaska, I did not know my language or culture. My mother had primarily been raised in boarding schools starting at Wrangell Institute at the tender age of seven. She lost her language and much of her culture as was required by the instructors of that era.
While I focused on business throughout my career and education, with my Bachelors in Management, and my Masters in Business Administration, the more I learned, the more I realized that our people are making our Alaska Native corporations more reflective of our Indigenous way of being. I have to honestly say, I was an odd fit to the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) as my background was business. What I gained from the program was a stronger commitment to my people and to our Indigenous way of being and can now incorporate that into the classroom in ways I never thought possible. In 2014 I was able to add the first accredited minor, UA systemwide, in Alaska Native Business Management at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Because of my work in the Indigenous Studies program at UAF, that minor includes course requirements for students to immerse themselves in understanding and appreciating Alaska’s First People, something my very first mentor wanted for me.
My journey continues as I leave UAA and move to Alaska Pacific University this Spring 2020. I look forward to the adventure and I appreciate all that I have gained from the wonderful University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for Cross-Cultural Studies program.
Dr. Sharon Guenther Lind is Unangan, born and raised in Alaska. She serves her people on the board of directors of the Aleut Corporation.
Sharon Guenther Lind, Ph.D. Indigenous Studies with a concentration in Indigenous Leadership Chairman of the Board of the Aleut Corporation.
Congratulations Dr. Sharon Lind!
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We are proud of our alumni and students!
Stay connected with the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies. Do you have an exciting career or family success story to share? We would love to feature you on our newsletter and highlight your accomplishments.
To share your story, email
uaf-cxcs@alaska.edu
with a paragraph of your accomplishments, your research, along with a photo.
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A Message from Department Chair Mike Koskey
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Hello everyone, and Happy Holidays!
This month my letter will be shorter than usual due to a relatively quiet month. We have completed and submitted our special program review that was required of half of the university's programs as a result of the governor's budget cuts. While changes might accompany the cuts and reorganization, our program and our staff and faculty remain committed to continuing to work with you on your Cross-Cultural Studies and Indigenous Studies MAs, and your Indigenous Studies PhDs. As changes or other decisions regarding our program are passed on to me from our Dean, Provost, and/or Chancellor, I will provide updates through these newsletter entries.
Please remember the following for the upcoming month and into the new year:
- Registration for Spring 2020 classes is open--please contact your interim adviser or your graduate committee chair for advice and/or questions.
- Final examinations are December 9-14.
- All students should have their graduate advisory committee and first full committee meeting completed by the end of your second semester in the program (earlier, if possible, for MA students). Please see the Graduate School website for all needed information, deadlines, and forms: https://www.uaf.edu/gradsch/.
I hope all of you have a good end-of-the-semester and restful holidays ahead!
Mike
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Spring 2020 Registration is Now Open!
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First day of instruction; late registration begins
Monday, January 13, 2020
Deadline for adding classes and late registration; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
Friday, January 24, 2020
Deadline for tuition and fee payment; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
Friday, January 24, 2020
FM1 section via audio conference, distance delivered
FE1 section via on-campus, in-person
UX1 section via web-based
Contact your graduate committee or interim advisor for assistance with registering.
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Attending the 2019 AAA Conference in Vancouver, B.C.
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By Professor Theresa John
In a few days, I am going to co-present in a Round table discussion at the 2019 American Anthropology Association (AAA) Conference in Vancouver, B.C. AAA conference theme is on climate change to be held November 20-24, 2019.
Roundtable Title
: Indigenous teacher education, intergenerational survivance, and the beauty of educational climate change: Thursday November 21 from 8-9: 45 a.m.
Roundtable participants:
Roundtable Presenter: Jessica Marie Matsaw
Roundtable Presenter: Theresa John
Organizer: Vanessa E. Anthony-Stevens
Roundtable Presenter: Garrison Tsinajinie
Roundtable Presenter: Filiberto Barajas-López
Roundtable Presenter: Apolonio Hernandez
Chair: Sheilah E. Nicholas
Our presentation will be reviewed by the Council on Anthropology and Education
Abstract:
The 2019 AAA conference theme—struggle, collaboration, and justice—speaks to Indigenous fights for sovereignty and self-determination in education. Indigenous education, learning rooted in and informed by a communities distinct cultural and linguistic practice(s), attends “to the issues in and implications of self-determination and cultural sovereignty” (Lee, 2015, p. 10), and fundamentally, counters “ongoing legacies of colonization, ethnicide, and linguicide” (McCarty & Lee, pg. 103) in settler colonial schooling. The fifty (plus) years of anthropological and educational research in Indigenous education details a diverse tapestry of Indigenous creativity, persistence, innovation, and cultural renewal (McKinely & Smith, 2019) through innumerable acts of Indigenous survivance (Visznor, 2007) in spaces characterized as frontline battle grounds for “Indian hearts and minds” (Lomawaima, 2000). The struggles for justice in Indigenous schooling reflect dynamic and rooted epistemologies, not captured in reactionary terms like resistance and resilience. This session contemplates current efforts in Indigenous teacher education as creating the conditions for a “climate change” in schools, K-12 and higher education, where teachers, researchers, and communities work side-by-side to collaboratively map more just opportunities for teaching and learning. We approach “climate change” in Indigenous education as “liminal and intellectual borderlands where indigenous and nonindigenous scholars encounter one another, working to remember, redefine, and reverse the devastation of the original colonialist ‘encounter’”(Grande, 2008, p. 234). Session participants discuss ways they participant in new educational paradigms that support Indigenous teachers to deeply engage culturally responsive schooling and Indigenous knowledge systems (Castagno, Brayboy, Chadwick & Lindsey, 2015), and consider how such work is negotiated within the paradox of the academies omnipresent structures of coloniality (Brayboy, 2005). Presenters share everyday engagements of Indigenous educators and teacher educators as they struggle to disrupt the normalizing logics of schooling practices (Sebzalian, 2019) by centering Indigenous intergenerational survivance as an urgent antidote to change climates in contexts of schooling. By centering ways Indigenous epistemologies of teaching and learning interrupt technocratic notions of education as a “pipeline,” participants consider ways they collaborate to move toward conceptualizing teacher and professoriate education as a process of long-term educational self-determination and intergenerational nation building (Brayboy, Fann, Castagno, & Solyom, 2012). Discussion will be guided by the following questions: · How do Indigenous teachers re-frame community and relationships in schooling? · What do relationships built on reciprocity, trust, and deep collaboration look like for Indigenous teachers, professors and collaborators? · How does Indigenous teacher education interrupt ongoing inequalities and the subjugation of Indigenous students and knowledge in schooling? · How does Indigenous teacher educators design collaborative projects that have the potential to sustain and revitalize Indigenous pedagogies and knowledge systems? · What spaces in teacher education are productive for decolonizing teacher education? · How do Indigenous frameworks inform and navigate those spaces and tension, in inward and outward ways? The session will conclude by acknowledging ways Indigenous educators inform processes of “reconciliation, self-determination, and decolonization” in education led by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous futures.
For my part, I will talk about Center for Cross-Cultural Studies and Alaska Native Knowledge Network. I will share power point slides, ANKN brochures and CCS pamphlets to distribute and discussion. My hope is that there is good reception from participants and feedback for further pedagogical discourse on this topic.
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2020 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Indigenous Scholars Award
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To Order ANKN Books & Materials contact
Richard Hum at 907-474-5897
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Alaska Native Knowledge Network
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ANKN is located on the 5th floor of the Gruening Building, room 503F. Please contact Richard Hum at 907-474-5897 or email
rehum@alaska.edu
for any inquiries on books and posters.
For payment, please contact Crystal Frank at 907-474-1902 or email
cafrank@alaska.edu
.
*New bookstore website coming soon!
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ANKN Monthly Book Feature
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PAL'AQ
Palascovia Yako Johnson of Koliganek (Qalirneq)
Interviewed, transcribed and translated by Marie Meade
Edited by Arnaq Esther Ilutsik
It is rare these days that we have an opportunity to gain first hand insights into a way of life and traditional cultural practices that span decades of accumulated knowledge. Through a close collaboration involving Yup'ik elders. Native educators, linguists and cultural practitioners, Palascovia (Pal'aq) Yako Johnson of Koliganek, Alaska has been able to pass on her extensive knowledge to future generations. This rich volume of duel language cultural reflections will serve as a model to inspire other Indigenous communities to secure their unique history and legacy.
Ray Barnhardt
Contact the Alaska Native Knowledge Network at 907-474-5897 or email uaf-cxcs@alaska.edu
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IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES
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Important Dates & Deadlines!
- 12/6/19 - Indigenous Studies students meet and greet at NOON
- 12/7/19 - Last day of instruction
- 12/11/19 - Brown Bag Lunch Series 12PM-1PM
- 12/5/19 - Residence Hall closes at NOON
- 12/18/19 - Deadline for faculty to post grades, noon
- 12/24/19-1/1/20 - Winter break (no classes, most offices closed; reopen Thursday, Jan. 2, at 8 a.m.)
- 1/2/20 - WINTERmester courses begin: attendance required
- 1/2/20 - Deadline for adding WINTERmester classes; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
- 1/2/20 - Deadline for WINTERmester tuition and fee payment and refunds; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
- 1/3/20 - Late payment fees begin for WINTERmester
- 1/3/20 - Financial aid is disbursed
- 1/6/20 - Deadline for WINTERmester student - and faculty-initiated withdrawals (W grade appears on academic transcript)
- 1/10/20 - Residence Halls opens at 8AM
- 1/11/20 - Last day of WINTERmester instruction and finals
- 1/12/20 - Orientation for new students
- 1/13/20 - First day of instruction; late registration begins
- 1/16/20 - Deadline for faculty to post WINTERmester grades, NOON
- 1/20/20 - Alaska Civil Rights Day (no classes, most offices closed)
- 1/24/20 - Deadline for adding classes and late registration; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
- 1/24/20 - Last day for student and faculty initiated drops with refund (course does not appear on academic record)
- 1/24/20 - Deadline for tuition and fee payment; 5PM in person, midnight at UAOnline
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University of Alaska Fairbanks
Center for Cross-Cultural Studies
201 Eielson Building, UAF campus
PO Box 756730
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6730
Phone: (907) 474-1902
Office Hours 8AM-5PM M-F
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