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Conference Summary
What’s Next for Native American and Indigenous Studies? An International Scholarly Meeting Hosted by Native American Studies
May 3-5, 2007. Norman, Oklahoma
Marinella Lentis
PhD Candidate
American Indian Studies GIDP
Thanks to the Herbert E. Carter Travel Award I was able to attend the First Native American Studies and Indigenous Meeting held at the University of Oklahoma and titled What’s Next for Native American and Indigenous Studies. As the first scholarly meeting entirely dedicated to Indigenous and Native studies, it was an exceptional gathering of scholars from all over the country (including Alaska and Hawaii) as well as from Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, and India who focus their work on such diverse areas as history, politics, literature, language, indigenous knowledge, women’s studies, post-colonial studies, economic development, teaching, and technology.
I had the privilege of being part of this great scholarly community and present my work in front of some of the leading academics in the field. The Carter Award allowed me to attend the conference for its entire duration, thus fully enjoying the scholarly exchanges on timely and important issues in Native studies as well as the moments of social interaction that were made available for all participants.
Participation in these events gave me the opportunity to meet people who are interested in and are working in Native American education and art and who gave me valuable recommendations and suggestions for my work. I presented my research in a session on teaching and learning and I received extremely valuable feedback and comments from other researchers and professors; this will help me to improve my work prior to submitting it for publication. Moreover, the opportunity of exchanging ideas with and learning from international scholars broadened my perspective on Indigenous studies and allowed me to understand more about the type of research that is being conducted in the rest of the world.
A very significant moment of this conference was the plenary session on the possibility of creating an association for Native American and Indigenous Studies. It was really important panel, because like many other participants, I feel the need for an academic organization for this interdisciplinary field that does not seem to have a ‘home’ of its own. This discussion was significant for my academic career and future professional development.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference.
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