UCLA Newsroom: Alumni Helen and Morgan Chu pledge $10 million to benefit UCLA Institute of American Cultures
UCLA Newsroom: Alumni Helen and Morgan Chu pledge $10 million to benefit UCLA Institute of American Cultures

Ben Stephens | February 5, 2024 Key takeaways Longtime donors to UCLA, the Chus participated in student-led protests in the 1960s that brought about the creation of UCLA’s ethnic studies centers. Their latest gift is intended to create four endowed chairs and provide wider support for the work of the UCLA Institute of American Cultures. ... Read more

Campbell
LA Times: UCLA doubles down on ethnic studies expansion amid fraught national politics
LA Times: UCLA doubles down on ethnic studies expansion amid fraught national politics

By Teresa Watanabe | Staff Writer  Feb. 5, 2024 6 AM PT More than five decades ago, Morgan Chu was taught a version of American history that all but ignored the experiences of Asian Americans like him. Chu, an attorney who grew up in New York and moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, never ... Read more

Native Bruin: Past, Present, & Future – Vivian C. Garcia
Native Bruin: Past, Present, & Future – Vivian C. Garcia

  This March 2024 we are highlighting Native Bruin, Vivian C. Garcia (Cherokee), class of 2011. Vivian C. Garcia, a proud member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a dedicated advocate for the Native American community in Los Angeles. With ties to both Los Angeles and Oklahoma, she has devoted her career to promoting ... Read more

previous arrow
next arrow
UC Native American Opportunity Plan: Details about the Plan’s administration are still unfolding. We continue to update the UCLA American Indian Studies Center and the American Indian Studies Interdepartmental programs’ website with more information. For further information about Financial Aid at UCLA and how this may be impacted by the Plan, call 310-206-0400

Click on the bold links below to hear the audio files for the pronunciation for the Tongva-language words.

AIS and AISC at UCLA acknowledge the Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and are grateful to have the opportunity to work for the taraaxatom (indigenous peoples) in this place. As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.

 

Welcome to the 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.

The Center also works in collaboration with some of the country’s most influential and respected scholars writing and teaching in American Indian Studies today, who have made UCLA one of the highest ranked and most respected universities in the field. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about us.

Dr. Shannon Speed

Dr. Shannon Speed
Director, American Indian Studies Center
Professor, Department of Gender Studies and Anthropology

Upcoming Events