To: Administrative Officers, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Faculty, Vice Chancellors and Vice Provosts Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Professor Shannon Speed to a second term as the Director of the American Indian Studies Center (AISC), effective July 1, 2021. The recent administrative review noted: “Dr. Shannon Speed has sustained … Read more
As Los Angeles County reports record COVID-19 infections, overflowing hospitals and record death tolls, we look at how Indigenous communities there are among the hardest hit in working-class neighborhoods, where many are essential workers. “Indigenous people, we don’t have the privilege to stay home and not go to work,” says Odilia Romero, co-founder and executive … Read more
On behalf of the American Indian Studies Center, the AIS IDP, and the Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Issues, we write with our deep condolences and to honor the passing of Julia Bogany, who joined the ancestors this past weekend. Julia was a Tongva cultural educator, innovative teacher, appointed cultural … Read more
BY RANIA SOETIRTO // ART BY LAUREN MAN Spring 2021 “People of the land.” The natural setting of Kuruvungna Springs feels as if it resists LA’s urban landscape. Tucked between tight asphalt streets and a high school football field, the entrance to the springs sits between rows of buildings and apartment complexes of West LA. … Read more
Randall Akee and KJ Ward Thursday, May 13, 2021 Recent events have made clear the pervasive and continuing animus towards various race and ethnic groups in the U.S. The current COVID-19 epidemic has become the latest impetus for acting on old biases of “otherness” or not belonging towards Asians and baselessly holding them responsible for … Read more
Congratulations to Professor Nancy Marie Mithlo is a grant recipient of the 2021 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative! The Chancellor’s Council on the Arts and the Office for Research and Creative Activities are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative. The grant awards support projects from 12 UCLA faculty members, which range in … Read more
Congratulations to the 2021 WIN Poster Award Recipients! Dr. Christine Samuel-Nakamura, Assistant Professor, was awarded the “BEST POSTER” at the recent 2021 WIN conference held in April. Her poster was titled: Emergency Department Utilization in the Female Homeless Population in LA
Help support the STOP Act: Problem. Tribes have long faced illegal trafficking in their tribal cultural heritage items, which are essential to their religious and cultural practices and identities. Many dealers know that, once they export such items abroad, the federal government and tribes have little power to secure their repatriation. Congress through the PROTECT … Read more
Dear AISC friends and family, Everyone, please join me in congratulating our collaborators, Kelly Lytle Hernandez and Victoria Sork, along with the other UCLA colleagues elected to the AAAS! Dr. Shannon Speed (Chickasaw) Professor, Gender Studies and Anthropology Director, American Indian Studies Center UCLA Past President, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) 2019-2020 Stuart … Read more
This April we are highlighting Native Bruin Heather Torres, a citizen of the San Ildefonso Pueblo, who also comes from the Diné and Mexican peoples. A graduate of 2011 with a BA in English and American Indian Studies, cum laude, and a 2017 JD, specialization in Critical Race Studies. A “Bruin4Life,” Heather Torres Esq. is … Read more