In this chapter, the authors describe how a pedagogical commitment at one urban public school to support teaching and learning with Southeast Asian refugee students and their Vietnam veteran classmates two decades ago has continued to be meaningful for more recently arrived refugee students from other world regions, as well as for a diverse, new…

One of the most versatile and multi-faceted films that an educator can use to illustrate urban America in the 1930s is "Great Guy," a relatively obscure film from 1936 directed by John G. Blystone and starring James Cagney and Mae Clarke. There are some simple practical considerations that make the film such a good fit for an American history or…

In this article, the author shares his comments on the past, present, and future of the American Indian Studies Center (AISC). He discusses how AISC was established and describes how American Indian studies have come a long way from the neglect and disparagement of Native Americans in the way American history is written and taught. He also…

It has long been a matter of concern that Indigenous students, as a group, do less well educationally than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Despite the evidence to support the fact that if students and their cultures are not acknowledged, they tend to be less engaged in schooling than those students whose cultures are presented as the norm.…

In this article, the author offers some thoughts on life as native scholars in academia, along with some possible strategies for survival and achievement. Recognizing how hard it is every day, how crazy this life is in the twenty-first century after everything the communities, families, and nations have gone through, the author considers it a…

Understanding U.S. culture is difficult, because the information explosion creates an increase in the number and complexity of various cultural relationships. American Studies is a valuable and unique discipline because it directly addresses this problem, the basic purposes of education, and the relationships that shape students' culture. This…

June Jordan, a prolific and most-published African American essayist and poet and a professor in the African American Studies department at the University of California, Berkeley, ventured to challenge the institutionalized Ivory Tower traditions and subsequently established a university program called Poetry for the People (P4P) in 1991. Such…

Describes an interdisciplinary high school course that used contemporary films to illustrate overarching themes in the U.S. experience. Themes included individualism/social responsibility, isolation/internationalism, and liberal/conservative. Emphasis was on conceptual rather than historic relationships (e.g. "Norma Rae" illustrated…

Describes an environmental education program which focuses on nature in Indian myths. Instructional strategies used in the program include storytelling, free association, play-acting involving members of the audience, dancing, and sharing of artifacts during a question and answer period about Vermont Indians. (JN)

In this article, the author shares some anecdotes to point out a common enough trend that is all but ignored in pedagogical discussions within Native studies. As a non-Native scholar he shares his understanding of what he sees Native students regularly facing in the university (not just his institution, but most), and what they may come to face…

An American Indian professor describes how he uses Western science metaphors in his freshman science writing course to help students realize that Western science is only one worldview based on cultural assumptions. Gradually, he introduces Native concepts of science including the interconnectedness of all things, responsibility to the community,…

Describes a holistic Native Studies curriculum for ethnically mixed classes, based on a project to eliminate Native substance abuse through traditional Native values. Discusses teaching strategies using Native and non-Native learning styles, teacher as role model, and use of appropriate cultural-symbol graphics to transmit ideas. Contains 24…

Thirty-four faculty development programs at colleges and universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota are described. Descriptions of the programs, which are funded by the Bush Foundation, provide a brief overview of the college involved, outline the program goals and strategies and identify a contact person. Areas addressed by the…

Children responded enthusiastically to a program that used Shoshoni poetry songs to teach some concepts about human languages in general. Twelve children (four Caucasian, eight Native American) in grades 1-3 and their parents met for four 1-hour sessions. The lessons focused on the sound, meaning, and word order of the Shoshoni language; Shoshoni…