T101 | Native American Renaissance | Katherine Kidd Tuesdays 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Hybrid: Zoom and in-person at Berkshire Community College Note that the session on 2/4 will be Zoom only |
In
1924, Native Americans were granted US citizenship. With population numbers
dropping, control of land at its nadir, and the ability to practice their own
religion and learn in their own languages prohibited by law, many in the US
thought they were seeing the last vestiges of the Native American community. In
2024, Native Americans are pushing forward in many areas - rapid population
growth, increasing access to financial resources, higher levels of educational
completion, restoration of cultural rights, and some key legal protections. In
this course, we will study some of the many important changes that have
occurred over the last 100 years including education, cultural practices,
environmental movements, and tribal recognition and membership. Although generational
trauma continues to negatively affect Native Americans, positive changes are
also present. We will begin the class with Timothy Egan's biography of Edward
Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher and David Treuer's Heartbeat
of Wounded Knee. Key legal cases and changes in federal laws that have
created space for Native American communities to engage in this renaissance
will be examined.
Katherine Kidd earned her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in international relations. She taught and directed international studies programs at Fairfield and Sacred Heart universities. Work with international NGOs took her to Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Hong Kong. She coordinated OLLI's We are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast program in 2022 and taught a prior course on Native American history in 2022. |
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