Conference

American Indians in the Academy: Challenges and Responses

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Abstract

American Indians in the academy commonly face issues of racial discrimination. This workshop will examine the experience of some of the faculty members of the American Indian Studies Program at Iowa State University. The goal of the workshop is to continue the process of developing effective strategies to interrupt cycles of racial discrimination in order to create a positive and safe working environment for diversity faculty in general at Iowa State University. The workshop will focus in two areas: Problems encountered by American Indians in the academy and strategies that have been developed to deal with those challenges. Problems encountered include the dismissal and devaluing of work done by American Indians, resistance by non- Indian faculty and administration to consider American Indian concerns, and the firing of American Indian faculty.