Dear friends of the AISC,

June is upon us, and with it many exciting developments! First, we are thrilled to announce two new AISC faculty members.

Dr. Kyle Mays (Black/Saginaw Anishinaabe) is a transdisciplinary scholar who works at the intersection of Afro-Indigenous Studies, Urban Indigenous Studies, and Indigenous Hip Hop culture. Kyle is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He will join us as a joint appointment with African American Studies in the Fall of 2017. 

Dr. Nancy Mithlo (Chiricahua Apache), currently associate professor of art history and visual arts at Occidental College and chair of American Indian studies at the Autry Museum of the American West, will join us as an IAC Visiting Scholar in Winter and Spring 2018, then join the faculty of Gender Studies in the Fall of 2018. We can’t wait to welcome them both to the UCLA campus!

I want to express sincere thanks to the search committee members, and especially to committee chair Ben Madley, for their dedication and energy in this successful search.

We also have two retirements to announce. Dr. Nancy Reifel and Dr. Peter Nabokov, both of whom hold split appointments with the AISC and have contributed tremendously to the center and the Interdepartmental Program (IDP) over the years, are retiring at the end of June. We thank them for their commitment to American Indian Studies (AIS) and wish them all the best in their future endeavors!

We are very excited about the huge number of graduating students this year. Congratulations grads! We look forward to honoring your accomplishments and celebrating with you at the AIS Graduation Ceremony on June 16 (see below for details)!

We are thrilled at the appointment of Mishuana Goeman as chair of the IDP. She takes over the helm from Interim Chair Ben Madley, to whom we are tremendously grateful for his service.

In more IDP news, we must also announce the departure of beloved staff member Clementine Bordeaux as Academic Coordinator of the AIS IDP. Though we will miss her terribly, the good news is she won’t be going far, as she is staying at UCLA to undertake her doctoral studies in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. Congratulations, Clementine! Thank you for your six years of service to AIS at UCLA!

Beyond graduation we turn our eyes to hosting the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association meetings in 2018, an undertaking that will be a year in the making. Many thanks to Mishuana Goeman for chairing the host committee and leading us in this endeavor!

Finally, the AISC congratulates and welcomes Dr. Darnell Hunt to the position of Dean of Social Sciences. As long-time director of the Bunche Center, Darnell is IAC family. We look forward to working with him in this new capacity.

Wishing you all a successful end to the quarter and a great summer,
Shannon Speed
Director, UCLA American Indian Studies Center

LA City Council's Motion on establishing Indigenous Peoples Day will be heard at a special meeting of the Los Angeles City Council Rules Committee: 
Los Angeles City Council Rules Committee
Indigenous Peoples Day Hearing
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
6-8 p.m. 
Los Angeles City Hall
Room 340 
**Please share this notice with your networks, and bring your family and friends**

Friday, June 16, 2017
Reception: 4:00 PM
Ceremony: 4:30 PM
Covel Grand Horizon
Celebrating the graduating class of 2017!

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