Graduate Students
Benjamin Burgess
Ph.D. Candidate
bvburgess@ucdavis.edu
Cibonay Cordova
Ph.D. Student
cmcordova@ucdavis.edu
Ashley Hall
Ph.D. Candidate
achall@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: 1.) Environmental Philosophy of Indigenous Peoples and its Application in Maintenance of Tribally-Controlled Territory as Acts of Intellectual Self-Determination and Cultural Sovereignty. 2.) Expression of Native North American Historical and Contemporary Experiences in Creative Fiction: Writing as Liberation. 3.) Restoration of Indigenous Peoples' Territorial Sovereignties: Ecological Implications. 4.) Cultural Resilience and Embodied Memory of Nooche ('Ute') People: The Ute Bear Dance in Place and Time. 5.) Language Revitalization, esp. the Role of Customary Cultural Events such as Dances, Ceremonies, and other Gatherings in Language Maintenance and Revitalization. 6.) Nation Building in Native North American Communities: Reaffirming, Communicating, and Negotiating Tribal Identity through Art, Literature (Fiction and non-Fiction; Poetry and Prose), Music, Dance, Athletics and other Means.
MA in Native American Studies from UC Davis, 2003
BA in Nature and Culture from UC Davis, 2000.
Presentations: "Blackfeet Worldview and Ecological Awareness: An Environmental Analysis of James Welch's 'Fools Crow'" at the North Eastern Modern Language Association 37th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, March 4, 2006.
Monique Ramune Jonaitis (Anishinaabe/Little River Band of Ottawa Indians)
Ph. D. Student
mrjonaitis@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Native American Women Writers, Non-fiction Mixed-blood Narrative, Pedagogy, Curriculum Development in Higher Education, Writing Instruction, and Creative Writing.
M.A. Latin American Studies, University of New Mexico, 2002
B. A. Spanish, University of Michigan, 1995
Publications: "Barefoot: A Non-fiction Narrative." Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Hawai'i International Conference on Arts and Humanities, January 11-14, 2006: Session on American Studies.
Presentations: Fourth Annual New Voices in Indigenous Research Conference. University of California, Berkeley, CA. March 2006. "How to Be a Red Trojan Horse: Insurgent Strategies for Teaching Native American Literature to Undergraduate Students."
Hawai'i International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki. Honolulu, HI. January 2006. "Barefoot: A Non-fiction Narrative."
Sixth Native American Symposium, Southeast Oklahoma University, Durant, OK. November 2005. "(E)mergence of Selves in Louise Erdrich's Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country."
Jennie Luna
Ph.D. Student
jmluna@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Identity politics and formation as relevant to Indigenous populations with a particular focus on the Xicana community; I am also researching, challenging and creating alternative models of education using Danza Mexica/Azteca as a base. I am also personally and academically involved in International Indigenous Women's Movements both through the United Nations Permanent Forum and the ENLACE Intercontinental. Grassroots organizing, community mobilization, social justice and social change through scholarly activism reflect my personal goals.
M.A. Native American Studies, U.C. Davis, 2006
M.A., Ed.M., Philosophy of Education, emphasis in Urban Education and Cultural Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002
B.A. Chicano Studies and Mass Communication, U.C. Berkeley, 1999
Presentations: Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Americas, March 2004, Lima, Peru, delegate representing La Red Xicana Indigena and Cetiliztli Nauhcampa
U.N. World Conference Against Racism NGO Forum, September 2001, Durban, South Africa, presented on a panel entitled: "Beyond Black and White: The Mexicano/Chicano Experience of U.S. Racism"
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference, March 2000, Portland, OR Paper entitled: "Xicanos in Exile: The Xicana Educational Experience in New York"
Kumiko Noguchi
Ph. D. Student
knoguchi@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: 20th century Native American History, Recreation and Transformation of Indian Identity, Legislative History of the Indian Reorganization Act, Native American Political System under the IRA History of Native Japanese, Ainu Dissertation: Title (tentative): "The Indian Reorganization Act and Indian ethnic Identity"
M.A., History, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan, 2003. Thesis: "Indians and the Indian Reorganization Bill: The analysis of the Indian Congress"
B.A., History, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, Japan, 2000.
Publications: "Hopi Tribe and the Indian Reorganization Act (1934): Construction of the Tribal Constitution and the Tribal Council." Rikkyo American Studies 25 (March 2003). "Analyzing American Indian Identity: A look at the Indian Reorganization Bill as Considered by the Indian Congress of 1934." Shien 65-2 (March 2005).
Presentations: Presentation in the annual conference of Association for History of Rikkyo University (Tokyo, Japan) "Indian Reorganization Act and the Indian Congress" (June 14, 2003).
Presentation in the annual conference of Japanese Western Historical Society "Indian Reorganization Act and the Indian Congress" (May 14, 2004)
Presentation in the annual conference of Association for Historical Society in Rikkyo University, (Tokyo, Japan)
Bettina Schneider
Ph. D. Candidate
btschneider@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Indigenous Community and Economic Development, Indigenous Entrepreneurship, Native Critical Theory, Critical Theory, and Feminist Theory. Bettina's dissertation, tentatively titled, "Reclaiming Economic Sovereignty: Native and Aboriginal Financial Institutions," examines the structure of Native and Aboriginal Financial Institutions throughout the U.S. and Canada and how these institutions are affecting Indigenous community and economic development.
M.S. Community Development, University of California, Davis, 2004
B.A. History, with Honors, New York University, 2001
Publications: "Native Financial Institutions Research Project Report," First Nations Oweesta Corporation" (December 2005).
Presentations: International Indigenous Business and Entrepreneurship Conference June 19-22, 2006, University of New Mexico
National Association for Ethnic Studies, 34th Annual Conference March 30th-April 1st, 2006, San Francisco, CA
New Voices in Indigenous Research, 4th Annual Conference March 9-11th, 2006, University of California, Berkeley Contemporary Native American Issues: Pathways of Action, March 2nd, 2006, University of Arizona
Silvia Soto
Ph. D. Student
sisoto@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Indigenous people's struggles for autonomy, self-determination, and human rights.
M.A. Latin American Studies, University of New Mexico, May 2005.
B.A. Sociology and Spanish, University of California, Davis, June 1996.
Publications: Book review of Auroras of the Zapatistas: Local & Global Struggles of the Fourth World War, Midnight Notes Collective, (eds.), New York: Autonomedia, 2001. Published in Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, Vol 29 No. 1 (2005), pp. 227-229.
Robin Catherine Thomas
Ph. D. Student
rbthomas@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Work and resistance by Pomo peoples in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; survival through genocide; California Indian languages and literatures; practical approaches to decolonization, repatriation and protecting sacred sites.
M.A., History, Sonoma State University, California, 2005
Thesis: "It Is Their Intention to Drive the Indians Out of the Valley, Should They Continue in Their Refusal to Work Enslavement, Patriarchy and Resistance in Mendocino County, 1850-1870
B.A, History, with a minor in Native American Studies, Sonoma State University, California, 2002
Publications: "Patriarchy and Resistance in Mendocino County, 1850-1870." In Retrospect: Journal of History, Vol 7 No. 1 (Spring 2003), pp. 9-49.
Presentations: National Association of Ethnic Studies Conference, April 1, 2006, San Francisco, CA., "Surviving Through Oppression and Genocide: Native Americans and Work in Mendocino County, 1870-1960."
Language is Life Conference, March 26, 2006, Marin, CA: member of panel describing the J. P. Harrington Database Project.
Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, August 4, 2006, Palo Alto, CA., "California Indian Resistance and Survival in Mendocino and Lake Counties, 1848-1870."