Cluster focus

Wisconsin is home to more Indian reservations than any other state east of the Mississippi. While some Wisconsin Indian nations have recently become powerful economic and political actors, serious educational, environmental, cultural, legal and health problems continue to confront Indian communities both in the state and across the nation. In fact, American Indians face higher rates of diabetes, infant mortality, language loss and high school dropout rates than any other American minority group.

By focusing on the interrelated challenges of American Indian social-policy issues in politics, health, natural sciences, education and international indigenous rights, the American Indian Studies Cluster seeks to deepen campus commitments to American Indian Studies as an academic discipline while extending the university’s ties to American Indian students, tribes and communities.

Cluster structure

This cluster will build on the solid foundation of current jointly appointed and affiliated faculty in the American Indian Studies Program (AISP) by adding faculty with expertise in areas vital to the continued development of AISP, such as education, natural and health sciences, sovereignty, tribal governance and nationhood, and hemispheric indigenous studies. The enhancement of AISP in these areas will also assist in the fulfillment of the university’s diversity strategic objectives. Each faculty member will be jointly appointed in AISP with tenure homes in participating campus departments. The cluster will serve as a catalyst to bring the present AISP faculty together around the topic of social issues, and will create interdisciplinary bridges, bringing the discipline of American Indian Studies to multiple campus departments while harnessing the campus’s collected expertise on indigenous peoples to serve critical intellectual and community needs.

Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean

Cluster Coordinators

  • Paul Nadasdy, Director, American Indian Studies Program, and Associate Professor, Antropology

Cluster Faculty

To be hired.