Indigenous Studies Program: People
Support
Heath Furrow
If you would like to find out whether adding the Indigenous Studies Minor could affect your plan of study, you can contact Heath. One of the many benefits of being an Indigenous Studies Minor is receiving his advice and wisdom as an academic advisor and previous Virginia Tech student.
Undergraduate Academic Advisor
439 Major Williams Hall | hafurrow@vt.edu
Director of the Indigenous Studies Program and Associate Professor in the Department of History
428 Major Williams Hall | polanco@vt.edu
Faculty Affiliates
Below you will find the fantastic scholars on Virginia Tech's campus who are engaging in Indigenous Studies across a variety of disciplines and colleges. Our goal is to help students and other scholars study the Indigenous past and present to build a better future.
Area of Study: Turtle Island
Specialties: Tribal Law, Virginia Indigenous Nations
sacook2@vt.edu
Nick Copeland
Area of Study: Abya Yala
Specialties: Modern Latin America, Guatemala, Water
Rebecca Hester is an associate professor in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at Virginia Tech. She is also a co-founder of and associate director of education at the Center for Refugee, Migrant and Displacement Studies. Her first book was on health promotion in indigenous Mexican migrant communities in California.
rjhester@vt.edu
Melinda Miller is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Core Faculty in Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Virginia Tech. She attended Case Western Reserve University and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the origins and persistence of American racial inequality and the impact of institutions on inequality.
Area of Study: Abya Yala
Specialties: Mesoamerica, Nahua Peoples, Healing, Religion, Foodways
polanco@vt.edu
Jessica Taylor is an associate professor of public history and oral history at Virginia Tech. Her research interests are in oral history and Indigenous history in the American South, particularly in what is now called the Commonwealth of Virginia. She works with community groups, tribal entities, and nonprofits in the process of documenting or telling histories of the communities they represent.
jessicataylor@vt.edu