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Indigenous Studies Symposium

October 29 | Indigenous Studies Symposium | Newman Library, Goodall Room, 9 a.m. - 5 p. m.

Join us for Virginia Tech's first annual Indigenous Studies Symposium! We will have an array of Virginia Tech and visiting scholars, and this year's theme is "Indigenous Futurities." See below for the full schedule and details on each of the four panels. 

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. | Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. | Introductions

  • Melissa Faircloth | Director of Ati: Wa:oki and Senior Advisor of Native Affairs 
  • Edward Anthony Polanco | Department of History, and Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at Virginia Tech 

9:15 - 10:45 a.m. | History, Language, and Cultures panel
Moderator: Nathaniel Brother

  • Harley Locklear (Lumbee), Virginia Tech 
  • Stuart Marshall, Virginia Tech 
  • Alicia Aldaz (Monacan), Virginia Tech
  • Fernanda Rosa, Virginia Tech  

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Ethics and Cultural Competency panel
Moderator: Yubidixi Jimenez-Castañeda

  • Kody Grant (Isleta Pueblo/EBCI), University of Virginia 
  • Jake Fox, Radford University 
  • Rebecca Hester, Virginia Tech 
  • Rufus Elliot (Monacan), Chickahominy Housing Services
  • Tanya Denckla Cobb, University of Virginia 

12:30 – 1:25 p.m. | Lunch

1:10 - 1:25 | Welcome Back 

  • Laura Belmonte | Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech

1:30 – 3:00 p.m. | Sovereignty: From Sustenance to Politics panel
Moderator: David Watkeys

  • Erick Krigsvold (Pamunkey), The Native State 
  • Nick Copeland, Virginia Tech 
  • Bryce Burrell (Mississippi Choctaw), Virginia Tech 
  • Marco de Leon (Maya Ixil), Virginia Tech 
  • Samuel Cook, Virginia Tech 

3:15 – 4:45 p.m. | Education and Pedagogy from Kinder to Graduates panel
Moderator: Eladio Tovar Ortiz

  • Brittany Hunt (Lumbee), Virginia Tech 
  • Jessica Taylor, Virginia Tech 
  • Sarah Richardson, University of Virginia 
  • Victoria Ferguson (Monacan), Virginia Tech 

5:00 – 6:30 p.m. | Dinner