Native Self-Determination or Self-Decimation Topic of Lecture Series April 7

David Eugene Wilkins, professor of American Indian Studies, Political Science, Law and American Studies at the University of Minnesota, will discuss "Native Self-Determination or Self-Decimation: Banishment and Disenrollment in Indian Country" at Colorado State University on Monday, April 7. He will speak at 6 p.m. in Room 113 Natural Resources Building on campus.

Wilkins will discuss the surge of banishments and disenrollments that have arisen in recent years and explain why these are happening, how they conform with indigenous values and democracy and how this issue is being perceived by U.S. lawmakers.

Wilkins teaches and writes in the areas of comparative politics, American political theory, federal Indian policy, tribal government and history of colonialism and native peoples. He is author of "American Indian Sovereignty and the United States Supreme Court" and co-author (with the late Vine Deloria Jr.) of "Tribes, Treaties, and Constitutional Tribulations."

Wilkins is currently a visiting professor in the History Department at Harvard University. He received his bachelor’s in Sociology from Pembroke State University, his master’s in Political Science and American Indian Policy from the University of Arizona and his doctorate in Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. From 1984-87, Wilkins was an instructor at the Navajo Community College, Tsaile, Navajo Nation, Arizona. In 1990, he was an adjunct lecturer and from 1991-97 an assistant professor for the Department of Political Science and American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. He has been at the University of Minnesota since 1999.

The "New Perspectives in Contemporary Research" Speaker Series has been developed to provide the Colorado State community access to a variety of cutting-edge original academic research. The speakers showcased are innovative senior scholars who have been examining critical perspectives on United States and international cultures, politics and societies. The intent of the series is to enlighten and educate faculty, staff and students to new ideas and perspectives.

The speaker series is sponsored by Colorado State University’s Accion, Department of Biology, Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity, College of Natural Sciences, Department of History, Department of Journalism and Technical Communication, Native American Student Services, Department of Social Work, Office of Student Media and Women’s Programs and Studies. The Fort Collins Museum and INCITE! Fort Collins Chapter also are sponsoring the series.

For more information, contact Ty Smith at smithty@exchange.colostate.edu or call (970) 491-1332.

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