*Ed. Note* Remember third grade when you'd get back for your first day of school and the first thing you'd do is tell everyone all the amazing things you did over the summer? Now some of our NAS Grad Students are going to share with you how they spent their summer. (As most of us cannot actually believe that the summer is over...)
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I have a friend who likes to make lists. Taking a cue from her and being quite anxious about preparing for the start of the quarter I have decided the best way to tell people what I did this summer is to list it out. How I Spent My Summer… by Cutcha Risling Baldy JUNE:
Cutcha Risling Baldy is a PhD Graduate Student in Native American Studies and a recipient of the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. She has her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Diego State University and her B.A. in Psychology with a special focus in Health and Development from Stanford University. Ms. Risling Baldy is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe with ties to the Karuk and Yurok peoples. Her research focuses on feminist perspectives in contemporary Native culture, methodologies and theory development for Native American Studies and arts & culture expression (literature, song, ceremony, and oral histories). You can find out more about her here. *Ed. Note* Remember third grade when you'd get back for your first day of school and the first thing you'd do is tell everyone all the amazing things you did over the summer? Now some of our NAS Grad Students are going to share with you how they spent their summer. (As most of us cannot actually believe that the summer is over...) How I Spent My Summer By Angel Hinzo Hello everyone! Although I am thankful to have made it back to Davis in one piece, I can’t help but look back on my summer adventures with nostalgia. Although I try to maintain a balance of relaxation and work, unforeseen circumstances prevented the completion of my plans for interviews and travel for the weeks before the first week of school (more on this later). However, I am determined to find time to take care of these tasks throughout the coming year. During the final weeks of class in mid-June, I imagined that my summer would include visits to my sister in southern California, a visit to Nebraska, time to work on my academic reading list and possibly time to read a few non-academic books. Although I only placed a small dent in my reading list, and still need to read a non-academic book, I am completely satisfied with all of the adventures I had during my time off. My first trip of the summer was an Amtrak ride to visit my family in the San Diego area and catch up with my friends. This was my first time taking the train down to Oceanside, so it was definitely a new experience. Generally, I take the Greyhound down south but the Amtrak was significantly faster travel. The train was completely full as people traveled in anticipation of the Fourth of July holiday. I had not seen my sister and nephew since Christmas, and this was the first time I was able to see my brother-in-law since his return from service in Afghanistan. I was glad to be able to have family meals with them and reunite our Rockband band (seriously). I’m pretty sure the neighbors were happy when I left…and slightly disappointed when I returned a few days later. I took a road-trip up to San Francisco with one of my very good friends and crashed a science conference she was attending. Although the language of the conference was extremely technical, I enjoyed the opportunity to converse with those in other disciplines. We were able to take the BART into various places of San Francisco and drive through the city at night but I have yet to explore the city completely. I returned to Davis briefly and drove back down to San Diego where I was able to spend more time with my sister and family. From San Diego I flew to Omaha, Nebraska to visit my family in Winnebago. Unfortunately, I was only able to spend a week with them. While in Winnebago I met the Director of the Ho-Chunk Renaissance Program, the Tribal College librarian, and a few faculty members of Little Priest Tribal College. I also saw the flooding of the Missouri River which has been severe this summer. Interestingly enough, many of the people I talked with mentioned that the Missouri looks a lot like how it was described to look when Ho-Chunks navigated it prior to damming. After my time in Winnebago, I returned to Davis for a few weeks to check on my cats and visit with some friends. Then I flew to Detroit, Michigan to visit my long-time friend and her family in Macomb County. I had not planned on making this trip but was pleasantly surprised when I was able to book my flight and visit. While in Michigan I got to drive down back roads that I have not seen in a few years and visit my friend’s farm. Additionally we took time to drive to Sandusky, Ohio and visit Cedar Point. It was fun until we got lost looking for the Ohio Turnpike after dark. Overall it was a very busy and exciting visit. Once I returned to Davis I began the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Summer Session Workshop Series. Additionally, I began preparing to teach NAS 5 in the fall. Within this structured preparation, I have also taken time for more leisurely activities such as going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and spending time at the American River. My original plans to travel to Nebraska before the start of the quarter have been put on hold due to my cat, Squeaky, becoming ill. She is 17 years old and looks like she will make it through her illness which is fantastic news for the end of the summer. I am definitely looking forward to all of the opportunities for spontaneous learning, research, and travel that the new academic year will offer. Angel is currently a Ph.D. student in Native American Studies, specializing in history, from mid-19th century to the present. She received her B.A. in history from the University of California San Diego. Research interests include decolonization, acculturation and accommodation, the boarding school experience, connections between cosmological beliefs and society, and Ho-Chunk/Winnebago intertribal, federal and state relations. She is a proud member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Learn more about her here.
Summer 2011 By Melissa Leal The heat did not dry my tears this summer As I wept for the loss of a friend of my brother The adventures and the time that could have been Were spent wondering why life is so difficult Why do so many bad things happen to special people? Just when she began to heal She was told “Wait!” One more thing…..you have cancer! Again? This time it is in your lung…aggressive Like her dog that was put to sleep three weeks before. Sorrow melted our hearts Not the heat of the sun. Brian and Buddy’s fight is over But my mom’s has just begun. Summer 2011 has not just been about tears and pain It has been a lesson on time And love And moments that need to be cherished. About letting go of bags and embracing life Never wasting one moment with thoughts of guilt or regret. Taking time to love myself so I can embrace the love given by those around me. Summer 2011…. I will not cry about you but thank you for opening my eyes and breathing life into me. Melissa is a descendant of Ohlone and Esselen peoples of Monterey, California. She received her BA from CSU, Sacramento in Ethnic Studies and is currently C.Phil in Native American Studies. Her research includes the reciprocal relationship between Hip Hop Culture and Indigenous Communities. She is also interested in Performance Studies, Popular Culture, and the intersectionalities of descendants of Africa and Indigenous Americans. Melissa also works on revitalizing the Esselen language. She is a lifetime resident of Sacramento County and teaches dance, jewelry making, and classes on revitalizing indigenous languages. more *Ed. Note* Remember third grade when you'd get back for your first day of school and the first thing you'd do is tell everyone all the amazing things you did over the summer? Now some of our NAS Grad Students are going to share with you how they spent their summer. (As most of us cannot actually believe that the summer is over...) How I Spent My Summer By: Kristina Casper-Denman So, I passed my quals at the end of February, 2010, and I figured, no problem! I can do archival work in no time at all and be done by 2012. Not so fast. Not all the archivists are helpful (still waiting to hear back from one place that I emailed in October 2010...), but three who were fantastic were (in no particular order) the Denver Public Library, UC Riverside, and San Diego State. What were the highlights? Denver had exactly one sheet of paper that I could use. The listings said they had a folder with correspondence, and they did, but it was a half-sheet letter which was interesting but not really worth the trip just for that. Went to Tocabe, the fry bread restaurant to make myself feel better. It worked. UC Riverside has an enormous collection thanks to the Costo family, and that was well worth the trip, plus they have an enormous room for work and local baskets on display. San Diego State's Rouillard Collection scans materials for you for free, and you can either email the pdf to yourself or they'll put it on a thumb drive if you bring one. Everyone was delightful at all three facilities. Special kudos to SDSU, since they had contstruction in their library the day I visited, and they made special accomodations.Side trip to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum for their exhibit on contemporary Native women artists, which was an entire room. Amazing artwork!http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/beyond-craft.asp Most annyoing question I keep getting? "Are you done with your dissertation yet?" Um, yeah, just about. Not even close. It's a great process but life keeps getting in the way. It'll be done when it's done, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. Kristina Casper-Denman has a MA in anthropology from Arizona State, teaches anthropology at American River College and is working on her Ph.D. in NAS with an emphasis in contemporary Native education.
Remember third grade when you'd get back for your first day of school and the first thing you'd do is tell everyone all the amazing things you did over the summer? Now some of our NAS Grad Students are going to share with you how they spent their summer. (As most of us cannot actually believe that the summer is over...) How I Spent My Summer By: Bayu Kristianto I remember writing my last essay for my independent study with Professor Ines Talamantez from UC Santa Barbara in the midst of June. I was so relieved because eventually I completed all the assignments for the Spring Quarter, and submitting that last essay for me actually marked the very end of the quarter. I was determined that I would spend the summer time reading all the books that I had bought but which I had not had the opportunity to read. In addition, I made up my mind to finish reading all the books used for the classes for the three quarters I had completed, which I had not had the convenience of reading thoroughly. I spent the last two weeks in June making daily visits to the Shields Library to read a number of books. Unfortunately, I almost finished reading one book, and managed to read only the first few pages of other books I had intended to read. As June came to an end, I grew anxious because I needed a job with which I could earn money to support my life during the summer. I was lucky because Professor Ines Hernandez-Avila needed another research assistant and I started working for Professor Hernandez-Avila in the first week of July. The first thing I did for her was sorting different pieces of writing, both those she had written and those she had collected, including all her poems and short stories that she wanted to publish. I enjoyed this work since as I was reading her poems and short stories I became more familiar with Professor Hernandez-Avila’s literary and scholarly work. I believe what I did was important because I helped her organize all of her writing and documents, which were an accumulation of years of work and research. I did this work in Professor Montejo’s office, so I got to experience the daily life and atmosphere of our department as well. The next thing I did was helping Professor Hernandez-Avila in her research on the Conchero dance in Mexico for future publication as a book. Again, I had to sift through all the material she had collected with regard to the dance, which came in at least four boxes. I spent every day skimming a lot of articles and tried to find the parts which were considered relevant to the research. One day, she gave me a list of items which I had to find in the library or request through the Inter-Library Loan. I managed to obtain almost all the material she needed, except for some which the library could not find anywhere. It was an exciting process since I obtained a number of materials which I would love to read thoroughly myself, and which were relevant to my own research as well. After I got almost all of the items on the list, I skimmed them and made a short notation for each item, in which I expressed what I thought about the book and in what way the book was relevant to her research. Similar to what I had done previously, I marked places in the books and essays which I thought she could incorporate in her research. Aside from this work, I had also decided to sharpen my skills in photography. I bought, borrowed, read, and watched a number of books, magazines, and films on digital photography, and I tried to find opportunities in which I could use my digital camera to make sharp, interesting, and artistic pictures. For this purpose, I made a short travel to San Francisco, staying in a cheap hostel for three days, where I met travelers from different parts of the world, most of them in their twenties. During my stay in San Francisco, I focused on honing my skill in urban photography. For this purpose, I visited a number of places of interest in San Francisco’s cityscape and played the role of a photographer, instead of a tourist. I managed to capture great pictures of the city’s architecture. (Please visit my Facebook to see the pictures. My Facebook name: Bayu Baladewa.) However, this process will not end as this summer break ends. Photography is a skill that needs years to master, despite the fact that I have owned my DSLR for two years (and, sadly, am still far from being an expert photographer) and the process is a life-long one, especially since the technology of digital photography keeps progressing from day to day. My summer break may not be spectacular. I may not have had the chance to make international travel to some of the great places on earth. Nevertheless, I feel satisfied for having done something which would support both my academic development and my skill in the hobby which I like most. Helping Professor Hernandez-Avila with her research is certainly a rewarding experience as I learned more about indigenous issues in North America and Mexico. I am looking forward to being a research assistant in the following summer, if the same opportunity opens up. Furthermore, I dream that I can visit some great places both in America and abroad in which my photographic skills can be put to a test. There is always time to do that in another summer, and in more and more summers to come. Bayu Kristianto is an international student from Indonesia. He is an instructor at the English Department, University of Indonesia. He received his BA in English from the University of Indonesia, in 2001. He graduated with an MA degree from SUNY Buffalo in 2006, majoring in American Studies with a focus on Native American religion and philosophy. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Native American Studies at UC Davis. His research interests include Native American religion and philosophy, Native American history, Cultural Studies (on space and power), Western philosophy, the history of Christianity, and literature.
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Welcome to the Davis Native American Studies Graduate Student Blog. This blog was started as a place to update on all of the amazing work that is being done by the Graduate Students in the UC Davis Native American Studies Department. The Graduate Program in Native American Studies was approved in 1998, making UC Davis only the second university in the nation to offer a Ph.D. in Native American Studies. In Fall 1999, the Department welcomed its first group of students enrolled in the M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in Native American Studies.
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DisclaimerThis blog is an independent site run by the NAS Grad Students at UCD. The views expressed on this website are not the views of UC Davis Native American Studies nor the University of California Davis and/or its affiliates. |