Join us on January 28\, 2022 at 1 pm PT fo r the virtual Ziegler Lecture Series\, featuring Dr. Renae Watchman of McMa ster University. This talk is co-sponsored by The Narratives Group. We grat efully acknowledge the financial support of the Waterloo Centre for German Studies in the planning and organization of this virtual event in the CENES series on Indigenous Presence and Representation in German and European St udies.
View the recording of this talk here:
Title: "Trans-Atlantic Indigeneity: Indigenous Literary Presence in Europe"
Abstract: This presentation will examine how active Indige nous presence from Turtle Island has been depicted in novels\, short storie s\, film\, autobiography\, and literary criticism by contemporary Indigenou s authors and filmmakers across the pond. Looking at diasporic Indigenous p eople who have travelled to Europe or have made Europe their second home\, while still upholding their Indigenous languages and lifeways to their home communities and kin\, this talk approaches the work of the “greats” of Ind igenous literary arts\, including Silko\, Welch\, and King\, to evaluate th eir depiction of distinctive Indigenous lifeways amid disparate historical and cultural contexts\, seeking to centre Indigenous presence as it happens in the European context and beyond.
Bio: Renae Watc hman is from the Diné Nation in Shiprock\, NM. With a doctorate in German S tudies from Stanford University (2007)\, she is an associate professor\, jo intly appointed in the Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Eng lish and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. She is also Co-director o f the Office of Academic Indigenization. Along with Hartmut Lutz and Floren tine Strzelczyk\, Dr. Watchman co-edited Indianthusiam: Indigenous Response s (2019) with Wilfrid Laurier University Press. She is currently working on a book manuscript that looks at the displacement of Indigenous stories and their connection to land\, landscape and monoliths in visual media\, title d: Tsé Bitʼaʼí. Mars\, Myth\, & Monolith: Keyah & Indigenous Stories Disloc ated in Visual Media. Dr. Watchman’s teaching and research interests includ e: Indigenous literatures\, visual storytelling\, experiential\, land-based pedagogies\, and community service learning. Along with faculty\, staff\, and students\, Dr. Watchman’s commitment to creative collaborations has cul minated in initiatives that advocate for Indigenous presence\, Indigenous c ultural safety\, and diversity\, equity\, and inclusion.