Congratulations to Riv-Ellen Prell, Professor Emerita of American Studies at the University of Minnesota, for winning the 2020 prestigous Lee Max Fiedman medal from The American Jewish Historical Society. Trained as an anthropologist and informed by feminist and historical approaches, Riv-Ellen Prell exemplifies a model of humanities scholarship devoted to sustaining community. Her interdisciplinary work has bridged social science and history, bringing together diverse fields and academic communities.
"I was really surprised when I started doing the research. I couldn't find a single photograph of what you would call a jingle dress before circa 1920 in the United States or Canada," Brenda Child, is interviewed for the CBC article.
Professor Erika Lee discusses the long history of associating minority and immigrant groups with disease outbreaks, and reflects on a potential silver lining of the pandemic.
Erika Lee is one of five UMN Twin Cities researchers who have been elected as members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honor societies, which honors those making preeminent contributions to their fields and the world. Members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.
"They were doing the kinds of cultural things ... that they knew helped them through terrible times,” said Child. “And Ojibwe people believe in the healing power of music and dance — that music and dance are not just something we enjoy that are pleasant. But it's very integrated into Ojibwe culture. It's very much a part of how we live." An article by MPR News features Northrop Professor, Brenda Child.
Many Ojibwe people believe in the healing power of music and dance. American studies and American Indian studies professor Brenda Child reveals how an influenza epidemic in the 1920s gave rise to the jingle dress dance and traditions.
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Elliott Powell, a professor in the American studies department, researches the historical intersection of sexuality, gender, and race in popular music. He looks at the role of sexuality in collaborations between South Asian and Black popular music from 1960 to the present.
Kidiocus King-Carroll studies Black life in Milwaukee and the Midwest. As a doctoral candidate in American studies and resource co-coordinator at The Black Midwest Initiative, his research dives into the meaning and making of Black social life through autoethnography, family narratives, and social histories of his home in the Midwest.
