The relationship between music and philosophy has been a topic of discussion since the emergence of ancient philosophy. Recently named a McKnight Presidential Fellow, Michael Gallope explores how the ineffability of music inspires philosophers to address strange and perplexing questions relevant to modern social life.

Gaye Theresa Johnson, a former student of David Noble, American Studies alumna, and associate professor at UCLA will give the David Noble Lecture this year. Her lecture will revisit the arguments in two of Noble’s books, The End of American History and Death of a Nation for understanding history and culture, how our perceptions of them have changed since he wrote them, and to remind us of the strength we have in our communities.

Music journalist turned PhD student Matthew Tchepikova-Treon is particularly fascinated by how disenfranchised artists, laborers, and communities began participating in cultural production through exploitation cinema—something that was mostly unavailable to them prior to the 1970s. These “trash films” aren’t just a simple form of cheap entertainment.

“I always felt part of a close community of public intellectuals, voices, and perspectives,” says PhD alumnus Matthew J. Martinez. In this interview, he reflects upon his experiences as a graduate student and how American studies prepared him for his role as first lieutenant governor of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo.

Meet American Studies 2018 Graduate Student Cohort.

The Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Studies Initiative (RIGS) was established in 2015 to support innovative research, teaching, community-building, and engagement for scholars and students addressing issues on these topics. RIGS is dedicated to bringing faculty and students together to pursue lines of inquiry that challenge systems of power and inequality, assert human dignity, and imagine social transformation.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents has given faculty member Erika Lee the distinction of Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies. The designation, granted this month, is the highest level of recognition given to faculty by the University.

In 1829, Dakota leader Mahpiya Wicasta (Cloud Man) led a group of Dakota men on a hunt. The group became trapped in a blizzard for three days, buried under the snow. He later founded an agricultural community on the site, which he called Ḣeyate Otuŋwe, on the shores of a lake that Dakota people today call Bde Maka Ska. Nearly two centuries later, Cloud Man’s great-great grandchildren led the charge to reclaim the lake’s Dakota name, after having long been named after white secessionist John Caldwell Calhoun.” We don’t call it a change, we call it a restoration,” descendant Katherine Beane says when asked about the renaming of Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska.

Professor Jean O'Brien has been awarded the Dean's Medalist award for 2018. As a historian and a mentor, one of her goals is to explore and teach the importance of persistence.