The University of Michigan has for decades been a forceful advocate for diversity and interdisciplinary work: both are hallmarks of our faculty.  Most members of Native American Studies have multiple appointments and serve on the faculty of more than one department.  Joseph Gone, for example, is in the Psychology Department as well as in American Culture.  J. Philip Deloria, to take another example, is in both the History Department and American Culture.  Betty Louise Bell: English and American Culture.  Tiya Miles: CAAS and American Culture.  Gregory Dowd: History and American Culture.  Andrea Smith: Women?s Studies and American Culture.  Barbra Meek, an Anthropologist, has an affiliation with American Culture as a faculty associate.  Gavin Clarkson, an Assistant Professor in the School of Information and an adjunct faculty member in the Law School, is also a faculty associate in American Culture.  Michale Witgen, currently a research fellow, will be joining us as an Assistant Professor of History and American Culture in the fall, 2004.

For graduate students, this means expanded options.  There are, generally, two ways to consider working with each of our faculty members.  One can apply to either (or both!) of the faculty member?s departments.  A student wishing to work most closely with Professor Deloria, for example, might apply to the History Department and/or American Culture.  In either case, there is ample opportunity to work with and participate in conversation with the other faculty members in Native American Studies.  Consult the Graduate Curriculum of each program to help make this decision.

There are extraordinary resources at the University of Michigan for the graduate researcher.  Apart from the excellent main campus libraries, there are several specialized libraries.  On the main campus, for example, we have the William L. Clements Library, with its stunning collections of books, manuscripts, maps, music and photographs.  This is one of the best library?s anywhere for manuscript work on Eastern North American Indians.  On the north campus, there is the Bentley Historical Library, with its extensive ?Michigan Historical Collections,? which contains much material on Native Americans in the state and the territory.  The Gerald R. Ford Library, also on North Campus and run by the National Archives, contains information on Native American issues in the 1970's.