Penn Center for Native American Studies

Welcome

Penn's Native Studies community is at a moment of change when we have an opportunity to strengthen and revise Penn's activities in this area. We are working on plans to multiply the number of groups engaged with Native Americans at Penn and bring their organization into alignment with those of other successful partnerships of students, staff, and faculty who work to support cultural studies at the University. Over the coming year, the Penn Center for Native American Studies will be transformed into two separate, but interrelated, programs currently in development. We hope that this move will enhance dramatically Penn's visibility in Indian networks and bring new undergraduate and graduate students to campus, and new events and programs that engage alums, staff and students. We are also working on plans for focused undergraduate education in Native Studies in SAS. We want to lay the groundwork to support path-breaking and innovative research in Native American Studies across all disciplines and schools - research that will directly benefit students.

We believe that the two dimensions - of outreach/community and research/teaching - that were originally combined within the framework of the existing Center for Native American Studies will be better addressed by this change in structure. Rebecca Bushnell, Dean of SAS, and Provost Vincent Price both support this change, which opens new opportunities at Penn.

In the long run, we believe, it could lead to the creation of a research-oriented center that is more closely aligned with traditional arrangements at Penn and SAS. And the newly organized group of Penn alumni, staff and students will enhance Penn's visibility across Indian networks and facilitate the creation of a thriving and enduring community here.

Thank you for your interest in Penn's Native Studies programs.

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