MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL PROGRAM (IDP)

Dear Friends and "Family" of the American Indian Studies Program at UCLA,

Whether you are a current student, an alumni of our program, one of our faculty, or someone thinking of applying to our Program, allow me to "welcome" you to the 2011-12 version of our Program's website.

This website, like our program, will undergo some renewal in the coming months and the next few years. As observed by the late Alfonso Ortiz (San Juan Tewa), the endurance and persistence of Native American societies is in part due to their ability to institutionalize rituals of renewal. So, too, our American Indian Studies program, like any living thing, must continue to change and adapt to the needs of our students and to the demands of the present, while holding on to the values and standards that have always made our program one of the best in the nation.

Two years ago, our American Indian Studies Center celebrated its 40th Anniversary and though our first degree program came about a decade after the AISC's creation, the American Indian Studies Program ranks among the first to create a graduate degree program (M.A.) in American Indian Studies. More recently, American Indian Studies Degree Programs have been developed at the undergraduate (B.A.) and professional school levels (the Joint Degree Program in Law (J.D.) and American Indian Studies (M.A.). Today, as our IDP website attests, we have about 20 nationally renowned faculty who offer important courses, advise students, and guide them to the completion of original research. This year and in future years, in addition to renewing our current degree programs and adding additional faculty, we will consider developing new parts of current degree programs (such as an Indigenous Studies component) or a new joint degree program (such as one in American Indian Studies and Public Health).

This year and in future years, we can look forward to working closely with the American Indian Studies Center under the especially capable leadership of Professor Angela Riley who will continue as Director of the AISC and take on the directorship of the Joint Degree Program. Research is critical for any American Indian Studies program and our graduate students greatly benefit from the way the AISC promotes new research including theirs. In addition to funding opportunities the AISC provides a specialized library and creates a front-line journal (The American Indian Culture and Research Journal) on site.

Though I will be entering my second year as the Chair of the American Indian Studies degree programs this year, I am returning to a role that is very familiar to me and one I performed from 1986 - 2005. I want to thank Professor Felicia Hodge, our former chair, for working so successfully with the Program from 2004 - 2010 and for creating an environment where our students have enjoyed unprecedented success. (In last two years of graduating cohorts, for example, almost all of our students completed their degrees within the ideal time of two years) and 12 of 14 students have already graduated and we expect the other two to complete their theses soon.

As the new Academic Year begins, I also want to welcome our new Academic Coordinator, Clementine Bordeaux (310 825-6541, ClemBordeaux@amindian.ucla.edu) who has joined the IDP, and will assist in student support, and programmatic renewal of our degree programs.

Let me conclude this brief welcome, by suggesting that you stay in touch. To our past alumni, join us in some of the events we plan. To our present students, enjoy and work hard in your studies, and help us to transform and carry-on our degree programs. To prospective students, check out our websites, inquire about our programs, and consider applying to study here. To all, please contact me (paulvk@ucla.edu; 310 825-6237) if there is any information that I can provide about our extraordinary programs.

All the best,

Paul V. Kroskrity, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Professor and Chair of American Indian Studies
Professor of Anthropology