Presentations

April Lindala chaired a panel at the Native American Indigenous Studies Association's first meeting in Minneapolis in May. The panel's collective work was titled "Sacred Ground: Earth-centered Native Rhetorical Expressions." Lindala's paper was titled"Environmental Cultural Values found in Native Lyrics." It explored how the lyrics of recognized Native musicians, such as Joy Harjo, John Trudell and JoAnne Shenandoah, promote a sense of connectivity to the earth, each other and all beings of creation. The panel also included a presentation from Aimee Cree Dunn (CNAS) titled "Recalling Reality: Animal Voices in Native Literature," and NMU graduate Kyle Bladow's paper, "Food Systems in Selected Fiction by Louise Erdrich."

Jane Milkie (Art and Design) presented "Think Global, Act Local: Civic Engagement Supporting Consumer and Producer" Design for the Common Good at the University and College Designer's Association (UCDA) Design Education Summit held May 28-30 at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. Milkie discussed how designers can offer solutions to assist business owners in increasing profitability during challenging economic times. Milkie sais design students producing work that directly benefits small business owners will collectively contribute to stimulating larger regional economies as a “trickle-up” process.