Indigenous Peoples and Global Collapse: Waziyatawin

Waziyatawin, an incredible Dakota scholar, activist and Indigenous Governance professor, will be speaking at the University of Victoria on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. The talk is being presented as part of the UVic Native Students Union Speaker Series and will be held from 11:30am – 1:30pm in the First Peoples House Ceremonial Hall at UVic. The presentation will be tailored for an Indigenous audience. The event is free and no registration is required.

Waziyatawin’s recent work builds on her own research and writing, as well as existing literature on peak oil and the impending collapse of Western Civilization, as framed by Derrick Jensen (Endgame) and the END:CIV project.

To my Indigenous brothers and sisters: if you haven’t yet had the chance to hear Waziyatawin speak, I urge you to come out and listen. She will rock your world,  shatter your assumptions about peak oil, and compel you to take action to defend yourself, your people, and your homeland!

Indigenous Governance will also be hosting Endgame: An Evening with Derrick Jensen at UVic on November 17th.

Show and Prove: The Tensions, Contradictions, and Possibilities of Hip-Hop Studies in Practice

Show and Prove: The Tensions, Contradictions, and Possibilities of Hip Hop Studies in Practice: a two-day event featuring panels, films and discussions featuring new work in the “burgeoning field of Hip Hop Studies”. The event is free and open to the public, and will contain many thought-provoking talks by scholars, authors and participants in hip hop music and the study of hip hop culture. The symposium was held September 18-19, 2010 @ NYU.

I was offline all summer and missed this completely, but I would love to hear more about it. If you attended or know more about it please drop me some comments or hit me w/ email.

Hip-Hop scholarship is advancing at a rapid rate — and I’m glad to see that there are now quality investigations into its possibilities and limitations as an area of academic interest.  As an ambivalent academic and passionate rap addict, I’m immersed in the paradoxical pursuit of hip-hop praxis within the world of graduate studies and there are indeed many tensions as well as exciting areas of opportunity.  So I hope there are more opportunities like Show & Prove to bring together scholars, artists, activists, and community members to dialogue and exchange ideas about where hip-hop is headed and how the work we do up in the Ivory Tower can remain relevant to the streets — wherever and however you live.