UWinnipeg Joins Prestigious Newberry Consortium

Tue. Nov. 1, 2011

WINNIPEG, MB - The University of Manitoba and The University of Winnipeg are pleased to announce that they have been accepted as new joint members of the prestigious Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS). The Consortium is based out of the Newberry Library, an independent research library in Chicago, Illinois. The membership provides access to significant historical resources and is a platform for discussing new methodologies and honing research skills alongside leading scholars and researchers.

The Consortium draws on the Newberry Library's world-renowned collections, the resources of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies and the research centres affiliated with member institutions (including the Huntington Free Library, the Peabody Museum and the Yale Indian Papers Project) to offer a series of annual workshops, institutes, symposiums, conferences and fellowships to graduate students and faculty at member institutions. This membership further connects faculty and students at both universities with others working in the field across the U.S. and Canada.
 
“This is exciting news for faculty and graduate students who work and study in our province,” says Digvir S. Jayas, vice-president (research and international). “Opportunities and resources have opened up to those who pursue knowledge in Indigenous studies, and we have aligned our institutions with 14 North American universities whom are also members.”

Each institution has appointed a faculty liaison: Mary Jane McCallum, Network Environment for Aboriginal Health Research (NEAHR) New Investigator and assistant professor of history at The University of Winnipeg, and Adele Perry, Canada Research Chair in Western Canadian Social History and associate professor of history at the University of Manitoba.

“We are pleased to share in this partnership with the University of Manitoba and the Newberry Consortium - Indigenous Studies are a focus and priority at The University of Winnipeg and we welcome the ability to offer additional opportunities to our students in this area,” says Sandra Kirby, acting vice-president (research), associate vice-president (academic) and dean of graduate studies.
 
Karine Duhamel, a University of Manitoba Ph D student in the department of history, participated in the 2011 NCAIS Summer Institute offered at the D’Arcy McNickle Centre.
"My experience at the Newberry was superb, from the resources at my disposal to the knowledge and helpfulness of the staff,” said Duhamel.  “As a summer scholar, I drew a great deal of inspiration through engaging with a variety of new material and new perspectives as presented by the multiple-disciplinary approach of the Institute. The experience of working with scholars from across North America greatly enlarged my scope of knowledge as well as provided me with invaluable new contacts within my field of study, and beyond."

Faculty members at the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba are excited about the affiliation and what it means for scholars in the fields of Indigenous Studies and history.

Julie Pelletier Chair of Indigenous Studies at The University of Winnipeg is pleased to join this prestigious Consortium along with the University of Manitoba. “Any graduate student at our institutions working on an Indigenous, Native, or Aboriginal topic is encouraged to apply for the Consortium’s programs,” she commented.

“The Newberry Library, its collections and scholarly activities are rooted in the academic activism of eminent Native scholar/pioneers such as Beatrice Medicine and D’Arcy McNickle. Sign me up!” says Sherry Farrell Racette, Department of Native Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Manitoba.

To learn more about the Consortium’s program visit http://www.newberry.org/mcnickle/ncais.html

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Mary Jane McCallum
Dr. Adele Perry