My teaching is shaped by the same commitments that guide my research: attention to settler colonialism, practices of decolonization, and the ongoing work of challenging hierarchies. In the classroom, I ask students to engage these ideas through their own lived experiences, their communities, and the knowledge systems they carry.

I emphasize the importance of understanding how hierarchies are produced and maintained, how cultural histories shape those structures, and how space is regulated and contested. At the same time, I work with students to develop rigorous questions before turning to methods, encouraging them to think carefully about what it means to conduct ethical, community-centered research. My teaching in Native American Studies builds on and extends this work, with a focus on Indigenous knowledge systems, narrative, and community-based practice.

Approach

My teaching moves between theory-driven and integrative approaches. I draw on conceptual frameworks—critical race theory, Indigenous theory, and decolonial thought—while also grounding learning in case studies, cultural materials, and student experience.

A central goal is helping students recognize that knowledge does not begin in the university. Students bring important intellectual resources from their families, communities, and histories. Teaching is, in part, creating space for those forms of knowledge to enter the classroom in meaningful ways.

This work is not without challenge. It can unsettle assumptions and push students into uncomfortable terrain, but it also offers the possibility of new frameworks for understanding themselves and their relationship to the world.

In the Classroom

I often use cultural texts—film, music, literature, and other forms—as entry points for analysis. These materials allow students to read community expression as a form of knowledge and to consider how meaning is produced and communicated beyond formal academic settings.

Courses also incorporate collaborative and field-based work. Students engage communities directly, working on projects that require them to think carefully about responsibility, reciprocity, and the limits of representation.

Courses

Courses I teach include:

• Introduction to Native American Studies
• Community-engaged research courses
• Indigenous Speculative Fiction
• Indigenous narrative, space, and place
• Special topics in Indigenous futures and cultural production

Working with Students

Mentorship is a core part of my teaching practice. I work closely with undergraduate and graduate students on research, creative work, and community-based projects, many of which extend beyond the classroom through the Indigenous Futures Research Lab.

Students I work with are often developing their own research questions and preparing for advanced study. I approach this work as collaborative—supporting students as they develop their own intellectual paths and relationships to the communities they serve.