The Hitchcock-Kelly Fund for Human and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Graduate Student Symposium

-Event-

Start Date: Apr 17, 2026 - 12:00pm
End Date: Apr 17, 2026 - 05:00pm

Location: Hibben 105 & Atrium

On Friday, April 17 from 12-5 PM, the UNM Department of Native American Studies and the UNM Department of Anthropology will co-host the The Hitchcock-Kelly Fund for Human and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Graduate Student Symposium.  Funded by a generous gift from Bob Hitchcock and Melinda Kelly, this fund supports collaborative projects and programs implemented between the departments of Anthropology and Native American Studies. The projects include annual support of student-related research and applied activities to advance and bring attention to human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights.

The symposium will feature graduate students who have received funding from the Hitchcock-Kelly Fund to present their research.  The schedule is as follows:

12:00  Opening Reception/Luncheon

1:00  Welcoming Remarks: Dr. Lloyd Lee and Dr. Bob Hitchcock

     Session 1: US Southwest

 1:15  Nicole Swentzell (PhD, Native American Studies)
  Guardians of Fire and Land: The Contributions of Pueblo Firefighters Across Indian   Country

1:40  Adesbah Foguth (PhD, Anthropology Archaeology)
  A LiDAR Study of the Lukachukai Mountains Mining District, Diné Nation

2:05   Ruben Leyva (PhD, Native American Studies)
  Relational Memory Historiography and Gila Apache Political Identity:   Community-Engaged Archival Research and Public Scholarship

2:30  Cameron Zarrabzadeh (PhD, Anthropology Sociocultural and Linguistic   Anthropology) 
  Church Rock Community Archiving and Oral History Project

2:55   15 minute Break

      Session 2: International 

3:10  Andrew Gorvetzian (PhD, Anthropology Sociocultural and Linguistic   Anthropology)
  Ní de aquí, ni de allá/au büni, bugianüni/Me for you and you   for me: Analyzing the   Contours of the Transnational Garifuna Nation Through Language   Revitalization

3:35   Laura Steele (PhD, Anthropology Archaeology)
  Ripples of Imperialism – Understanding Foodways, Community and Identity on the   Margins of an Empire

4:00  Jordan Martinez (PhD, Anthropology Evolutionary Anthropology)
  Energy and Time Devoted to Ceremonial Dance and Music Among the Temiar of   Peninsular Malaysia

4:25  Closing Remarks: Dr. Les Field