Online Study Circles Winter 2025 Conversations: American Indian Studies - Playing Indian (2022)

Event Description

Online Study Circles Winter 2025 Conversations:

American Indian Studies

Playing Indian (2022) by Philip J. Deloria

About the Online Study Circles Conversations
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) - American Indian Studies Program in partnership with CESA 12 is offering online book studies for early childhood staff, K-12 staff, institutions of higher learning and partners to continue our personal and professional work, with a focus on American Indian studies and education. Join us in an Online Study Circles Conversations: American Indian Studies and the exploration of specially selected texts as a foundation for the group conversation and discussion on various Indigenous topics and issues.

*Individuals may only register for ONE of the four Online Study Circles Conversations offered for 2024-2025. One will be offered in Fall 2024, two will be offered during Winter 2025, and one during Spring 2025. 

** NOTE: You must be present during ALL the advertised time(s) to participate and be a part of the study circles. They will NOT BE RECORDED for viewing at an alternate time. Additionally, participants do NOT have permission or authorization to record either via video or audio the contents of the session they are attending.**

Book(s) and Author(s): Playing Indian (2022) by Philip J. Deloria

Description(s): Playing Indian (2022): “This provocative book, reissued with a timely new preface, explores how white Americans have used their ideas about Native Americans to shape national identity in different eras—and how Indian people have reacted to these appropriations of their native dress, language, and ritual. At the Boston Tea Party, colonial rebels played Indian in order to claim an aboriginal American identity. In the nineteenth century, Indian fraternal orders allowed men to rethink the idea of revolution, consolidate national power, and write nationalist literary epics. By the twentieth century, playing Indian helped nervous city dwellers deal with modernist concerns about nature, authenticity, Cold War anxiety, and various forms of relativism. Philip J. Deloria points out, however, that throughout American history the creative uses of Indianness have been interwoven with conquest and dispossession. Deloria suggests that imagining Indians has helped generations of white Americans define, mask, and evade paradoxes stemming from simultaneous construction and destruction of these native peoples. In the process, Americans have created powerful identities that have never been fully secure.” [Yale University Press].

Registration: Link to Event Page | Event Registration Form

As a result of participating in the Online Study Circles Online Conversations, participants will:

• have an opportunity to read and discuss selected American Indian themed books with participants from across Wisconsin.
• learn about diverse aspects of Native American histories and cultural concepts.
• address bias, myths, stereotypes and misconceptions regarding our Indigenous peoples, communities, and nations
• engage in discussion with colleagues and explore multiple perspectives about First Nations Studies and the education of American Indian students

Online Study Circles Conversations: American Indian Studies
Consistent attendance is crucial to allow for learning and to result in a successful book study. Individuals who miss ANY of the Online Study Circles Conversations sessions will be required to return the book at your own cost. Please be sure your schedule allows for full participation on ALL dates and times listed BEFORE registering. No exceptions will be made.

• District Administrators and Principals
• Classroom Teachers
• Curriculum Specialists, Directors of Instruction, and Library Media Specialists
• School Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists
• Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) Administrators and Staff
• Tribal, Community, and School Liaison's (Home-School/Title VI/Johnson O’Malley Coordinators and Staff)
• Tribal Education Directors and Staff
• Head Start, Early Childhood, and Preschool Staff
• College and University (especially Schools of Education) Students, Faculty, and Staff
• Library and Museum Staff
• Any others with an interest in American Indian Studies and education

Additional Information/Disclaimers
The book circle sessions will NOT be recorded or otherwise shared after the scheduled dates. The DPI American Indian Studies Program has found that this allows for more candid conversations, richer dialogue, and increased participation.

This training webinar does NOT meet statutory license stipulations for "Wisconsin American Indian Tribes and Bands", which is often referenced as Wisconsin Act 31. For those seeking to address statuary license stipulations, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Educator Preparation and Licensing - Statutory License Stipulations webpage for a list of approved courses and workshops. You can also visit the DPI American Indian Studies Program for further information.

Training Format
Each Online Study Circles Conversations will consist of one MANDATORY 60-minute orientation session followed by three 1.5 hour discussion sessions.

If you MISS ONE of the discussion sessions, you will  be required to return the book at your own cost. Since we only meet a limited number of times, this will be a firm requirement. Each session will have two facilitators who will support interaction and discussion, but will not be in lecture style form.

These sessions will be facilitated online using the Zoom cloud video conferencing platform.

• Participants are initially provided with a copy of the book at no charge.
• Participation in the orientation session is a prerequisite to receiving the complimentary book. Regardless if you have participated in a past orientation for previous online study circles conversations, orientation attendance is MANDATORY for the book study you are registered for. If you are unable to attend orientation you will NOT be eligible to be a part of the book study.
• Books will not be sent until AFTER the orientation meeting has been held.

Facilitators

• There are no registration fees to participate in the Online Study Circles Conversation offered by the DPI American Indian Studies Program. A scholarship, funded through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), has been applied to the administrative and instructional fees.
• Pre-registration is required and limited to 60 individuals* for each session (see above registration links/buttons by each of the books). Once spots are filled a waiting list will be generated but we cannot guarantee those on the waiting list will be able to participate.
• Individuals may only register for ONE of the four Online Study Circles Conversations offered for 2024-2025 (please see DPI American Indian Studies Program Calendar of Events for book studies available).
• Funding for this training limits individual acceptance to WISCONSIN RESIDENTS only.
• Orientation is a requirement of participation. If you miss one of the sessions, you will be required to return the book at your own cost.
• The Online Study Circles Conversations sessions will NOT be recorded or otherwise shared after the scheduled dates. The DPI American Indian Studies Program has found that this requirement allows for more candid conversations, richer dialogue, and increased participation.
• This training webinar does NOT meet statutory license stipulations for "Wisconsin American Indian Tribes and Bands", which is often referenced as Wisconsin Act 31. For those seeking to address statuary license stipulations, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Educator Preparation and Licensing - Statutory License Stipulations webpage for a list of approved courses and workshops. You can also visit the DPI American Indian Studies Program for further information.

* The DPI American Indian Studies Program reserves the right to prioritize enrollment to LEAs with federally-identified IDEA status, Wisconsin's First Nations, and districts with significant educational equity needs.

For more great training opportunities offered by DPI American Indian Studies Program, please visit our website at Calendar of Events.