Event—Center for Renaissance Studies

Early Modern Indigenous Studies

A workshop offering scholars in early modern studies the opportunity to consider how their work could be productively informed through the lens of Indigenous Studies and by more carefully considering Indigenous perspectives.

Detail of several Indigenous nations in what is now Illinois from Nicolas de Fer, Le cours du Missisipi, ou de St. Louis, fameuse riviere d’Amerique septontrionale aux environs de laquelle se trouve le pas appell Louisiane. Paris: 1718. (map6F G4042 .M5 1718 .F4)

Description

This workshop offers the opportunity for scholars of the Renaissance and early modern era to consider how their research interests could be productively informed through the lens of Indigenous Studies and by more carefully considering Indigenous perspectives. Participants will learn about some of the methods of Indigenous Studies and gain an understanding of how the Medieval, Renaissance, and early modern eras played out locally, what contributions Native nations made to that pivotal era, and how to extend their research beyond Europe to include Indigenous voices. With particular emphasis on local Indigenous groups, we will consider how incorporating Native sources transforms narratives of the Renaissance and early modern era, and how Indigenous studies priorities like language revitalization, as well as skills and knowledge Renaissance and early modern scholars already have, can bring new insight to well-known European sources.