Arts and Humanities Inaugural Lecture Series
Land-Grant Universities, Native Nations, and Tribal Territories: When will Ohio State adopt an official land acknowledgement?
Stephen Gavazzi and John Low
College of Arts and Sciences
Researchers and journalists have documented the massive transfer of wealth from Native Nations that underwrote the founding of land-grant universities (LGUs), forcing these institutions to contend with hard questions about their relationship to Indigenous communities. Growing numbers of LGUs have created Land Acknowledgment (LA) statements, the best of which serve as a call to action: “We are on the lands of Indigenous peoples, and our institutions have benefited from the sale of Tribal Territories. What commitments and obligations flow from the acknowledgment of those facts?”
Regrettably, to date The Ohio State University has failed to adopt an official LA statement. Gavazzi and Low will outline a set of best practices that can help guide and direct our university toward a comprehensive and just acknowledgement of this historical context and its reverberating impact on the lives of contemporary Native Americans.
Inaugural lectures celebrate Arts and Humanities faculty who have been promoted to the rank of professor.
All lectures are held in the Faculty Club Grand Lounge from 4-6 p.m. and are preceded by a reception and followed by Q&A and discussion.
All lectures are free and open to the public.
