Andrea Smith (academic)
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Andrea Smith is a Cherokee intellectual, feminist, and anti-violence activist. Smith's work focuses on issues of violence against women of color and their communities, specifically Native American women.
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[edit] Activism
Along with Nadine Naber, she cofounded INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence in 2000, and she plays a prominent role in its National Planning Committee.[1][2] INCITE! is a national grassroots organization that engages in direct action and critical dialogue to end violence against women of color and their communities.[3] Smith was also a founding member of the Boarding School Healing Project (BSHP).[4] According to its website, the BSHP "seeks to document Native boarding school abuses so that Native communities can begin healing from boarding school abuses and demand justice."[5] Smith has worked with Amnesty International as a Bunche Fellow, coordinating the research project on sexual violence and American Indian women.[6] In 2005, Smith was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize "as a woman who works daily for peace" in recognition of her research and work regarding violence against women of color in the US.[7]
[edit] Academic career
Smith earned her bachelor's degree at Harvard University in Comparative Study of Religion, and her Masters of Divinity at the Union Theological Seminary in 1997.[8] In 2002, she received her Ph.D. in History of Consciousness from UC Santa Cruz.[9] [3] Smith's Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide,[10] won the 2005 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award.[11] She is currently a professor of American Culture and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.[9]
[edit] Tenure controversy
On February 22, 2008, Smith received a negative tenure recommendation from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan.[12] This decision has attracted "an unusual degree of attention from scholars, both at Ann Arbor and nationally"[13] and "prompted some to wage an online campaign saying the University's tenure evaluation process discriminates against women of color and interdisciplinary professors."[14]
A statement issued by an anonymous group of students and faculty from the University of Michigan protesting the decision immediately began circulating via email and among feminist blogs.[12] [15] The statement refers to Smith as "one of the greatest indigenous feminist intellectuals of our time" and highlights Smith's relevance as both a scholar and social justice advocate, noting that as "a result of her work, scholars, social service providers, and community-based organizations throughout the United States have shifted from state-focused efforts to more systemic approaches for addressing violence against women." [12] A Facebook group in support of Smith's tenure bid[16] and online petition to University of Michigan provost Teresa Sullivan soon followed.
[edit] Selected publications
Smith is the author of the following books:
- Sacred Sites, Sacred Rites (1998) ISBN B0006R030E
- Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide (2005) ISBN 978-0896087439
- Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gendered Politics of Unlikely Alliances (2008) ISBN 978-0822341635
Smith edited and/or co-edited the following anthologies:
- The Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology (2006) ISBN 978-0896087620
- The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (2007) ISBN 978-0896087668
- Native Feminisms Without Apology (2008)
[edit] References
- ^ National Planning Committee. INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence: An Interview with co-founders Nadine Naber and Andrea Smith. Critical Moment. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ a b Andrea Smith. South End Press. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
- ^ Marty Logan (May 24, 2004). Native Americans to demand compensation. Final Call News. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
- ^ Boarding School Healing Project. Boarding School Healing Project. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
- ^ "Annual General Meeting 2003. Amnesty International USA. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
- ^ Catherine O'Donnell (September 8, 2005). U-M professor among those nominated for Nobel. mlive.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ The Bible and the American Myth: A Symposium on the Bible and Constructions of Meaning Studies in American Biblical Hermeneutics (16)
- ^ a b American Culture (University of Michigan). Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- ^ Smith, Andrea (2005). Conquest : Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. South End Press.
- ^ 2005 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award Winners. Gustavus Myers Center. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
- ^ a b c Statement of University of Michigan Students and Faculty in Support of Andrea Smith's Tenure Case (February 27, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ Scott Jaschik (March 10, 2008). Concern Over Michigan Tenure Case. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Elizabeth Lai (March 6, 2008). More than 30 faculty, students sent letter to LSA dean alleging pattern of discrimination. The Michigan Daily. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ Robin Wilson (February 29, 2008). Protests Heat Up at Michigan Over Tenure Case of Expert in Native American Studies. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
- ^ Support Tenure for Andrea Smith!. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
