https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7142-0166 * (in process)
My teaching includes appointments as assistant professor of Indigenous Studies at the University at Buffalo (SUNY, August 2022-Present), Visiting Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Hampshire College(Jan 2021-May 2023), and Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies at Brown University (Spring 2022). Prior to that, I was full-time faculty at SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles, LA where I taught U.S. history, Louisiana history, and geography. I have also held adjunct appointments in History at McNeese State University, and Anthropology at NSULA.
I graduated from the Transatlantic History Doctoral Program from the Department of History and Geography at the University of Texas at Arlington, completing all coursework with a 4.0 and mastered comprehensive examinations in the fields of Migration History, Revolutions, Cartographic History and the History of Exploration and “Discovery.”
My dissertation, entitled “Indians in their Proper Place: Culture Areas, Linguistic Stocks, and the Genealogy of a Map” explores 150 years of thematic maps of American Indian homelands, languages, and culture.
Prior to doctoral studies, I graduated from the Master’s of Arts Heritage Resources Program at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana in May 2011. That holistic program afforded me many research opportunities. The program also introduced and reinforced skills from a variety of fields, including: interpretation methods, materials conservation and preservation, museum and historic sites management, CRM law, Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation, oral history, and ethnography.
My wide-ranging academic and research interests include social history,cultural anthropology (especially cultural diffusion), cartographic history, history of social sciences, labor and working-class history, socio-cultural theory, folklore, American Indian studies, ethnohistory, political economy, foodways, religious studies and aesthetics. Additional geographical and theoretical interests include: French/Spanish/ American Indian borderlands (and the Spanish North American frontier) of the 18th Century, South and Southeast Asia,global labor migration, the Czech Republic and Central Europe.
I have experience in event planning, non-profit administration, and grants management.
I have studied at a variety of institutions, ranging from Bossier Parish Community College where I received an associates degree to Charles University in Prague where I studied Czech history, politics, and culture for two semesters. I received bachelor’s degrees in History and Anthropology from the University of New Orleans in 2001, and a Master’s of Science Degree in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2003. I have also completed graduate-level coursework in Education and Afro-American Studies.
Education
Spring 2023, New Faculty Academy on Writing and Publishing, University at Buffalo
Fall 2020-Spring 2021. Scholar Workshops. School for Advanced Research.
Summer 2019. Material Maps in the Digital Age, Newberry Library Four Week Summer Seminar (NEH Sposored)
Fall 2018- Spring 2019. Postgraduate Research Fellow, the University of Texas at Arlington
Summer 2016. Digital Native American and Indigenous Studies workshop (NEH sponsored)
Fall 2011- August 2018. University of Texas at Arlington Transatlantic History Ph.D.
2009-2011. Northwestern State University M.A. Heritage Resources
2003. University of New Orleans Alternative Teacher Certification Program
2001-2003. University of Massachusetts Amherst, M.S. Labor Studies
1998-2001. University of New Orleans B.A. History; B.A. Anthropology
1992-1997. Bossier Parish Community College, A.G.S. Social Sciences
Selected Professional and Academic Memberships
American Historical Association Organization of American Historians American Society for Ethnohistory
Native American and Indigenous Studies Association
Texas State Historical Association
The Ethnic Studies Network of Texas
Louisiana Historical Association
North Louisiana Historical Association
Society for the History of “Discoveries”
Washington Map Society
American Association of Geographers
American Folklore Society (web only)
Royal Historical Society Early Career Scholar
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Phi Theda Kappa International Honor Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society
Golden Key International Honour Society
American Association of University Professors
Past Memberships
American Anthropology Association (including section and interest memberships in Association for Indigenous Anthropologists; Anthropology of Work; Anthropology of Public Policy; Music and Sound), Caddo Conference Organization, George Wright Society , Labor and Working Class History Association, Critical Ethnic Studies Association , Modern Language Association, Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association National Writers Union The Southern Historical Association
Dallas Area Social History Group Transatlantic History Student Organization
Courses Taught and Students Supervised
Indigenous Perspectives on US History
Introduction to Indigenous Studies
Indigenous Historiographies
Indigenous People and Places of North America
Black Natives: Anti-Blackness, Indigeneity, and Decolonization
Indigenous Organizing and the Struggle for Liberation, 1945-Present
Not Recognized: Struggle for Indigenous Rights, Land, and Acknowledgement
Natives as Proletarians: First Nations Peoples as Workers under Capitalism
Indigenous History until 1872
Indigenous History 1872-Present
American Indian History (survey)
Human Geography
Louisiana History
U.S. History to 1877
U.S. History 1877-Present
Supervisor for Independent Study and Directed Readings Courses
Indigenous Histories of New England and the Eastern Woodlands
Afro-Indigenous Futurisms (graduate)
Indigenous Hip Hop (graduate)
Re-establishing Native Plant Biodiversity
Indigenous Tattooing
Black & Indigenous Liberation: Gulah Geechees, Black Seminoles and the Maroon Tradition, (graduate)
Indigenous peoples and the shape of Federal Indian Law (graduate)
Special Projects
Reader for First-Year PhD Exams
Delaney McNulty, “Sovereignty and Self Determination,” July 23, 2025
Emily Coon, “The Liminalities of Belonging,” August 24, 2025
SaraJane Gomlak-Green, “Revitalization as Relational Process: Language, Land, and Indigenous Futures, October 2, 2025
Committee Member of Comprehensive Exams, Masters Thesis, or Dissertations:
Brooke Bastie, English PhD. (Dissertation Committee)
Robert Pitts, Africana and American Studies (Comprehensive Exam)
Robert Pitts, Africana and American Studies (Dissertation Committee)
Committee Member or Chair, Division Projects and Undergraduate Thesis:
Isabella Uttley-Rosado (Div III), Learning About the Land We are On, Hampshire College (18F), 2022
Blythe Wilde Div III), Stories through the stars: What Birds Teach Us, Hamprhire College (18F), 2022
Fianna Wilde (Div III), Politics of Indigenous and Settler Land Relations, Storytelling, and Bird Migration, Hampshire College (18F), 2022
Kameron Morgan (Div II) “Why How History Is Taught Matters” (18F), 2021
Kameron Morgan (Div III) “The Dangers of Video Games as a [Military] Recruitment Tool” (18F), 2023
Jackie Mattellian (Div II) “Critical Climatology: Focus on Indigenous Climate Solutions” (21S), 2022
Lars Wahlsten (Div II) “I am going home to the highway in my head – Magic, Blood, Ecosomatics, Rupture, Deviance, Violence” (20F), 2022
Lars Wahlsten (Div III) “It’s all the time to come to earth and earth: chronospatial mediumship and mourning”, 2023
Charles Dent (Div II) “Critical Political Theory” (21F), 2022
Charles Dent (Div II) “The Elephant in the Room: The Gateway Arch and Public Memory” (21F), 2023
Olivia Booth (Div II) “The Effects of Settler Colonialism on Environmental Degradation and Where We Go From Here” (20F), 2023
Yarrow Skoblow (Div II), “Restorative Practice: Exploration and Embodiment” (20F), 2023
Seminar Attendance, Trainings, Workshops, and Continuing Education
Tom Harper, “Overview of the British Library’s New Map Exhibition, ‘Secret Maps’,” British Library (online talk) December 11, 2025
OAH K–12 Teachers’ Book Club with Kathleen DuVal, December 11, 2025.
A. Lynn Smith, “Memory Wars: Settlers and Natives Remember Washington’s Sullivan Expedition of 1779,” American Philosophical Society, December 10, 2025
Jamie Jacobs, “Condolence and the Good Mind” Department of Indigenous Studies, University at Buffalo, December 9, 2025
Mark Rifkin: The Cambridge Introduction to Queer and Trans Studies, Humanities Institute, University at Buffalo, November 4, 2025
Nick Frantzeskos (Master of Architecture Candidate) Review of an Indigenous Studies Hub Building, Department of Indienous Studies, University at Buffalo, December 1, 2025.
Making Meaningful Connections: Adventures in Land-Based Learning with Jason Corwin, University at Buffalo Alumni Association (online), October 8, 2025
Academic Freedom Under Pressure: New survey data about the state of higher education. SAGE Panel with Jonathan Friedman, John Buschman, and Alex Flores Glosson. (online). October 8, 2025
Texas Map Society Fall Meeting, University of Texas at Arlington, October 4, 2025
Garrett Lectures, University of Texas at Arlington October 3, 2025
Kevin Lee, Works in Progress, Lunch and Learn, Indigenous Studies, University at Buffalo, September 25, 2025
Diana Aga, “Tackling Environmental Contaminants in WNY Waterways” UB in Action, September 24, 2025
2025 Buffalo Humanities Festival: Fabrication. Buffalo Humanities, Buffalo NY September 19-21, 2025
Molly Nebiolo on Urban Space, Water and Health in Colonial Charleston, Leventhal Map & Education Center, September 15, 2025
2025 H-Net Teaching Conference: Pedagogy in an Age of Uncertainty: AI, Inclusive Teaching, and the Politics of Knowledge (online) August 18 – 21, 2025
Robin Linek, “The Revamp Roadmap: How to Implement a New Membership Program in Five Steps” Texas Historical Commission, August 21, 2025
Proposal Writing Fundamentals Workshop, Office of Research Advancement, University at Buffalo, August 19, 2025
16th Annual Conference of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Oklahoma City OK, June 26-28 2025
Indigenous Historians Roast and Toast organized by Shekon Neechie and Te Pouhere Kōrero, Native Nations Center, University of Oklahoma at Norman, June 25, 2025
“Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic” by Bridget Bennett. LSU Press (online) June 5, 2025
The 59th Annual Walter Prescott Webb Lecture Series, The University of Texas at Arlington, April 16-17, 2025
Storytelling through Art, Language, and Action, 15th Storytellers Conference, Niagara Falls, NY April 5, 2025
Imagining Indigenous Futures with Darcie Little Badger and Joshua Whitehead, The Newberry Library (zoom), March 27, 2025
“Feminist Research Alliance – Kevin Lujan Lee & Josh Campbell, Gender Institute, The University at Buffalo (zoom), March 27, 2025
Melanie Yazzie, Elena Ortiz and Levi Harter “Blue Cat People are not Indigenous: RPH vs. Avatar (pt.1)” The Red Power Hour (Youtube) March 26, 2025
Kimberly Guinta, Everything You Want to Know about Scholarly Book Publishing! American Philosophical Society, March 25, 2025
Katrina Jagodinsky, “Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924” American Philosophical Society, March 25, 2025
Nick Estes and Diné and Hopi artist and musician JJ Otero, Red Nation (livestream) March 19, 2025
Indigenous Studies Symposium, Tulane University March 15, 2025
67th Annual Meeting of the Louisiana Historical Association, Baton Rouge LA March 13-14, 2025
Maps and Society – ‘Discoveries from the UCL Map Library’ Warburg Institute (online), March 13, 2025
Qinyan Wu, “Gynecology in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Making Science and Modernity in the PRC (1949-present)” American Philosophical Society, March 11, 2025
Zara Anishanslin, “The Daughters of Benjamin Franklin” American Philosophical Society, March 4, 2025
Digitizing Indigenous Histories with HARK, Haudenosaunee Archive Resource and Knowledge portal team, The University at Buffalo, Feb 7 and 10, 2025
Indigeneity: A RaceB4Race Symposium, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies , Arizona State University (zoom), Feb 7-8, 2025
Andrew Davies, “Sparking and Sustaining Engagement with Reluctant Learners” Magna Mentors, Jan 27, 2025
Indigenous Learning Forum: “Just one more quick edit: Lessons from the making of the Tunica Language Textbook” with Andrew Abdalian, CNAIR, American Philosophical Society, Jan 23, 2025
Fancy Dance screening and discussion, Indigenous@UB Hub, University at Buffalo, Nov 19, 2024
UB President’s Advisory Council on Race Virtual Town Hall, The University at Buffalo, Nov 18, 2024
“Asserting Haudenosaunee Sovereignty Through Art and Creativity,” Courtney Skye guest lecture in IDS 510 Theresa McCarthy, University at Buffalo, Nov 18, 2024
“When the Pine Needles Fall,” Ellen Gabriel guest lecture in IDS 510 Theresa McCarthy, University at Buffalo, Nov 11, 2024
“What’s Different about Map Making in the Nineteenth Century, and therefore in Volume Five of The History of Cartography?” Matthew Edney, Washington Map Society, Nov 7, 2024
Celebrating Indigenous Communities engaged with Digital Preservation, Digital Preservation Coalition Australasia and Asia-Pacific (recorded video) Nov. 7, 2024
Society for the History of Discoveries 65th Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX Oct 24-26, 2024
Texas Map Society Fall Meeting (joint meeting with SHD), San Antonio TX, Oct 24, 2024
“Laser Beams and Old Maps: Searching Remotely for Archaeology Under Lake Wateree,” James D. Scurry, and Christopher Judge, Native American Studies Center, The University of South Carolina Lancaster (via Zoom), Sept 27, 2024
Indigenous Learning Forum: “Remembering from the Heart and Mind: Oceti Sakowin Approaches to Digital Archiving and Website Design” Kaylen James and Samantha Majhor, Sept 12, 2024
Introduction to Grantwriting, SUNY Corning March 4-18, 2024
Mindi Thompson “Every Semester Needs a Plan,” NCFDD, Jan 11, 2024
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Conference on Cartography, Via Zoom, October 18-19, 2023
63rd Annual Meeting, Society for the History of “Discoveries, ” Minneapolis MN, Sept 29-Oct 1
Reading, Power, and Freedom with Elizabeth Alexander, Emily Dubraski, Lisa Lucas, and Tressi McMillan Cottom, Mellon Foundation, September 26, 2023
2023 H-Net Teaching Conference (via Zoom) August 21-24, 2023
Imagining Freedom with Elizabeth Alexander, Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Mitchell S. Jackson and Jesse Krimes, Mellon Foundation Febrary 23, 2023
US Policy in the Global South with Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Vincent Bevins, and Amy Goodman (moderator), UMass Amherst (via Zoom), September 19, 2022
50th Anniversary of Native Studies and launch of Department of Indigneous Studies, The University at Buffalo September 17, 2022
National Traditional Ecological Knowledge Summit, (via Zoom) May 2022
Voices of Social Change course by Laureate Education (via Coursera) April 2022
62nd Caddo Conference, Natchitoches LA, April 2022
Indigenous/American Past and Futures: OAH Conference on American History, Boston, March 2022
Porous Borders: Multiracial Migrations and the Law in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, Kay Johnson Lecture in Asian and Asian American Studies Presented by Julian Lim, Hamshire College March 30, 2022
Hampshire College Sassafras, Stickball and Stories: Indigenous Cultures of the Gulf South. Fourth Tulane Indigenous Studies Symposium, March 19-20, 2022
Unfair Labor? American Indians and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago with David Beck, Union Pacific Railroad Museum, March 15, 2022
Panel discussion, The Keepers of Corn/ Los Guardianes del Maiz, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, January 12, 2022
American Historical Association, 135th Annual Meeting, New Orleans LA January 6-9, 2022
“Religiously Mixed” with Rabbi Marjorie Berman and Riyana Zafira Razalee. The Mixed Space, December 14, 2021
“The Climate Crisis: A Reading and Discussion.” The Massachusetts Review, December 10, 2021
Prospects for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine with Sally Abed, Noam Chomsky, Alon-lee Green, Jim McGovern and James Zogby moderated by Omar Dahi. Boston Review and Standing Together (virtual event) December 9, 2021
A panel discussion on Shay Hazkani’s “Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War” with Shay Hazkani, Nadia Abu El-Haj, Areej Sabbagh-Khoury, and Laila Parsons, IHGMS The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Decmeber 9, 2021
A panel discussion on Thomas Kohut’s “Empathy and the Historical Understanding of the Human Past,” IHGMS The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, November 29, 2021
Alice Nash with Elizabeth Pangburn, “Unpacking Le Gip,” November 27, 2021
Society for the History of Discoveries 2021 Virtual Conference, Changing Tides: Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans on the Gulf Coast, November 18-20, 2021
Virtual artist talk, Rollin and Mary Ella King Native artist fellow, Brandon Adriano Ortiz-Concha, School for advanced Research, November 18, 2021
Indigenous Lifeways, the mixed space (via Zoom) November 16, 2021
White House Tribal Nations Summit, November 15-16, 2021
Increasing Higher Education Access for Native Students, Dr. Elena Hood, CSU East Bay, November 15, 2021
Fourteeenth Biennial Native American Symposium, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant OK, November 12, 2021
Native American Perspectives on Statues and Monuments, Northeastern State University Tahlequah OK, Novemer 10, 2021
Taking Children, Taking the Land: Nick Estes with Rebecca Nagle. Lannan Readings and Conversations, November 10, 2021
2021 Indigenous Mapping Workshop: Mapping Turtle Island, Indigenous Mapping Collective, November 1-5, 2021
AHA Texas Conference on Introductory History Courses, Fall 2021
Margaret Bruchac, “Restorative Indigenous Research in the Kwinitekw (Connecticut) River Valley,” Hampshire College November 1, 2021
Celebrate Design Students and Community Parners, “Acknowldge and Listen”deCordova Musuem, October 28, 2021
Hoodwinked in the Hothouse Part II: Frontline Voices of Indigenous Resistance beyond Climate False Solutions. The New School, New York City (online) October 27, 2021
The Negev Bedouin: Emptied Lands and Displaced People, Greadue Center at CUNY, October 27, 2021
Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story, WAM Theater, October 24, 2021
Third Barry Lawrence Rudderman Confernce on Cartography: Indigenous Mapping. David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford Libraries, Oct 20-22, 2021.
American Indian and Indigenous Community Center at Virginia Tech- Virtual Lunch Series, 2021
Indigenous Canada, University of Alberta with Dr. Traci Bear and Dr. Paul Gareau (Coursera) 2021
“An Immersive Journey to the Andean Highlands of Peru,” School for Advanced Research, December 2, 2020
Robert Miller on “The Indian Law Bombshell: McGirt v. Oklahoma,” American Philosophical Society, Nov. 19, 2020
Covid-19 Contact Tracing Course- Johns Hopkins University (Certificate via Coursera) September 5, 2020
“Why Study Labor History?” with Toni Gilpin, September 3, 2020
Feminisms & Indigenous Womxn: Two-Spirit, Gender and SexualityIndigenous Environmental Network, September 2, 2020
Reclaiming the Ancestors: Indigenous and Black Perspectives on Repatriation, Human Rights, and Justice Confirmation, September 2, 2020
Third Annual OER Conference #LCTCS2020OER Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), South Louisiana Community College, February 7, 2020
Tourism and Travel Management Course- University of Queensland Australia (via EdX) May 6, 2019
Robert B. Caldwell 
