Spring 2001
Patricia Albers: Leading the dream
Photo by Diana Watters
PATRICIA ALBERS
Education
Ph.D. 1974, anthropology, U of Wisconsin
Professional highlights
1998 professor and chair, American Indian studies, affiliate in American studies and anthropology, U of M
1996-1998 director, American West Center, U of Utah
1991-1998 professor, anthropology, U of Utah
Selected honors & awards
1989 Outstanding Teaching Award, U of Utah
1984 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book of 1983: The Hidden Half: Studies of Plains Indian Women (with co-editor Beatrice Medicine)
Works in progress
"Exhibitions, Powwows, and Feasts: Ceremonial Persistence Under Change" (with coauthor Beatrice Medicine)
Since her childhood, Patricia Albers has kept a postcard collection. Now professor and chair of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota, she has grown her collection into a phenomenal 50,000-document database that has inspired enough material for more than 15 published articles and a book in progress, "Symbol, Sight, and Stereotype: A History of Visual Representation of American Indians on the Picture Post Card."
The postcard collection began as an inexpensive way for young Albers to see the world from her Milwaukee, Wisc. home. Because her working-class family could not afford travel, she could only dream of visiting the places on her postcards. And she became something of a "geography wiz" matching her postcards with places on the map.
This desire to seek out new worlds and people eventually led Albers to a Ph.D. in anthropology and a position as a highly respected teacher, scholar, and community leader. The world that today consumes much of her interest is the culturally rich but fragile world of American Indian communities that carry the legacy of indigenous populations displaced and colonized by Europeans seeking "new worlds" centuries ago.
Working across borders
When American studies professors Jean O'Brien and Brenda Child first met her at a national conference on Native American women, Albers was director of the University of Utah's American West Center. She also was a community-based researcher, collecting oral histories and poring over government documents on such historical entitlement issues as tribal fishing and water rights and working with area tribes to resolve the sovereignty issues.
Convinced that Albers would bring the right mix of experience and vision to lead the department, O'Brien and Child also thought she could make the dream of an American Indian Studies Sovereignty Center a reality.
Now in its strategic planning phase, the Sovereignty Center will be a locus of research, dialogue, and public education about the complex issues of sovereignty that confront Indian nations. The engine of the center, says Albers, will be a "dynamic partnership between tribal elders, community specialists, and university intellectuals" who will help negotiate the delicate balance between tribal and U.S. governance. Ultimately, the center's work will support the department's larger mission of ensuring the preservation of Indian heritage, language, and culture.
By all accounts, if anybody can make the center happen, Albers can. New assistant professor David Martinez notes how fortunate the department is to have not only a remarkable leader and scholar but also "a genuine humanitarian." Associate professor David Wilkins describes Albers as a gifted leader whose teaching record is "impeccable and prodigious" and whose courses are "works of art."
Albers herself credits Dean Steven Rosenstone's unflagging support, which she says is enabling the department--founded in 1969, the oldest of its kind in the country--to continue its national leadership.
Albers looks forward to the day when she'll have enough time to work on her books in progress and return to an old love, writing poetry. Meanwhile, she will focus her considerable talents on building the Sovereignty Center and educating Minnesota communities about American Indian culture.