SAR News 
Remembering Art Wolf and Christine McHorse
Last week, we lost two members of our SAR family. On Sunday, February 14, Art Wolf, the first curator of collections for the Indian Arts Research Center passed away. Just a few days later, 2006 Eric and Barbara Dobkin Native artist fellow Christine McHorse also began her journey into the next world. Read more about their work and legacies.
“It all starts with landscape”: SAR Scholars’ Recent and Upcoming Reflections on Chaco Canyon
In a conversation with SAR’s director of communications and public programs, Ruth Van Dyke describes how the Ancestral Puebloan builders in Chaco Canyon tried to create a “sense of place that emphasized Chaco as the center. Chaco was the fulcrum, and you can see this on the landscape.”
The Equitable Transformation of Communities: A Conversation with John Arroyo
John Arroyo, SAR’s 2018–2019 Mellon fellow, grew up in a largely Mexican and Mexican American community in East LA. Even as a kid, he was thinking about urban issues and the diversity and future of communities like his. He is now a planner who incorporates a humanistic perspective into his work, which allows him to make connections between urban issues, art, and the social sciences.
A Healed Greenwood: Lessons in Restorative Justice Archaeology from Tulsa, Oklahoma
“We began the class with an exercise in humility: writing down our thoughts and beliefs about Greenwood, and comparing that with broad assumptions, rumors, and questions.” Hear from SAR Anne Ray intern, Emily Santhanam, about her experience in the fall 2020 virtual in-depth course Unearthing Violence: Archaeology in the Aftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre and learn how you can download the recorded course sessions.
Summer Scholar Colloquium: Nicholas Barron Brings the History of Anthropology into the Present
In November 1981, anthropologists and tribal representatives gathered on the Pascua Pueblo Yaqui Reservation in southern Arizona for the 89th International Symposium, hosted by the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Although this obscure conference may have been relegated to a footnote in the history of anthropology and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Nicholas Barron, SAR’s 2020 William Y. and Nettie K. Adams summer scholar, argues that its story helps us to better understand consequential, ongoing political processes and Indigenous histories.
Looking Forward, Looking Back
With the nation’s social and political turmoil as well as an ongoing pandemic, 2020 revealed how now more than ever the perspectives of social science scholars and Native American artists matter. In today’s post, we reflect on the last year and invite you to join us for online programs in the new year.
Guidelines in Action: The University of Colorado Museum Studies Program
Learn more about how the SAR Guidelines for Collaboration are transforming the teaching practices at one university in this guest post by Jen Shannon, curator and associate professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder,
Venancio Aragon: Weaving the Colors of the World
Venancio Aragon is the SAR 2020 Rollin and Mary Ella King Native artist fellow. If you ever meet Venancio, you will notice his friendly demeanor and willingness to chat. He is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and what I would consider an award-winning master weaver, although he describes himself as “a humble practitioner of an ancient art.” Along with being an artist, he is also an intellectual, knowledge holder, and student.
A Story Still Being Written: SAR Campus Recognized by Historic Santa Fe Foundation
Community lives not only in people, but in places. Places like El Delirio, originally home to Amelia Elizabeth and Martha Root White and now the home of the School for Advanced Research. Thanks to the vision of so many people—beginning with the White sisters and...
SAR Press Conversations: What Do Ancient Empires Teach Us about the Modern World?
To celebrate the publication of SAR Press’s most recent Advanced Seminar volume, Archaeologies of Empire (2020), we have brought together editors of this book and our previously published Imperial Formations (2007) to discuss new insights and intersections in their work.
Messages and Monuments: Perspectives on Collective Memories
Join SAR on December 10, 2020, for a virtual program exploring the ongoing national dialogues concerning historical markers, monuments, and memory making.
SAR Resident Scholar Colloquium Preview: Stephen Sullivan Listens to the Soundscapes of Gentrification
Join us on November 18 at 2 p.m. (MST) to hear Sullivan discuss “Amplifying Gentrification: Contestations of Sound and Space in Brooklyn, New York.” He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University and will be speaking as part of our fall Scholar Colloquia series. This online event is free and open to the public.
In the Vault: Beatien Yazz Watercolor
In honor of Veterans Day, the Indian Arts Research Center shares the work of acclaimed Diné (Navajo) painter, Beatien Yazz.
SAR Resident Scholar Colloquium Preview: Alanna Warner-Smith Examines Labor and Inequality in Nineteenth-Century New York City
Join us on November 4 at 2 p.m. (MST) to hear Warner-Smith discuss “Working Hands, Indebted Bodies: The Bioarchaeology of Labor and Inequality in an Era of Progress.” She is PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Syracuse University and will be speaking as part of our fall Scholar Colloquia series. This online event is free and open to the public.
SAR Press Top Reads: Politics and Power
Although almost any aspect of life can be understood as political in some way, SAR Press has chosen five books on traditionally political subjects—sovereignty, democracy, language revitalization, elections, and walls—for our latest top reads.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Greatest Hits: An Annotated Short List by SAR In-Depth Course Instructor Michael Hindus
With the passing of Supreme Court justice and cultural icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we asked Michael S. Hindus to share just a few of her “greatest hits”: influential decisions that have supported equality and improved the lives of women and men around the country.
How to Publish Your First Book: SAR Press Talks to Nicholas Barron
SAR Press is starting a new blog series comprised of interviews with scholars of color, first-generation scholars, and other scholars from marginalized communities who have recently published or are in the midst of publishing their first book and who can offer guidance and encouragement to colleagues who are just starting to think about publishing. We hope that these interviews make a small contribution to supporting junior scholars as they begin the publishing process.
SAR Resident Scholar Colloquium Preview: Robert Caldwell and the Genealogy of a Map
Join us on October 21 at 2 p.m. (MDT) to hear Caldwell discuss “Indians in Their Proper Place: Culture Areas, Linguistic Stocks, and the Genealogy of a Map.” He is an assistant professor in the School of Arts and Sciences at SOWELA Technical Community College and will be speaking as part of our fall Scholar Colloquia series. This online event is free and open to the public.
Honoring a Life of Creativity and Artistic Talent
On Saturday, September 26, 2020, 2019 Rollin and Mary Ella King artist fellow Tim Edaakie passed away. Tim was a member of the Zuni Tribal Community and a potter. Last winter, SAR had the opportunity to talk with Tim about his work. We are honored to share the interview recorded with him in tribute to this wonderful artist.
SAR Resident Scholar Colloquium Preview: Alina R. Méndez and the Bracero Program
Join us on October 7 at 2 p.m. (MDT) to hear Méndez discuss “Subsidized Labor: The Bracero Program in the Imperial Valley–Mexicali Borderlands, 1942–1969.” She is an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington and will be speaking as part of our fall Scholar Colloquia series. This online event is free and open to the public.
In the Vault: A Beautifully Made Basket
SAR Indian Arts Research Center staff members reflect on their favorite pieces from the collections. Read about the basket selected by IARC registrar Jennifer Day.
SAR Remembers Sally Merry
The School for Advanced Research and the profession of anthropology mourn the passing on September 8 of Sally Engle Merry, who at the time of her death was the Silver Professor of Anthropology at New York University. Prior to her NYU appointment, she served on the faculty of Wellesley College for many years.
Industrializing Animal Life and Death: A Conversation with Alex Blanchette
Alex Blanchette was SAR’s 2012–2013 Weatherhead resident scholar, co-organizer of the 2016 Advanced Seminar “How Nature Works,” and co-editor of How Nature Works: Rethinking Labor on a Troubled Planet, published by SAR Press in 2019. SAR recently spoke with him about his new book and the effects of COVID-19 on the meatpacking industry.
SAR Welcomes 2020–2021 Resident Scholars
We are pleased to announce SAR’s 2020–2021 resident scholars. Fellows develop their work on our unique campus, which provides a combination of solitude, freedom from institutional responsibilities, and lively exchange of ideas.
SAR Mourns the Passing of Daniel T. “Bud” Kelly, Jr.
The School for Advanced Research (SAR) joins the community in mourning the loss of longtime friend, supporter, SAR board member (1969–1989) and former board chair Daniel T. “Bud” Kelly, Jr., who passed away on August 18, 2020, at the age of ninety-nine. Bud was directly involved in the evolution of SAR during some of its most transformative years.
SAR Welcomes New 2020 Board Members: Perspectives from the Arts, Law, Academics, and Business Community
The School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is pleased to welcome five new members to the board of directors: Helen Brooks, Elizabeth Glassman, June Lorenzo, Rick Vaughan, and Scott Waugh.
In the Vault: Perfectly Balanced – Zuni Earrings
SAR Indian Arts Research Center staff members reflect on their favorite pieces from the collection. Read on about these unique earrings selected by former IARC collections manager Lisa H. Barrera.
Abolishing Immigration Detention: A Conversation with Deborah Boehm
Deborah A. Boehm was a 2013 visiting research associate at SAR and is now a professor in the Department of Anthropology and chair of the Department of Gender, Race, and Identity at the University of Nevada, Reno. She will be participating in a conversation with Jason De León and other scholars during SAR’s Beyond Borders Symposium on August 21, 2020, 10:00 a.m. MDT. We spoke about her year as a Mellon/ACLS Scholars & Society fellow and her most recent work on the US immigration detention system.
Diversity and Inclusion: A Conversation with John Nieto-Phillips
In August of 2019, Professor John Nieto-Phillips joined SAR’s board of directors. He has brought to SAR a dedication to opening academic institutions to underrepresented communities and has helped develop anti-bias workshops for faculty who serve on hiring committees,...
A New Way of Connecting: SAR Virtual Happy Hours
“In the time of the pandemic, SAR has created thoughtful, interesting online programs with internationally renowned scholars that provide the participants and speaker the opportunity for conversation with each other.” Lauren Prescott reflects on SAR’s newest program of virtual happy hours with leading scholars and artists. Read on to learn how you can join the conversations.