In the Cherokee syllabary, the characters above spell "study".
Jill Ingram
Graduate Studies
History - Cherokee Studies track
Jill Ingram began the master’s program in history, Cherokee Studies track, in fall 2005 and is projected to graduate in May 2008. She is under way on her thesis, which examines the boarding school education of Will West Long, an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians member who lived 1870-1947 and helped shape the modern Eastern Band in ways cultural, anthropological and political. Dr. Andrew Denson is her thesis adviser. Ingram is especially interested in the concept of the cultural borderland and white-Indian relations in the eras of the federal government’s assimilation and Indian New Deal policies.
Ingram has a background in journalism and is a freelance writer and editor. A year she spent in a Yupik Eskimo community in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta introduced her to Native issues.
The Museum of the Cherokee Indian
To accomplish its mission—"To perpetuate the history, culture, and stories of the Cherokee People"—the Cherokee, N.C. museum maintains a permanent exhibit, extensive artifact collection, archives, education programs, artist series, and a gift shop. The museum also publishes the Journal of Cherokee Studies.
The museum's new Education Department offers courses for teachers, including: graduate courses on "Cherokee Culture and History", in-service workshops on "Using the Museum in Your Classroom" and special workshops designed for visiting groups.
The GLOBE Program
Western’s College of Education and Allied Professions (CEAP) and the Cherokee Central School System have teamed up to collaborate on a mutually beneficial program, The GLOBE Program. GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based education and science program. It provides students with the opportunity to learn by:
- Taking scientifically valid measurements in the fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover/phenology - depending upon their local curricula
- Reporting their data through the Internet
- Creating maps and graphs on the free interactive Web site to analyze data sets
- Collaborating with scientists and other GLOBE students around the world
Funded by a grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the program’s goal in the Cherokee schools is two-fold:
- To train sixth to eighth grade teachers in The GLOBE Program, an international inquiry-based environmental science project.
- To provide students and teachers with the opportunity to understand how the historical and cultural explanation of the environment, and the need to protect it, coincides with a modern scientific understanding, thereby providing for the preservation of the history, culture and tradition of the Cherokee people.
This year is the first that Western has been involved in this important project although the partnership between CEAP and the Cherokee Central School System is long and valued. Located in Cherokee, this project will benefit Cherokee students, teachers and the community. It will also benefit Western students, faculty, and the community. Through the impact of this project, future generations can benefit.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Dale Carpenter, principle investigator
(828) 227-7311
Email carpenter@wcu.edu
North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT)
Based in Cullowhee, N.C., NCCAT has begun work on a new grant on developing teaching guidelines for teachers of Cherokee culture and history. A “Landmarks of American History Teach Workshops” grant is also in the works. Next spring, a regular NCCAT seminar on Cherokee culture will begin.
For more information, please contact:
David Smith
Email smithda@nccat.org
North Carolina ECHO: Exploring Cultural Heritage Online
The NCEcho web portal provides a point of entry for the citizens of North Carolina to the unique resources of the state’s cultural institutions in order to enhance education and learning. NCEcho has joined with NCCAT and LEARN NC to offer teachers an access solution to the rich culture of this state.