Universities Confronting their Past: The University of New Mexico Addressing Complex Legacies of Harm

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The University of New Mexico is a leader among universities confronting past legacies of harm in the United States. Complex legacies of harm that involve race, ethnicity, culture, citizenship, state and tribal sovereignty, and international dimensions among others are being simultaneously addressed in the university. These legacies are often complex given that they are numerous, multidimensional, intertwined, and often clashing. Both personal and institutional reflexivity are required, as all have occupied spaces as perpetrators, targets, and survivors. This is especially relevant in the context of New Mexico. This session will present papers from a new edited volume under the title Universities Confronting their Past: The University of New Mexico Addressing Complex Legacies of Harm. Contributors will address this topic from the point of view either of researchers or activists. Themes to be addressed include:

- Universities Confronting Their Pasts in the U.S.: UNM and Complex Legacies of Harm
- Transforming Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Statements into Living Documents
- The Occlusion of the Adams Mural in the Zimmerman Library
- Revitalizing the University Seal from the perspective of Justice, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEADI)
- The Kiva Club and Impact of Student Activism on Transitional Justice at UNM
- Reimagining Juniper: Creating a Home for Lobos who are LGBTQIA
- Restorative Justice and Collaborations with the Apache Jicarilla tribe.
- Ethnic Studies: Departmental Status as a Tool for Addressing Legacies of Harm
- University Truth Commissions and the Problem of Small Numbers

Sub Unit

• Higher Education SIG

Chair

• Mariann Skahan, University of New Mexico

Individual Presentations

• Restoring Dignity to Language Translations of the Jicarilla Apache: The Retranslations of Goddard Texts: A Restorative Justice-Informed Research Collaboration - Mariann Skahan, University of New Mexico

• Queering UNM’s history: 50 years of intersectional resistance on UNM campus - Frankie Flores, University of New Mexico