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 MISSION
Members of the American Indian Graduate Student Alliance work to connect self-identified American Indian and Indigenous graduate students within and beyond the UCSB community, provide professional development opportunities, and develop interdisciplinary and relational approaches to American Indian and Indigenous (AII) studies.
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ACTIVITIES
The AIGSA works with other American Indian and Indigenous Collective (AIIC) member organizations to build and support a community of American Indian and Indigenous people and allies to connect graduate students, undergraduates, staff, faculty, and local community members (including local Chumash community members) to one another, to various resources, and to lifeways/knowledges in a manner that reflects the communities' traditional and emerging values, needs, goals, and desires. Advocacy for communities across campus and in the Santa Barbara region and activism for local, national, and international issues impacting Indigenous communities are a regular component of AIIC and AIGSA action, including hosting talks by land and water protectors and mobilizing various types of support for such actions.
Their IHC Research Focus Group selects a topic or topics annually to explore through the annual AIIC symposium, colloquia, and graduate and/or undergraduate course offerings. Each year these topics are proposed in community and agreed to by consensus. Most recently the 2021 symposium topic was Native feminisms.
Additional projects and activities include arts and reading groups, the Native Foods Garden in West Campus, the Native Families sustainabilities project for graduate and undergraduate students to support their wellness, mentorship for graduate students, graduate students mentoring undergraduate and high school students, and activism/advocacy for Indigenous and American Indian communities' concerns.
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