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LAWRENCE -- The Indigenous Nations Studies graduate program at the University of Kansas has developed a collaborative international exchange with universities in Finland and Australia called the World Indigenous Graduate Exchange Program.
The first KU student to participate in this three-way exchange program will be Raven Aurora Naramore, a master's degree student researching the Saami, an indigenous peoples also known as Laplanders. Naramore will study at the University of Oulu in Finland, and classes will be conducted in English.
While at the University of Oulu, Naramore will earn credit toward her master's degree in indigenous nations studies at KU. Naramore is studying how the Saami peoples were able to preserve their language, culture and rights to land and water through negotiations with the Finnish government.
The University of Oulu and the University of Newcastle in Australia will begin to exchange students with KU next fall. Students from Oulu have attended Newcastle previously in the indigenous studies exchange. Two students from each university are expected to come to KU to study indigenous peoples in the United States.
Each exchange student pays the regular tuition and fees at his or her home institution and is allowed to participate in the regular courses of the foreign institution. Financial assistance to help defray travel costs has been provided by the dean of international programs and by the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies.
The aim of KU's new graduate exchange program is to develop a deeper, comparative understanding of the indigenous peoples of Finland, Australia and the United States, said Donald Fixico, indigenous nations studies director and Thomas Bowlus distinguished professor of American Indian history at KU.
The exchange, unique at KU, is designed so that students may study in at least two of the three institutions, said Diana Carlin, dean of KU's graduate school and international studies. Future plans include awarding a graduate certificate from the partner university and a master's degree from the home institution, Carlin added.
Naramore has a career goal of working with the tribal reservation system. She earned a bachelor's degree in American history specializing in American Indian history in 1999. As an honors student at KU, Naramore attended classes at KU and at Haskell Indian Nations University. Her honors thesis examined the cultural preservation of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Indian people.
She is the daughter of Arch Naramore and Robin Devine, both of Lawrence, and is a Lawrence high school graduate.
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