Native Survivance and the Literature of Engagement

Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor Lecture

“Native American survivance is an active sense of historical presence, a renunciation of political dominance, themes of tragedy, and cultural victimry. Native survivance is a literature of engagement.” —Gerald Vizenor

Gerald Vizenor is the 2020 Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at Stanford University. He is a professor emeritus of American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a citizen of the White Earth Nation in Minnesota. He has published more than 30 books, novels, critical theory, cultural studies, and poetry collections, and his awards include the American Book Award for Griever: An American Monkey King in China, and the Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award.

The Distinguished Visitor program brings to Stanford individuals whose lives and careers have had significant public impact. Gerald Vizenor’s groundbreaking work as a scholar, author, and community advocate draws on his life experiences, including as an investigative journalist, U.S. Army veteran who served in Japan in the aftermath of the Korean War, and as a principal writer of the Constitution of the White Earth Nation. Mr. Vizenor will be hosted by the Haas Center for Public Service and the Native American Cultural Center throughout winter quarter. His visit is particularly timely, as Stanford marks the 50th anniversaries of the Stanford American Indian Organization in fall 2020 and the Stanford Powwow in spring 2021.

For more information about Gerald Vizenor's visit, please visit the Haas Center website.

Co-sponsors: Asian American Activities Center • American Indian Science & Engineering Society • Black Community Services Center • Communications Department • Creative Writing Department • Diné Club • El Centro Chicano y Latino • English Literature Department • Hui O Nā Moku • Institute for Diversity in the Arts • Kaorihiva • John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship • Leland Quarterly • Muwekma-Tah-Ruk Residence • Native American Law Student Association • Office for Inclusion, Belonging, and Intergroup Communication • Queer Student Resources • Stanford American Indian Organization • Stanford Humanities Center • Stanford Native American Graduate Students • Stanford Powwow Planning Committee • Stanford Storytelling Project • United Students for Veterans Health • Vice Provost for Graduate Education • Vice Provost for Student Affairs • Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education