September 22, 2005
West to deliver lecture at Clark University on Native America in the 21st Century
WORCESTER, MA- W. Richard West Jr., founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) at the Smithsonian Institution, will deliver ³Native America in the 21st Century: Out of the Mists and Beyond the Myths² on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Clark University¹s Higgins University Center, Tilton Hall.
West, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne, has dedicated his personal and professional life to cultural, educational, governmental and legal issues important to American Indians. As director of the NMAI he is responsible for guiding the successful opening of the three facilities that comprise the NMAI: the George Gustav Heye Center (New York City), the Cultural Resources Center (Suitland, MD), and the NMAI Mall museum (Washington, D.C.). West is also active in coordinating fundraising for the Museum, which has raised more than $100 million in non-federal funds for construction and opening costs to date.
The NMAI was established in 1989 by an Act of Congress as an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. For more information, visit http://www.nmai.si.edu/.
West received his J.D. from Stanford University School of Law in 1971 and went on to work for several prominent law firms advocating the legal rights of Native American tribes and organizations. He represented his clients before tribal, state, and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, West served as chair of the American Association of Museums from 1998-2000 and currently serves as vice chair of the American Association of Museums/International Council of Museums, which represents the interests of American institutions in the international museum community. He is also a member of the National Parks and Conservation Association, the Ford Foundation, the National Support Committee of the Native American Rights Fund, and the American Indian Resources Institute.
This event is sponsored by the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Clark¹s History Department. It is free and open to the public and is followed by a public reception. For more information, call 508-793-8897, or visit the calendar at /departments/holocaust.
Clark University is a private, co-educational liberal-arts research university with 2,000 undergraduate and 600 graduate students. Since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in New England, Clark has challenged convention with innovative programs such as the International Studies Stream, the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the five-year BA/MA programs with the fifth year tuition-free for eligible students.
Angela M. Bazydlo
Associate Director of Media Relations
Clark University
Worcester, Mass.
phone: 508-793-7635
www.clarku.edu
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