IDEA Seminar Series: Indigenous at VT
November 3, 2021
Mae Hey
November 4, 2021, 4:00 - 5:00pm EST
310 Kelly Hall
In this session, Mae Hey will conduct an open discussion from the Indigenous perspective, answering questions to help broaden understanding of that people group.
Mae Hey is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of History. Her undergraduate education focused on geology and geography, human-Nature relationships. Her two graduate degrees are in curriculum and instruction. Her Ph.D. research focused on the confluence of Indigenous worldview/ knowledge and science education, a natural blending of traditional local knowledge and practices—practices that support creative problem-solving, human empowerment, community capacity building, and a more sustainable future. Additionally, her dissertation work allowed her to explore strategies for effectively working with Native populations as well as maintaining the integrity of authentic Indigenous voice through the process of research and reporting.
Hey completed a two-year InclusiveVT postdoctoral fellowship under the Office of Inclusion and Diversity with the American Indian and Indigenous Alliance. In that position, she nurtured relationships with tribal communities in Virginia to aid in experiential learning and applied research programs at Virginia Tech. She also created bonds with Virginia tribes and continues to work with them on a number of grants for community viability projects related to Land-centered learning.
She is now an InclusiveVT Faculty Fellow for the Office for Inclusion and Diversity, assistant professor of American Indian Studies, Faculty Fellow for the Leadership and Social Change Residential College at Virginia Tech, and Faculty Fellow for the Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation. She is a Sequoyah Fellow and serves on the Curriculum Committee for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. She is an active member of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance’s Indigenous culinary mentorship program.