THOMAS MICHAEL SWENSEN portrait
  • Assistant Professor, Ethnic Studies
  • Affiliate Faculty , Environmental Humanities Graduate Program
801-581-5206

Publications

  • Thomas Michael Swensen & Eds. Shane Greene, Rodrigo Quijano, Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa. (2024). “El Monumento: La Escena de Anchorage como Historia Colonial.” . Vol. 1, Pesopluma press.. Accepted, 07/17/2024.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2023). “She Likes Fish Camp”: Legal History and Alaska Native Subsistence Practices in Diane Lxéis Benson’s play River Woman. Wicazo Sa Review A Journal of Native American Studies No. 35. Vol. 1. Published, 03/30/2023.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2023). A Reservation of Water, in Re-Envisioning the Anthropocene. University of Utah. Published, 03/01/2023.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2022). The Monument: The Anchorage Scene as Colonial History, in Punk Las Americas edition (paperback ed.). Intellect Press. Published, 10/28/2022.
  • Audrey Harrison (Author) & Thomas Michael Swensen (Consultant) (2022). (2022) Alaska. Core Library of U.S. States series. (2022) Forthcoming.. Abdo book publishers.. Published, 08/01/2022.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2022). Review of "The Greater Plains: Rethinking a Region's Environmental Histories. Edited by Brian Frehner and Kathleen A. Brosnan.". New Mexico Historical Review. Accepted, 01/06/2022.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2021). The Monument: The Anchorage Scene as Colonial History, in Punk Las Americas edition. Intellect Press Global Punk Series. Accepted, 08/01/2021.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2021). Review: "Rez Metal : Inside the Navajo National Heavy Metal Scene.”. (pp. 1). Vol. 52. Western Historical Quarterly. Accepted, 07/14/2021.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2021). Attla in Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Vol. 81. University of Minnesota Press. Accepted, 01/01/2021.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2018). “The Great Land: The Environment and Belonging in Native Alaska” blogpost. School for Advanced Research. Published, 03/15/2018.
    https://sarweb.org/thomas-swensen-post/
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2017). “Blackfish Lessons on Environmental Sustainability, Food, and Yup’ik Culture.”. Alaska Native Studies Journal. (Peer Reviewed Journal articles and Conference Proceedings.) University of Alaska press. Vol. 3, 1-15. Published, 10/10/2017.
    https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/bitstream/handle/1...
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2017). “The Strong Current and Alutiiq Cultural History.” . English Language Special issue: In/Security for Fall/Winter 2016. Vol. 53, 33-40. Published, 03/01/2017.
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319664574...
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2016). “Save this for your autobiography.” . Critical Ethnic Studies Journal Blog. Published, 03/02/2016.
    http://www.criticalethnicstudiesjournal.org/blog/2...
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2016). “Navajo Punx: A Nation and its Discontents.” . Red Ink: An International Journal of Indigenous Literature, Arts, and Humanities. Arizona State University press. Vol. 18, https://redinkinternational.org/current-issue/. Published, 03/01/2016.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2015). “Forever Crossing Over: At the Intersection of John T. Williams’s Life and Memorial.” . American Indian Culture and Research Journal. Special issue: Remaking Aesthetic Violence: Centering Indigeneity in Native Arts. University of California press. Vol. 39, 1-18. Published, 10/01/2015.
    https://uclajournals.org/doi/abs/10.17953/aicrj.39...
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2015). “Race Technologies and Familial History in Twentieth-Century Native Alaska.”. Occasion Journal Special Issue: Race, Space, Scale. Stanford University press. Vol. 8, 2-8. Published, 01/01/2015.
    https://arcade.stanford.edu/occasion_issue/race-sp...
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2015). “The Relationship Between Indigenous Rights, Citizenship, and Land in Territorial Alaska: How the Past Opened the Door to the Future.” . Alaska Native Studies Journal. Growing Our Own. University of Alaska press. Vol. 2, 44-58. Published, 01/01/2015.
    https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/5825
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2015). “Of Subjection and Sovereignty: Alaska Native Corporations and Tribal Governments in the Twenty-First Century.”. Wicazo Sa Review: A Journal of Native American Studies. University of Minnesota press. Vol. 30, 100-117. Published, 01/01/2015.
    https://muse.jhu.edu/article/587628/summary
  • Ed. Maria Shaa Tláa Williams & Eds. Jeane Táawxíwaa Breinig, Lenora Ac’aralek Carpluk, Alisha Drabek, Sharon Chilux Lind, Beth Ginondidoy Leonard, Liza Mack, Gordon Pullar, Phyllis Fast, Alisha Drabeck, Ray Barnhardt, Thomas Swensen, and Miranda Wright. (2014). Transforming the University: Alaska Native Studies in the 21st. (pp. 434). Vol. 1, Two Harbors press. University of Alaska Regents. Published, 08/01/2014.
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2013). The Alaska Native Studies Blog. 51 posts from 2013-2017. Thomas Michael Swensen. Published, 08/03/2013.
    http://alaskanativestudies.blogspot.com/
  • Thomas Michael Swensen (2013). “The Work of Rogelio Gutierrez.” In Catalog for Trazo Urbano: Grafica Contemporanea Desde. In Spanish. . (pp. 1000 words). Mexico City, Mexico. Mexico : Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico Eje Grafico Contemporaneo. Produccion, Gestion y Difusion de Arte Impreso, 2013. Published, 06/15/2013.
    https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/10766161
  • Matt Basso & Annie Hanshew, Elizabeth Player, Thomas Swensen and Jenel Cope (with contributions by Paul Reeve, Danielle Endres, and Floyd O’Neil), Salt Lake City: University of Utah Printing Services. (2010). Utah Indian Curriculum Project (completed August 2009, includes teachers’ guide and new media materials, like interactive Google Earth maps, available via multiple website portals including www.utahindians.org and housed on the Pioneer Digital Library system). University Of Utah. Published, 06/01/2010.
    https://utahindians.org/Curriculum/
  • Matt Basso & Annie Hanshew, Elizabeth Player, Thomas Swensen and Jenel Cope. (2009). We Shall Remain: The Utah Indian Curriculum Guide. (pp. 285). Salt Lake City: University of Utah Printing Services. (2010). Utah Indian Curriculum Project with teaching guides. Published, 08/01/2009.

Geographical Regions of Interest

  • Americas
  • Colombia
  • Mexico
  • Russian Federation
  • United States of America
  • Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Presentations

  • Working group: indigenous planetary Knowledges . Other, Other, 11/17/2021.
  • Native North Pacific working group round table session. Native American and Indigenous Studies Association conference. Panel, Presented, 06/14/2021.
  • “La Tierra de Gracia: ‘I don't want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us.’” Native North Pacific working group. University of California Davis. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/30/2021.
  • Working Group indigenous planetary Knowledges Working Groups An online international working group of writers and artists. Other, Other, 02/19/2021.
  • Panel discussion the film “Gather.” Native American Heritage Month Utah Alumni Association. University of Utah. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/20/2020.
    http://ulink.utah.edu/s/1077/20/interior.aspx?sid=...
  • "A Reservation of Water," in a Fisheries and Indigenous Rights panel at Re-Valuing the Ocean, a two-day symposium connecting prominent ocean thinkers across multiple disciplines. Participants spotlighted the oceans’ centrality to global well-being, examined the ocean as a cultural object, and illuminated the oceans’ importance for both academic and popular audiences. Sponsored by the S. J. Quinney Law School and the Environmental Humanities program. Conference Paper, Presented, 02/15/2019.
    https://environmental-humanities.utah.edu/news-ach...
  • "Big John, Homelessness, and the Tongass National Forest." At Indigenous Knowledges and Sustainable Pasts/Futures The Rialto Light Box, 10 W Main St, Bozeman, MT on August 29th at 6 pm. Mountain Time Arts and the Center for Arts, Design + Social Research present a public symposium featuring work-in-progress readings by five distinguished writers and artists. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 08/29/2018.
    https://mountaintimearts.org/indigenous-knowledges...
  • “Anchorage Scene as Colonial History” at Punk y Culturas Juveniles en las Americas held at National Autonomous University of Mexico. Mexico City, Mexico. This conference on punk and youth culture across the Americas included talks from scholars from the US, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina. The conference was open to the punk publics and was live-streamed and recorded so that participants from across the Americas and the world joined virtually. Conference Paper, Presented, 08/17/2018.
    https://global.iu.edu/presence/gateways/mexico/new...
  • “Working Together: The Alaska Native Studies Movement.” Keynote Address. Alaska Native Studies Conference. Juneau, Alaska. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/15/2018.
    http://alaskanativestudies.org
  • Panelist, “Growing Our Numbers: Alaska Native PhDs.” Alaska Native Studies Conference. Juneau, Alaska. Panel, Presented, 04/15/2018.
    http://alaskanativestudies.org
  • “The Great Land: History and Progress.” Invited Manuscript workshop. School for Advanced Research. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other, Presented, 03/15/2018.
  • “The Great Land: The Environment and Belonging in Native Alaska.” School for Advanced Research. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/04/2017.
    https://sarweb.org/scholars/resident/2017-2018/tho...
  • 2017 School for Advanced Research Introduction Colloquium . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/2017.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-vMI4hBcP0
  • “Carwaq Tukniuq.” in the panel “Carwaq Tukniuq, Agua-cines, and Maritime Exile: Explorations in Wet Globalization.” American Studies Association Conference, Denver. Conference Paper, Presented, 11/17/2016.
    https://asa.press.jhu.edu/program16/04_ASA_Glance....
  • Panel Organizer, “Carwaq Tukniuq, Agua-cines, and Maritime Exile: Explorations in Wet Globalization.” American Studies Association Conference, Denver. Other, Other, 11/17/2016.
    https://asa.press.jhu.edu/program16/04_ASA_Glance....
  • “Therapeutic Environments and the Colonial Spaces of Susie Silook’s ‘The Anti-Depression Uliimaaq.’” Alaska Native Studies Conference, University of Alaska, Anchorage. Conference Paper, Presented, 04/15/2016.
    https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-ar...
  • Moderator, “New Educational Paradigms,” Alaska Native Studies Conference, UAA. Panel, Presented, 04/15/2016.
    https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-ar...
  • “Uncovering a History of Art and Violence through Susie Silook’s The Anti-Depression Uliimaaq.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Washington D.C. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/05/2015.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2...
  • Panel Organizer, “Alaska Native Arts and Culture.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Washington D.C. Other, Presented, 06/05/2015.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2...
  • “Between Corporations and Tribes in Native Alaska.” The American Indian Studies Association. University of New Mexico. Conference Paper, Presented, 02/06/2015.
    http://ortizcenter.unm.edu/news-events/events/item...
  • Panel Organizer, “A Tradition of Activism: The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.” The American Indian Studies Association. University of New Mexico. Other, Presented, 02/06/2015.
    http://ortizcenter.unm.edu/news-events/events/item...
  • Slow Violence Across the Sea. Colorado State University Talk. Native American History Month. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/12/2014.
  • “The Alaska Native Studies Blog.” Native American Cultural Month Speaker Series. Colorado State University. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/27/2014.
    https://source.colostate.edu/32nd-annual-aises-pow...
  • “The Alaska Native Studies Movement.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Texas at Austin. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/30/2014.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2...
  • Panel Organizer, “Alaska Native Knowledge, Activism, and the Academy.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Texas at Austin. Other, Presented, 05/30/2014.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2...
  • “Citizen-Subjects in the Last Frontier.” Human Rights Institute Speaker Series, University of Connecticut. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/15/2014.
  • “National Belonging, Indigeneity, and Extractive Colonialism in Native Alaska.” Alaska Native Studies Conference, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska. Conference Paper, Presented, 03/15/2014.
    https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-ar...
  • Chair, “A Sacred Mountain, a Disputed Land Grant, and Aztlán: Asking ‘Whose Land?’ and ‘Whose History?’ at Three Sites of Contestation out West.” Western History Association, Tucson. Panel, Presented, 10/11/2013.
    https://www.westernhistory.org/event-573495
  • “Indigenous Subject-Citizens.” Decolonizing History Panel, Alaska Native Studies Conference, University of Alaska Anchorage. Conference Paper, Presented, 04/05/2013.
    https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/college-of-ar...
  • Moderator, “The Future of Alaska Native Languages.” Alaska Native Studies Conference, University of Alaska Anchorage. Panel, Presented, 04/05/2013.
  • “Race and Indigeneity in the Alaska Territory.” Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, University of California, Berkeley. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/15/2013.
  • “Mapping Indigeneity, History, and the Western Environment: The Geography of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead.” “Map(ing)” exhibit, Arizona State University Art Museum. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/2013.
    https://asunow.asu.edu/content/native-american-art...
  • “The Bering Region, Translocality, and the Indigenous Planetary,” in, “Realizing the Indigenous Planetary.” Panelist,Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Unacasville, Connecticut. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/2012.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2...
  • Panel Organizer, “Realizing the Indigenous Planetary.” Panelist,Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, Unacasville, Connecticut. Other, Presented, 06/2012.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2...
  • “Jurisdiction, Tribes, and Native Corporations.” Sovereignty and Autonomy in the Western Hemisphere Symposium Series, “Making Sovereignty Real: An Introduction to Indigenous Control Over Resources.” University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Conference Paper, Presented, 04/2012.
    http://www.ais.illinois.edu/news/features/sovereig...
  • “Historical Ecologies at Fort Ross California State Park’s Cultural Celebration Day.” American Indian Studies Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 03/2012.
  • “Race Technologies and Yupik Subjectivity in ‘Uncle Good Intentions,’ by Susie Silook.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference, University of California, Davis. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/2011.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2...
  • “Diane Benson’s River Woman and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference, University of Arizona, Tucson. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/2010.
    https://www.naisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2...
  • “Domesticating the Last Frontier.” American Society for Ethnohistory (ASE) Annual Meeting, Eugene, Oregon. Conference Paper, Presented, 11/2008.
  • “Kodiak Native Experiential Representations in Northern California.” Woody Island Tribal Retreat, Woody Island, Alaska. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/15/2006.

Research Keywords

  • Western Hemisphere
  • Urban Studies
  • South America
  • Russian History
  • Punk
  • North America
  • Native American History
  • Native American Art
  • Law
  • Latin American Studies
  • History of Slavery
  • History
  • Fine Arts
  • Archival research
  • American Indian literature
  • American Indian law
  • Alaska Native History