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Big Idea Film List

Let the flicks and films do the teaching! Hosting a movie night at your home or a film screening in your neighborhood can lead to eye-opening discussions. 

Turning Land Acknowledgements into Action…In a Good Way

By Dr. Alex Red Corn (Osage Nation), EdD, executive director of the Kansas Association of Native American Education, an assistant professor of educational leadership, and coordinator for Indigenous partnerships in the College of Education at Kansas State University.

READ RED CORN'S BIG IDEA

American Indian Students Define Success in Their Own Terms

By Darryl Monteau, EdD (Kiowa-Apache-Comanche), Associate Director for Mission Programs and Native Initiatives at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science. 

READ MONTEAU'S BIG IDEA

  • "A Walk in My Shoes." As a member of the Osage Nation, Alex Red Corn gew up in two worlds, navigating his wat through educational systems while holding to his culture.
  • "Good Morning Indian Country." Every Wednesday morning in March and April, the Lawrence Arts Center broadcasts "morning radio for the reservation." Guest performers, humanities scholars, and culture-bearers will provide insight for in-the-moment topics. 

Confronting the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools

By Eric P. Anderson (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), Professor of History in the Indigenous & American Indian Studies Program at Haskell Indian Nations University 

READ ANDERSON'S BIG IDEA

Changing the Way We Talk About the Civil Rights Movement

by Clarence Lang, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Penn State University

Read Lang's Big Idea

It's Time to Change the Way We Talk About Immigrants

by Kandace Creel Falcón, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead

Read Falcón's Big Idea

 

We Need to Elevate Black Women's Stories

by Donna Rae Pearson, Local History Librarian at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

Read Pearson's Big Idea

It's Time for More Representation in STEM

by Sarah Lamm, Colby native and doctoral student in planetary science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff

Read Lamm's Big Idea

 

It's Time to Change the Way We Talk About Poverty

by Jason Wesco, Executive Vice-President of the Community Health Care Center

Read Wesco's Big Idea

 

How Should We Honor Someone's Military Experience?

by Tai S. Edwards, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Kansas Studies Institute at Johnson County Community College

Read Edwards' Big Idea

 

Interview with David and Wendy Svajda

Interview with Larry Stanfield

Interview with Robert Robins

Images from the Mind of a Bi-Racial Black Woman

By Ann Dean

Read Dean's Big Idea

 

It's Time to Tell the Stories of African American Entrepreneurs

by Robert E. Weems, Jr., Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History, Wichita State University

Read Weems' Big Idea

 

Seeing the World Through the Eyes of Gordon Parks

by Kirk Sharp, Director of the Gordon Parks Museum 

Read Sharp's Big Idea

It’s Time to Recognize the History of Race and Baseball in Kansas: The Good, The Bad, and the Magnificent

By Phil S. Dixon

Read Dixon's Big Idea

Coupling Jim Crow and Jane Crow

by Ayesha K. Hardison, Associate Professor of English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Kansas

Read Hardison's Big Idea

It's Time to Expand Our Views on Peacemaking

by Sheryl R. Wilson, director of the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Read Wilson's Big Idea

 

Finally Breaking Through: The Current State of Indigenous Storytelling

By Rodrick Pocowatchit (Comanche, Pawnee and Shawnee nations), Wichita, Kansas-based filmmaker, graphic designer and writer.

Read Pocowatchit's Big Idea

 

  • Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu) 
    A half-hour comedy that follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma as they steal, rob and save to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California. 
  • 46th Annual American Indian Film Festival (online, November 5-13, 2021)
    The mission of AIFI is to foster understanding and appreciation of the culture, traditions, and issues of contemporary Native Americans. AIFI encourages filmmakers whose work expresses the native voices, viewpoints, and stories historically excluded from mainstream media; develops audiences for their works; and advocates for authentic representations of Indians in the media.
  • alterNative Film Festival (Nov. 12-14, Mid-America All-Indian Museum, Wichita, KS)
    The inaugural all-Indigenous film festival in Wichita will feature films from across the United States, Hawaii, Canada, and Greenland. All events will be free and open to the public. Choctaw filmmaker Mark D. Williams is the featured guest.

 

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