Featuring Dr. Deondre Smiles
Departments of History & Geography
The Ohio State University

Join the Institute for Advanced Study for the first in a series of four talks on the subject of Environmental Stewardship, “‘Decolonized Afterlife‘ and its Implications for More-than-Human Kin.”

Dr. Deondre Smiles is a President’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the Departments of History & Geography at The Ohio State University. His areas of specialization include Indigenous geographies, political and cultural ecology, and ethical engagement with Indigenous communities. In particular, he has studied the intersection of the settler state and Indigenous death and afterlife is also interested in the ways Indigenous nations protect their environments and the modes of governance based on traditional knowledges and cultural practices. Dr. Smiles received his PhD in Geography from The Ohio State University in 2020. He is the author of “‘...to the grave…’-Autopsy, settler structures and indigenous counterconduct” (2018) in Geoforum and “Ethical and Respectful Engagement between Medical Examiners/Coroners and Indigenous Families and Communities” (2020) in MMIWG2 & MMIP Organizing Toolkit published by Sovereign Bodies Institute.