Stefan Helmreich & Heather Paxson on Perils & Potentials of Microbial Abundance, February 2011

The University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus) is located in Dakota homeland, on one of the great rivers of the world, in a national park. Our responsibilities to this location call us to think about heritage and water in a manner that is fully inclusive. Three community-engaged anthropologists will bring their perspectives to this discussion. Joe Watkins, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, directed the Native American Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma (2007-13) and consults internationally with Indigenous communities on heritage issues.

In what world do we imagine the past to be settled in light of its refusal to perish and allow things to start over anew? What are the conditions that make for this imagining, this fantasy or rather, demand of a new start point?