Our monthly Community Lunches are open to all in the NYU community who want to learn more about NAIS, and collaborative research with Indigenous communities, lands, and waters. Center CIRCL is proud to work with NAISG to host each Community Lunch. 

A highlight of the month, these lunches nurture conversation and learning across university levels, disciplines and communities. Each lunch features a selection of emergent research, pedagogy and creative practice. Recently, community lunches have featured presentations by Center CIRCL Fellows focused on the Center’s inaugural biennial theme, This City is So Indigenous. Other presentations have featured visiting Indigenous artists and scholars, and group activities.

To date, these include a dialogue about researching indigenous pasts, presents and futures in NYC between a group Lenape organizers & makers and the Fellows; a participatory listening workshop that activates sound as a tool for collective storytelling reflecting on the waterways that shape a shared landscape; a poem recital blending reflections on the country/connections to the land in Aotearoa (also called New Zealand) and NYC; a visual discussion on memory, color, education and pathways for return by Lenape painters; and a screening of Indigenous film shorts that explore sovereign ways of looking, watching and creating senses of place. We have made visualization boards, immunity fire cider, slime, new friendships and more while sharing space and delicious meals.

In the Native Studies Forum Speakers Series we invite scholars, researchers, practitioners, and thinkers in the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies to share their recent work in public lectures. So far, we have hosted guest speakers at the Washington Square Campus, and NYU Tulsa.  During the speaker visits, we typically host a luncheon for students to have an informal meet and greet and discussion with the speaker and each other. The lectures are typically moderated by NYU faculty members who serve as interlocutors to guide the discussion and any question and answer period. The speakers series typically hosts two to three lectures per semester which are timely and/or relevant talks related to the biennial theme.

The name of the speaker series comes from the legacy of building NAIS at NYU. Prior to the founding of the Center CIRCL, events and gatherings about Indigenous Studies were organized by the Native Studies Forum. The forum started in 2006, and over the years has been led by many dedicated Indigenous faculty and staff. Through generosity and collaboration, the Native Studies Forum has hosted a lecture series, community lunches, and other significant events to advance Indigenous Studies at NYU and in New York City. To recognize the important history of the Native Studies Forum at NYU, the Center CIRCL lecture series is called the Native Studies Forum Lecture Series. Many thanks to everyone who has been part of NSF, and the many years of advocacy to create the Center for Collaborative Indigenous Research with Communities and Lands at NYU!

In the Native Studies Forum Speakers Series we invite scholars, researchers, practitioners, and thinkers in the field of Native American and Indigenous Studies to share their recent work in public lectures. So far, we have hosted guest speakers at the Washington Square Campus, and NYU Tulsa.  During the speaker visits, we typically host a luncheon for students to have an informal meet and greet and discussion with the speaker and each other. The lectures are typically moderated by NYU faculty members who serve as interlocutors to guide the discussion and any question and answer period. The speakers series typically hosts two to three lectures per semester which are timely and/or relevant talks related to the biennial theme.

The name of the speaker series comes from the legacy of building NAIS at NYU. Prior to the founding of the Center CIRCL, events and gatherings about Indigenous Studies were organized by the Native Studies Forum. The forum started in 2006, and over the years has been led by many dedicated Indigenous faculty and staff. Through generosity and collaboration, the Native Studies Forum has hosted a lecture series, community lunches, and other significant events to advance Indigenous Studies at NYU and in New York City. To recognize the important history of the Native Studies Forum at NYU, the Center CIRCL lecture series is called the Native Studies Forum Lecture Series. Many thanks to everyone who has been part of NSF, and the many years of advocacy to create the Center for Collaborative Indigenous Research with Communities and Lands at NYU!

The Center CIRCL Book Club meets regularly throughout the semester to discuss books related to Indigenous Studies, spark creativity in your own studies, and enable connection to each other. We provide the books to members. We have read the works of authors such as Amanda Tachine, K. Tsianina Lomawaima and Teresa L. McCarty, Eve L. Ewing, and Sean Sherman. We have also had the privilege of welcoming these authors to Center CIRCL for both smaller members only lunch conversations and larger book talks moderated by an NYU faculty member. Book club discussions are curated by undergraduate peer mentors.

The Center CIRCL Undergraduate Peer Advisors host Indigenous Studies Power Hours to help students study for midterms and finals. Offerings of seasonal refreshment and options for a therapeutic break are both available at our quiet office space.