Dates: May 18-June 15, 2013

Tuition: $5892

Airfare: $370-$390 (as of October 2012)

Accommodations and Miscellaneous (estimated): $1950 (includes ground transportation, meals, and lodging)

Writing On the Rez is a month-long course offered in the USC Maymester program between May 18 and June 15, 2013. The course will bring up to twelve USC students to Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota for a month-long immersion writing experience where they will write, study, and work with Native American students from Bemidji State University. All students will spend 1/3 of their time reading everything from treaties to Native American fiction and nonfiction and traveling to Leech Lake, White  Earth, and Red Lake Reservations for first-hand immersion experiences, 1/3 of their time writing  nonfiction essays and articles based on those experiences, and 1/3 shooting, editing, and creating  (collaboratively) a documentary about contemporary Native American life to be screened on Leech Lake Reservation and again at USC.

This course is designed to collapse the distance between what we all imagine about Native American lives and how those lives are expressed on the ground, to bring USC students into direct contact with their Native peers and vice versa, to collectively and productively question the assumptions we share about  culture and communication, and to, with the final documentary project, share our discoveries with a wider audience. This is not a study of Native life; rather, it is a study with Native peoples. Students will have a  chance to socialize with and interview tribal members, attend cultural events (such as powwows), examine tribal structures and government, schools, and engage in cultural activities (subsistence gathering and  fishing, etc).

Application: To apply for this program, complete the application and submit with your current STARS report to the English Department.  Applications accepted on a rolling basis.

For more information, please contact Professor David Treuer at treuer@usc.edu or visit him in THH 406.

Link to the English Department website here.