Today (Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009) the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board unanimously approved the final report and approved the publishing of the student projects. Board members are pleased that the projects will be distributed to the elders involved and published in variety of ways so people can see and learn from them.
My faculty colleague from Diné College, Miranda Haskie, and I are planning celebratory receptions to debut the projects and honor the students' hard work. We want to host a reception at both institutions, and hope to have students from both schools present at each event.
The first reception will be held Friday, Nov. 13, on the Winona State University campus, and the second on Monday, Nov. 16, at the Diné College campus in Tsaile, Arizona. Both receptions will begin at 5 p.m.
Parents and friends of the students are invited to attend the receptions.
At each reception, there will be a few brief congratulatory speeches, and several of the projects will be shown. Then the participating students will each be asked to offer their comments about the project and their efforts.
At about the same time of the receptions, plans call for the pieces to be published on the Winona360 web site (a WSU Mass Communication department site dedicated to showcasing student projects), as well as by the Winona Daily News and the Navajo Times newspapers.
These important Navajo Oral History projects will be archived for all time at the Navajo Nation Museum, Navajo Nation Library, and at Winona State University and Diné College.
As soon as the pieces are available for on-line viewing, I'll include links from here on this blog.
Thanks to everyone for their support during this project. The excellent work of the students has been recognized and rewarded.
-- Tom Grier, Winona State University
