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Assistant Professor of Geography and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesTel: (513) 529-8356
Fax: (513) 529-1948
Email: ornelart@muohio.edu
About Me
My research focuses on the culture and geographies of indigenous peoples with emphasis in public policy, environment, sacred lands, and human rights. My position is a joint appointment with the Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program and I am affiliate faculty with the Institute of Environmental Science & Sustainability.
Education
- PhD 2007, University of Minnesota
Courses
- ENV 274: Introduction to Environmental Principles
- GEO 111: World Regional Geography
- GEO 309, WMS 309: Native American Women
- GEO 406/506, WMS 406: Indigenous Peoples and Their Sacred Lands
- WMS 201: Introduction to Women’s Studies
Research in the Field
My research methodology of choice is in the trenches ethnographic participant observation. Throughout my graduate student years to today, I have travelled thousands of miles under all sorts of interesting conditions to find the answers to my questions. I have camped out near my research site in a major thunderstorm along the Missouri River in the Great Plains. I have spent many hours digging through decades of archival materials at state and federal governmental institutions hoping to find that one piece of gold.
My work with indigenous women has demonstrated the importance of including cultural traditions as a way to build and nurture community, with special focus being placed on the Earth’s environment and the health of the seventh generation from today. I have walked in those places that are known to be sacred lands for many tribes. There is no question that I have felt the specialness of those places. These types of research experiences continue to inform my classroom teaching.
