
About
Joseph’s scholarship, outreach, and teaching emphasize Indigenous governance, federal and state policy regarding American Indian nations, and Native literatures. He teaches across all of the department’s undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs; serves as lead facilitator for an intergovernmental collaboration providing training on tribal-state relations for State of Minnesota departments and agencies; and provides governance programming for tribal staffers and administrators. Before joining the UMD faculty Joseph earned his PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, enjoyed one year at the University of Illinois as a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow in American Indian Studies, and enjoyed two years at UCLA with concurrent appointments as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the program for the study of Cultures in Transnational Perspective and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of English. Joseph grew up in Austin, Texas and lives in Duluth within the 1854 treaty territory.
Education
- 2008 Ph.D. in American Studies, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
- 2001 B.A. in English Studies and B.A. in Communication Studies, Texas Lutheran University
Peer Reviewed Publications
- Tribal Administration Handbook: A Guide for Native Nations in the United States. Co-edited with Rebecca M. Webster. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2022.
- “Project Management: From Idea to Implementation.” Co-written with Jason Hollinday. Tribal Administration Handbook: A Guide for Native Nations in the United States. Ed. Rebecca M. Webster and Joseph Bauerkemper. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2022.
- “Intentional Conversations Across Cultures: Utilizing Tribal-State Relations Training to Strengthen the Governmental Services to Indian and Non-Indian Minnesotans.” Co-written with Tadd Johnson and Rebecca St. George. Reflections: Weaving Threads to Strengthen the Fabric of Our Communities. Ed. Sharon Press. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press, 2020. 115-121.
- "Once and Future Diplomacy: The Necessity of Treaty Relations." Indigenous Policy Journal 27.1 (2016): 1-10.
- "Federalism Reconfigured: Native Narrations and the Indian New Deal." The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature. Ed. Deborah L. Madsen. New York: Routledge, 2016. 167-180.
- "The White Earth Constitution, Cosmopolitan Nationhood, and the Fruitful Ironies of Relational Sovereignty." Transmotion 1.1 (2015): 1-22.
- "Indigenous Trans/Nationalism and the Ethics of Theory in Native Literary Studies." The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous American Literature. Ed. James H. Cox and Daniel Heath Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. 395-408.
- "Tribalography," a special issue guest edited for Studies in American Indian Literatures 26.2 (2014): 1-93. (I served as editor and wrote the introduction for this issue which includes essays by Channette Romero, Carter Meland, Patrice Hollrah, Jodi Byrd, Jill Doerfler, and LeAnne Howe.)
- "Tensing, Dancing, Hoping: The Future Past of Settler Empire." Settler Colonial Studies 3.3-4 (2013): 444-450.
- "John Ford on the Warpath: Drums Along the Mohawk." Seeing Red: Hollywood's Pixeled Skins. Ed. LeAnne Howe, Harvey Markowitz, and Denise K. Cummings. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2013. 15-21.
- "California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 480 U.S. 202 (1987)." Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2013. 422-424.
- "The Trans/National Terrain of Anishinaabe Law and Diplomacy." Co-written with Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark. The Journal of Transnational American Studies 4.1 (2012): 1-21.
- "Videographic Sovereignty: Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie's Aboriginal World View." Visualities: Perspectives on Contemporary American Indian Film and Art. Ed. Denise K. Cummings. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2011. 131-139.
- "Narrating Nationhood: Indian Time and Ideologies of Progress." Studies in American Indian Literatures 19.4 (2007): 27-53.
- "The Bases Are Loaded: American Indians and American Studies." Co-written with Carter Meland, LeAnne Howe, and Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark. Joint issue: American Studies 46.3-4 (2005) and Indigenous Studies Today 1 (2005/2006): 391-416.
Reviews
- Review of Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous-Settler Relations and Earth Teachings, edited by Michael Asch, John Borrows, and James Tully. Transmotion 5.2 (2019): 164-166.
- Review of Dream Wheels, by Richard Wagamese. Native American and Indigenous Studies 4.2 (2017): 113-114.
- Review of Tribal Worlds: Critical Studies in American Indian Nation Building, edited by Brian Hosmer and Larry Nesper. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 38.4 (2014): 200-203.
- Review of Plural Sovereignties and Contemporary Indigenous Literature, by Stuart Christie. Studies in American Indian Literatures 25.1 (2013): 122-124.
- Review of Sovereignty Matters: Locations of Contestation and Possibility in Indigenous Struggles for Self-Determination, edited by Joanne Barker. Studies in American Indian Literatures 20.1 (2008): 76-79.
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
- Sea Grant Award - “Climate Adaptation in Action: Updating and expanding tribal climate adaptation tools and resources across the 1854 Ceded Territory” Co-PI (2022-2024; $198,928)
- Andrew W. Mellon Just Futures Grant - “Minnesota Transform” Faculty Leadership Team (2021-2023; $4,997,000)
- MnDOT Research Services Grant (2021; $11,141)
- UMD College of Liberal Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching (2020)
- Bush Foundation Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2020-2024; $193,000)
- Native Governance Center Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2020; $75,000)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Development Grant Co-recipient (2019-2022; $188,106)
- Otto Bremer Trust Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2018-2020; $150,000)
- MnDOT Research Services Grant (2019; $14,568)
- Bush Foundation Tribal Sovereignty Institute Planning Grant Co-Recipient (2017-2018; $50,000)
- Blandin Foundation Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2017-2018; $110,000)
- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2017; $37,000)
- UMD College of Liberal Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching (2015)
- University of Minnesota Single Semester Research Leave (2015)
- Minnesota Historical Society Legacy Grant Co-Recipient (2014-2015; $100,000)
- University of Minnesota Imagine Fund Award (2014-15; $1,667)
- UMD College of Liberal Arts Teaching Grant (2014; $250)
- University of Minnesota Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy Multicultural Research Award Co-Recipient (2013-2014; $7,000)
- University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor's Strategic Initiative Grant Co-Recipient (2013; $3,000)
- Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Program for the Study of Cultures in Transnational Perspective - University of California Los Angeles (2009-2011)
- Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship in American Indian Studies - University of Illinois (2008-2009)
- Graduate Research Partnership Fellowship - University of Minnesota Twin Cities (2006; $5,948)
- First Annual Award for the Outstanding Graduate of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences - Texas Lutheran University (2001)
Representative Courses
- AMIN 1606 - Introduction to American Indian Literatures
- AMIN/TAG 3206 - Federal Indian Policy
- AMIN/TAG 3230 - American Indian Tribal Government and Law
- AMIN 3430 - Global Indigenous Studies
- AMIN/TAG 3820 - Fundamentals of Tribal Project Management
- MTAG 5110 - Principles of Tribal Sovereignty I
- MTAG 5120 - Principles of Tribal Sovereignty II
- MTAG 5240 - Advanced Tribal Administration and Governance II
- PA 5920 - Tribal-State Relations Workshop (Humphrey School of Public Affairs)