Joseph Bauerkemper

Headshot of Prof. Joseph Bauerkemper, a light-skinned, masculine-presenting person wearing a light brown suit coat and salmon-colored dress shirt.
Professional Title
Professor, Director of the Tribal Sovereignty Institute

About Joseph Bauerkemper

Joseph’s scholarship, outreach, and teaching emphasize Indigenous governance, federal and state policy regarding American Indian nations, and Native literatures. He teaches across 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 staff 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 as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow. Joseph grew up in Austin, Texas and lives in Duluth within the 1854 treaty territory.

Education

Peer Reviewed Publications

Reviews

  • Review of American Indian Tribal Governance: A Critical Perspective, by Stephen Wall. Native American and Indigenous Studies 11.2 (2024): 154-155.
  • 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

  • Bush Foundation Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant PI (2020-2026; $193,000)
  • University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment Impact Goal Grant PI (2024-2026; $48,703)
  • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Climate Pollution Reduction Tribal Relations Grant PI (2023-2025; $159,672)
  • Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Research Services Grant PI (2024; $4,900)
  • Minnesota Department of Education Research Services Grant PI (2023-2024; $123,600)
  • 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)
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Development Grant Co-recipient (2019-2022; $188,106)
  • MnDOT Research Services Grant (2021; $11,141)
  • UMD College of Liberal Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching (2020)
  • Native Governance Center Tribal Sovereignty Institute Grant Co-Recipient (2020; $75,000)
  • 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)
  • Minnesota Historical Society Legacy Grant Co-Recipient (2014-2015; $100,000)
  • 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 5963 - Tribal-State Relations Workshop (Humphrey School of Public Affairs)