Wisdom and Discernment in Research: American Culture Consortium Welcome Session

The American Culture Consortium (ACC, previously American Studies Consortium) Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop (RIW) focuses on studies in American literature, history, and culture. For the 2026-27 year, we will focus on Wisdom and Discernment in Research, centering Christopher J. Pexa's Translated Nation: Rewriting the Dakhota Oyate, which explores how the Dakhota [Dakota/Lakota/Nakota Sioux] people and culture have been (mis)translated into the English language and US cultural meanings. Pexa "rewrites" those translations by analyzing the literature that Dakotas have produced since the Dakota War of 1862.  Indigenous and other cultures are translated into and through English. These translations shape their meanings through assumptions inherent in US English and culture. In this RIW, we want to explore how culture influences researchers' wisdom and discernment, and how research influences readers' wisdom and discernment. In our first session, we will discuss what constitutes wisdom and discernment in research, launched by the articles "Wisdom, Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future concerns" by Kaili Zhang, Juan Shi, Fengyan Wang, and Michel Ferrari (2022) and  "Way Markers in the Practice of Shambling: A Method for Communal Discernment" by Beth Cross and Jennifer Markides (2024), and the Introduction of Pexa's Translated Nation.