Wisdom and Discernment in Research: American Culture Consortium Welcome Session

Please join the  American Culture Consortium Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop for our Welcome Session on Thursday Sept. 24, 2026 from 10:00 am – 11:30 am in Angel Hall, room 3241. We will discuss this year’s ACC workshop, meet fellow graduate students, and partake in Panera coffee and pastries.

 For the 2026-27 year, the ACC workshop theme is 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 Dakota literature published since the Dakota War of 1862 through an interpretive method guided by thióšpaye ethics.

Pexa’s literary and historical analysis inspires questions of how "knowing" and "truths" in US research are communicated, translated, and influenced by ideas of wisdom and discernment. Specific questions we might discuss are: How does culture influence what it means to be discerning and wise? How does research influence what it means to be discerning and wise? How is discernment determined, and what constitutes wise discernment in US culture and other, non-US cultures within the US academy? How does our own research reflect our personal ideas of discernment and wisdom?