New Director at the American West Center
The American West Center welcomed its new director, Gregory E. Smoak on July 1, 2012. Prof. Smoak began working at the Center as a graduate assistant to Floyd O'Neil (Director Emeritus) in 1988; and he has been a co-principal investigator on a few AWC projects during the past several years. He is an associate professor in the dept. of History, specializing in American Indian, American Western, Environmental and Public History. He completed an M.A at Northern Arizona University and a Ph.D. at the University of Utah in 1999. His book "Ghost Dances and Identity: American Indian Ethnicity, Racial Identity, and Prophetic Religion" was published by the University of California Press in 2006. Prof. Smoak is presently working on a research project "Medicine Wars: Imperial Medicine and Native Healers in the Era of Assimilation." Although the Center recently bid farewell to Matthew Basso who served 2 three-year terms as director, he will still be affiliated with the Center on projects and events.