Many Nations Longhouse

Free and open to the public.

Bring your own lunch.

Cavanaugh’s research examines literary negotiations and representations of indigenous sovereignty, federal Indian law, and environmental justice. He investigates the ways indigenous writers and activists work outside the limitations of settler legal systems and pursue decolonial projects that reinforce indigenous sovereignty. More broadly, Cavanaugh is interested in the ways that indigenous literature decenters or unsettles dominant literary theories and traditions, and in what ways the recentering of literary discourses around indigeneity can contribute to decolonial, jurisprudential, or environmental imaginaries.

Alex Cavanaugh (Spirit Lake) is a third-year PhD student in the Department of English with research and teaching interests in Native American literature, Ethnic American literature, legal studies, and environmental studies.