Wendy Felese

Dr. Wendy Felese

Assistant Professor of American Indian and Indigenous Studies, CLASS

When Dr. Wendy Felese arrived at MSU Billings in 2023, it didn鈥檛 take her long to get to work. American Indian and Indigenous Studies is a large area, but she was undaunted in her quest to make her curriculum as valuable to students as possible.

She started working on new articulation agreements with tribal colleges, leaned into support efforts by the Native American Achievement Center with outreach, and started enhancing the program.

鈥淭his is her third year on faculty, and I am incredibly impressed by her work in the short time that she has been at MSUB,鈥� a nominator for her award wrote. 鈥淎s the sole faculty member in the AIIS program, Dr. Felese has been responsible for designing curriculum, conducting program assessment, and staffing courses. She works closely with the Native American Achievement Center and regularly travels around the state to meet with tribal representatives and leaders of Montana's tribal colleges.鈥�

Viewed by students as approachable and caring, Dr. Felese worked as faculty advisor to the Native American Advisory Council in 2024 and is currently the faculty advisor for the student swing dance club.

In addition, she has robust research and presentation agendas. This month, Dr. Felese will be on a panel discussion in Philadelphia on 鈥淎 Vision for Liberating Our Democracy: Examining the Religious and Racialized Roots of American Democracy.鈥� Her topic, she said, focuses on how the Haudenosaunee Confederacy has had a long-lasting impact on American democracy.

鈥淭he foundation of our democracy has always been Indigenous,鈥� she said.