The College's Native American and religion departments recently appointed Christopher Jocks, a Native American dissertation fellow, to be an assistant professor.
Pending the approval of his dissertation, "Ideals of Relationship in the Interpretation of Longhouse Traditions at Kahnawake," Jocks will become the third tenure-track Native American professor at the College.
"We're very pleased to have him," Native American Studies Program Chair Sergei Kan said. "He brings new perspective to the program."
"I know our department and the religion department are very pleased to have him," he said.
Jocks, a member of the Mohawk tribe, said he is excited to teach at Dartmouth and interact with the College's strong Native American community.
"One of the things that most impressed me at Dartmouth was the quality of the Native American students here," he said. "There are few Native American professors, but the students here are a very strong presence -- at least they are to me."
Jocks taught a freshman seminar last spring called "Dances with Sources: Approaches to Native American Religion Studies."
Jocks' background and extensive personal experience made him an appealing candidate for the position, Kan said.
He has performed field work in his own tribal community at Kahnawake, a Mohawk community located on the St. Lawrence river, about 10 miles from Montreal.
His continued presence and informal interaction with the tribe enabled him to act as "a member of the community as well as a student," he said.
Jocks said he turned down two other tenure-track positions to stay at Dartmouth.
"I see it as an important thing for Native Americans to see ... respectable work done on Native American communities," he said.
Jocks said he is mindful of the difficulties in addressing the various viewpoints and opinions of Native American cultures.
He said he hopes to give his students, Native American or not, a fair and accurate academic introduction to the subject.
"There is concern because Native communities have been ripped off by ethnocentric anthropologists or exploitation," he said. "I've had the opportunity to guide the students to ... understand about Native ways of life."
Jocks said he hopes that his research will contribute to the field of religion itself because it has the potential to provide new theoretical perspectives.
He added, "I sense an openness to that in the Religion Department."
Jocks will teach four classes in the upcoming year.
One is on the issue of the construction of identity, while another traces the theme of nature in Native American societies.
He is the first Dartmouth recipient of the Charles A. Eastman dissertation fellowship, offered by a Native American Dartmouth alumnus, class of 1887.
Dissertation fellowships are designed to help increase the number of minority doctorates at Dartmouth and in higher education, according to a news release. The College also has a fellowship program for blacks and Latinos.
Jocks received his bachelor of arts degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., where he majored in religion.
He then moved on to graduate study at the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied religion, with an emphasis on Native American studies.
