2023-24 TEACHING FELLOWS
Promoting use of the Center’s collections, the Teaching Fellows Program encourages the development of object-based curricular initiatives that support student engagement and retention by enriching learning experiences and adding depth to student understanding. This program was made possible thanks to the generous support of Dr. Henry Hooper.
Meet the Center of Southwest Studies teaching fellows for AY 2023-24!
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Paige Belinte (she, her, hers) is a Diné educator, advisor, artist, and small business owner from TséChił’Tah, NM. Her clans are Kinyaa’áanii, Tł’ááshchí’í, Ta’neeszahnii, and Maii’ Deeshgiizhnii. She has held a variety of educational staff positions over the last five years and currently works as a Native American Advisor in Farmington, NM. She is also a Fort Lewis College alumna, graduating with a BA in Studio Art and MEd in Teacher Leadership. Her passion in education has been sharing her knowledge of Diné culture and language to ensure their continuation for future generations. When she is not teaching, she is skating, traveling with her team for SugarBuffalo Skateboarding, attending ceremonies, or making art. She would like to express how excited she is to work with the CSWS through this fellowship to provide great experiences and opportunities for her students to learn more about their culture, language, and heritage!
Paige will be introducing middle-school students from Farmington, NM to the intricate connections between Diné weavers, their audiences, and their tools, focusing on the process of weaving as cultural and spiritual practice.
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Candace Nadon (she, her, hers) is Associate Professor of English, John F. Reed Honors Program Coordinator, and Coordinator for Academic and Creative Enrichment at Fort Lewis College. Candace coordinates the SkyWords Visiting Writers Series, co-coordinates Arts April, and is faculty advisor for IMAGES magazine. Candace has a BA in English from Fort Lewis College, an MFA in Fiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, and a PhD in English with Creative Concentration (Fiction and Poetry) from Georgia State University, where she was the Virginia Spencer Carr Fellow. Her fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous journals. Her writing explores the intersections between the body and place and explores/examines the relationships between gender, class, environment, and structures of power. She is currently writing a Colorado-based thriller. Born and raised in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, Candace loves exploring the outdoors with her Aussie, Rowan.
Candace will integrate the Center’s collections and object-based learning into two of her Fall 2023 Honors courses. Students in HON 210: Landscapes of Learning will engage with the Center’s collections in the process of exploring texts that investigate our relationships to place, community, and self. Students in HON 100: Introduction to Honors, which also embraces place-based learning, will complete a project utilizing postcards or photographs from the Center's collections.
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