SUNY Potsdam Professor Named Educator of the Year by Native American Indian Association of New York

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SUNY Potsdam Professor of Anthropology Dr. Susan Stebbins was honored with the 2016 Educator of the Year Award from the Native American Indian Association of New York.

POTSDAM, NY (10/20/2016)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam Professor of Anthropology Dr. Susan Stebbins was recently honored with the 2016 Educator of the Year Award by the Native American Indian Association of New York.

New York has the tenth largest number of Native peoples in the United States. The Educator of the Year Award is presented at the association's annual meeting to someone who has shown a commitment to the education of Native American students, and has also contributed to the overall knowledge of Native peoples in New York.

Stebbins was recognized with the honor at the association's annual meeting, held at SUNY Oswego.

The Native American Indian Association of New York was first formed in the 1970s. Members are educators from around New York State representing both secondary and post-secondary schools which are involved in educating the state's Native American students.

Stebbins has been a member of the SUNY Potsdam Department of Anthropology since 1992, where she has taught about cultural anthropology, religion, magic and witchcraft, and many classes focusing on Native Americans, including coursework about Indian images and women in Native America. Her research stretches from the historical, looking at the traditional roles of Iroquois women, to the contemporary, including Native American education and a study about a political protest at the Massena-Cornwall International Bridge.

Stebbins is the author of the textbook, "Native Peoples of North America," an introduction to the Native peoples of what are now the United States and Canada, focusing on presenting both historical and contemporary information from anthropological categories such as language, kinship, economic and political organization, religion, spirituality and art. The textbook is available for free, via Open SUNY, and can be accessed by anyone worldwide.

The mission of the anthropology department at SUNY Potsdam is to provide students with knowledge of the five fields of anthropology and to give them practical experience in communities so that they can approach the world professionally and anthropologically. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/Anthro.

SUNY Potsdam has one of the largest Native American student populations in the State University of New York system, and has a dedicated Office of Native American Affairs. To find out more, visit www.potsdam.edu/diversity.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts. Empowered by a culture of creativity, the campus community recently launched Take the Lead: The Campaign for Potsdam, which aims to raise $32 million by the College's bicentennial in 2016.

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