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S._Gardner_Education

  • Ph.D., Rhodes University , South Africa , 1986
  • M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison , 1973
  • B.A., Macalester College , 1967

Areas of Interest

  • American Indian Literature and Film
  • Transnational Feminisms
  • Postcolonial Literary Theory
  • American Indian Children’s Literature
  • Life Narrative

Research Interests
Currently completing a biography, A Vision of Double Woman : Ella Cara Deloria’s Formative Years (Ella Deloria was a prominent Dakota Sioux ethnologist and linguist who also wrote a multi-generation novel about American Indian women’s lives on the northern Great Plains, before Euramerican military conquest).

Recent Selected Publications:

Introduction, New Edition of Ella Cara Deloria, Waterlily. Lincoln, NE: U of Nebraska P, 2009: v-xxviii.

“Ella Cara Deloria and the Profession of Kinship.” Simone Pellerin, ed. Before Yesterday: the Long History of Native American Writing. Pessac, France: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2009: 109-119.

Edited books:

(with Patricia E. Scott) Bessie Head : a Bibliography . Introduction by Susan Gardner. National English Literary Museum Bibliographic Series No. 1. Grahamstown , South Africa : National English Literary Museum, 1986. Rev. ed. 1993.

Four South African Poets . Interviews by Susan Gardner with Robert Berold, Jeremy Cronin, Douglas Reid Skinner, and Stephen Watson. National English Literary Museum Interview Series 1. Grahamstown , South Africa : National English Literary Museum, 1986.

Miles Franklin’s “ My Brilliant Career .” South African Matriculation set-text edition. Cape Town : David Philip, 1982.

Selected recent articles:

“Weaving an Epic Story: Ella Cara Deloria’s Pageant for the Indians of of Robeson Co., North Carolina, 1940-41.” The Mississippi Quarterly 60: 1 (Winter 2007): 33-57.

“A Conversation with Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (Huron and Eastern Cherokee) about her memoir Rock, Ghost, Willow Dear: a Story of Survival, 2005″ (with Ellen Arnold and Ursula Couch). The Mississippi Quarterly, 60: 1 (Winter 2007): 81-100.

“Piety, Pageantry and Politics on the Northern Great Plains: an Am. Indian Woman Restages Her People’s Conquest.” The Forum on Public Policy, the online journal of the Oxford Roundtable [Harris Manchester College, Oxford University, England]. Winter 2007 edition. http://www.forumonpublicpolicy.com/archive07/

“‘Although It Broke My Heart to Cuts Some Bits I Fancied:’ Ella Deloria’s Original Design for Waterlily.” American Indian Quarterly 27: 3 & 4, 2003: 667-96.http://muse.edu/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v0227/27.3gardner/html

“Speaking of Ella Deloria: Conversations with Joyzelle Gingway Godfrey, 1998-2000.” Am. Indian Quarterly 24:3 (Summer 2000): 456-81.http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v024/24.3gardner.html[In Press] “Double Woman in Academe: from Ethnology to Fiction in Ella Cara Deloria’s Waterlily .” New introduction to 20 th anniversary edition of Waterlily , U of Nebraska P, 2008.

[In Press] “Weaving an Epic Story: Ella Cara Deloria and the Indians of Robeson Co., North Carolina, 1940-41.” The Mississippi Quarterly 60:2, (Winter 2007): 31-55.

[In Press] “A Conversation with Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (Huron and Eastern Cherokee) about her memoir Rock, Ghost, Willow , Deer: a Story of Survival, 2005” (with Ellen Arnold and Ursula Couch). The Mississippi Quarterly 60: 2 (Winter 2007): 79-99.

“Piety, Pageantry and Politics on the Northern Great Plains : an American Indian Woman Restages Her People’s Conquest.” The Forum on Public Policy , the online journal of the Oxford Round Roundtable [ Harris Manchester College , Oxford , England ], Winter 2007 edition: 1-18. http://www.forumonpublicpolicy.com/archive07/

“’Although It Broke My Heart to Cut Some Bits I Fancied’: Ella Deloria’s Original Design for Waterlily .” American Indian Quarterly 27: 3 & 4, 2003, 667-96 . http://muse.edu/journals/american_indian_quarterly/v027/27.3gardner.htm.

Selected Presentations:

Panel on Syllabus Sharing, International Children’s Literature Conference, Charlotte, NC, June 2009.

“Soft Money and Hard Cash: Ella Deloria as Academic Piece-Worker.” Am. Indian Literature Symposium, Universite Paul Valery III, Montpellier, France, May 17, 2009.

(Invited panelist.), Native American Studies Week, Univ. of SC-Lancaster. Integrating community service learning in Am. Indian Studies courses.

“A Vision of Double Woman: Ella Cara Deloria and the Profession of Kinship” (Preface). Am. Indian Literature Symposium, Universite Paul Valery III, Montpellier, France, May 15, 2008.

Native American Studies Academy, UNC Charlotte, March 28, 2008. Presentation on the ethics and politics of non-Indians writing Am. Indian biography.

“Reel Indians and Reel Indians: Sherman Alexie’s Independent Film, ‘The Business of Fancy Dancing.'” School of Performance and Screen Studies Research Series, Kingston University London, 16 April 2007.

“Quandaries: Politics and Ethics of Non-Indians Writing Am. Indian Biography.” School of Humanities Research Series, Kingston University London, Fall 2006.

“1 + 1”  = >2: Team Teaching “Am. Indian Women” at Two Universities in Simulcast Format.” (with Dr. Linda Oxendine). Panel on pedagogy, Native American Literature Symposium, Saginaw Chippewa Reservation, Michigan. April 8, 2006.

“‘A Subject No One Wants to Bring Up:’ Am. Indian Women’s Opportunities for Leadership between the two World Wars.” Oxford Round Table, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, England. Aug. 12, 2005.

“Miss Ella’s Old-Time Medicine Show, II! Precursors to the Lumbee Pageant.” Southeastern Am. Indian Studies Conference, Univ. of NC at Pembroke. April 14, 2005.

“Miss Ella’s Old-Time Medicine Show.” Native American Literature Symposium, Mystic Lake: MN. March 22, 2004.

(Invited Panelist) “American Indians as Wards in Federal Law and the Early Discourse of Am. Indian Children’s Literature.” NC Humanities Educators’ Conference, Univ. of NC at Pembroke, Sept. 2003.

(Invited Panelist) “A’ Young Girl Had Never Done Such a Thing Before’: Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House as Post-Dated Prequel to Tracks.” “A Convergence of Cultures: Multi-Cultural Children’s Literature.” Eastern Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC, March 2001.

Selected Grants:
Southern Regional Education Board, 1998 and 2000.
Lannan Foundation grant to participate in a four-week summer institute on Am. Indian Autobiography, D’Arcy McNickle Center on Am. Indian History, Newberry Library, Chicago, summer 2002.

Courses Taught:

  • ENGL 2090: Myth, Fiction, and American Indian Literature
  • ENGL 2111: Ancient World Literatures
  • ENGL 2100: Writing about Literature
  • ENGL 3100: Approaches to Literature
  • AMST 3000: Introduction to American Indian Studies
  • AMST 3000: American Indians and Film (the Hollywood “Indian”)
  • AMST 3000: Contemporary American Indian Film
  • ENGL 3050: Colonial and Postcolonial Children’s Literature
  • ENGL 3050: Major African Writers—Achebe and Gordimer
  • ENGL 3050: Comparative African Literatures (West and Southern Africa )
  • ENGL 3156: Introduction to Native North American Indian Literatures
  • ENGL 4002: Female Quest Literature
  • ENGL 4002: Postcolonial Women’s Writing
  • ENGL 4050/5050: Native North American Indian Women
  • ENGL 4050/5050: Comparative Autobiography
  • ENGL 4104/5104: American Indians and Children’s Literature
  • ENGL 6070: World Literature for Teachers
  • ENGL 6070: Contemporary American Indian Fiction
  • ENGL 6070: Native North American Indian Autobiography

Professional Appointments:

Faculty Appointments:

  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte , 1990-Present
  • UNC Charlotte Faculty Affiliate, Women’s Studies, 2003–.
  • UNC Charlotte Faculty Affiliate, American Studies, 2007–.
  • Marquette University , Milwaukee , WI 1988-1990
  • Carroll College , Waukesha , WI , 1989
  • Rhodes University , Grahamstown , South Africa , 1985
  • University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg , 1982-84
  • University of Aarhus , Denmark , 1981
  • University of Papua New Guinea, 1975-79

Administrative Appointments:

  • Coordinator, English Learning Community, 2003-2005.
  • Resident Director, UNC Charlotte Education Abroad, Kingston University
  • London , 2006-2007.

Community Service: 

  • Speaker, with members of the Lumbee tribe and the Catawba Nation, on “Charlotte Talks,” WFAE, a local National Public Radio affiliate, for Native American Heritage Month, Nov. 30, 1999. Audiotape available.
  • “American Indian Children’s Literature of the Southeast,” workshop at Native American Traditions Day, Great Aunt Stella Community Center/UNC Charlotte Native American Academy, Charlotte, NC, 24 March 2001.
  • Established community-based learning partnership with the Urban Ministry Center (a clearing house of services for the homeless) and the English Learning Community, Charlotte , NC . 2004-05.
Civic Engagement:
Member, Community Council of WFAE.FM, 90.7 (NPR Affiliate). 2008–.Established community service learning partnership with the Urban Ministry Center (for the homeless) and the English Learning Community, Charlotte, NC. 2004-05.Presenter at Winter Adventures in Learning (teaching a class on Waterlily and Native Am. Literature). Shepherd’s Center East/Memorial United Methodist Church, 12 February 2009.

Invited Speaker on “The First Thanksgiving.” Diversity luncheon, Mecklenburg Co. Tax Assessor’s Office. Nov. 20, 2009.

Awards :

  • Keeper of the Fire Award, Indian Education Program. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools , NC . 1994-96.
  • International Women’s Day Recognition, UNC Charlotte, April 2006.