University of Nebraska Kearney

Brenden Rensink, Ph.D. 

Professor Rensink teaches and writes American history with specialties in the North American West, indigenous peoples, transnational borderlands, comparative methodology, environmental studies, immigration, race and ethnicity.

• Office: 103J Copeland Hall
• Phone: (308) 865-8671
• rensinkbw@unk.edu 
• B. Rensink - Curriuclum Vitae - October 2012
   

Spring 2013 Courses:

•  History 251 - American History since 1877

• History 479/879P- Nebraska and the Great Plains
• History 848 - Native American History, Graduate Reading Seminar
• History 801 - American Interpreted, Graduate Reading Seminar

Fall 2012 Courses:

• History 405/805P: Plains Indians History

• History 801: America Interpreted, Graduate Reading Seminar
• History 848: American Indian History, Graduate Reading Seminar

Summer 2012 Courses:

• History 898, sec. 05: Empires and Indians, Graduate Reading Seminar

• History 898, sec. 06: American Borderlands, Graduate Reading Seminar

Spring 2012 Courses:

• History 251 - American History since 1877

• History 479/879P- Nebraska and the Great Plains
• History 848 - The Modern West, Graduate Reading Seminar
• History 801 - American Interpreted, Graduate Reading Seminar

Fall 2011 Courses:

• History 251 - American History since 1877

• History 482/882P - The American West
• History 898 - The American West to 1900, Graduate Reading Seminar

 Education: 

• Ph.D. in History, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 2010
  • Dissertation: "Native but Foreign: Indigenous Transnational Refugees and Immigrants in the U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican Borderlands, 1880-Present."
   
•  M.A. in History, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 2006
  • Thesis: "Native American History, Comparative Genocide and the Holocaust: Historiography, Debate and Critical Analysis."
   
• B.A. in History, Brigham Young University, 2003  

Books: 

Under Contract    Native but Foreign: Transnational Cree, Chippewa and Yaqui Refugees and Immigrants in the U.S-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican Borderlands, 1880-present.  Connecting the Greater West Series, Sterling Evans, ed.  College Station: Texas A&M Press, under contract.

Under Contract     Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the American Frontier. New York: Scarecrow Press/Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, under contract. Co-author, Jay H. Buckley.
 

In Development         Borderlands, Boundaries, and the Histories of Indigenous Peoples in the Western Hemisphere.  Coedited with Jeffrey P. Shepherd, forthcoming.

Book Chapters, Anthology Contributions: 

2011       “Cree Contraband or Contraband Crees: Early Montanan Experiences with Transnational Natives and the Formation of Lasting Prejudice, 1880-1885.”  In Smugglers, Brothels, and Twine: Historical Perspectives on Contraband and Vice in North America’s Borderlands, Andrae Marak and Elaine Carey, eds., 24-43.  Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2011.

2011       “Genocide of Native Americans: Historical Facts and Historiographic Debates.” In Genocide of Indigenous Peoples, Vol. 8 in the Genocide: a Critical Bibliographic Series, Samuel Totten and Robert Hitchcock, eds., 15-36.  New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2011.

2008       “Nebraska and Kansas Territories in American Legal Culture: Territorial Statutory Context.”  In The Nebraska-Kansas Act of 1854, John Wunder and Joann Ross, eds, 47-66.  Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2008.

Journal Articles: 

2010       “‘If a Passage Could be Found’:  The Power of Myth (and Money) in North American Exploration.”  We Proceeded On (May 2010): 8-17.

2009       “Pursuing Wicozani (the Good Way of Life): Functional Adaptations through Dakota Lifeways,” coauthors Matthew Garrett, Joseph M. White, Sr., Adam Galovan and Kathryn Akipa.  AlterNative: an International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 5 (Fall 2009): 108-125.

2009       “The Transnational Immigrant-Refugee Experience of Mexican Yaquis and Canadian Chippewa-Crees in Arizona and Montana.” Journal of the West 48 (Summer 2009): 12-19.

2009       “The Sand Creek Phenomenon: The Complexity and Difficulty of Undertaking a Comparative Study of Genocide vis-à-vis the Northern American West.”  Genocide Studies and Prevention: an International Journal 4:1 (Spring 2009): 9-27.

2004       “The Myth of an Easy Passage to the Far East.” The Thetean 32 (2004): 111-130.

Non-Refereed Publications 

2012       “Dare to Compare: Attempting Comparative Borderlands and Transnational History.”  Borderlands History Blog.  http://borderlandshistory.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/dare-to-compare-attempting-comparative-transnational-and-borderlands-history/ 

2012       WHA Past Presidents Biographies for John R. Wunder and T.A. Larson.  Western History Association.  Available at http://www.westernhistoryassociation.org/archives/.

2008       “Addendum: Chippewa Cree Research Archives at Rocky Boy School.”  In Ed Stamper, Helen Windy Boy and Ken Morsette Jr., eds, The History of the Chippewa Cree of Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, 223-234.  Box Elder, Montana: Stone Child College Press, 2008.

2008       Historical Biographies of the Cherry County Independent, Valentine Democrat, Western News-Democrat, Norfolk Weekly News and News-Journal, Custer County Republican, McCook Tribune and Weekly-Tribune, Omaha Daily Bee and Falls City Tribune.  Nebraska Newspapers: Digitizing Nebraska’s History site. Available at http://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/.    

2008       “The Omaha Daily Bee.”  JNews, University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications Alumni Magazine (Summer 2008): 20-21.

Book Reviews: 

2013       Murder State: California’s Native American Genocide, 1846-1873, by Brendan C. Lindsay.  Western Historical Quarterly, Forthcoming.

2013       Pacific Connections: The Making of the U.S.-Canadian Borderlands, by Kornel Chang.  Journal of American Ethnic History, Forthcoming.

2013       Indians & Energy: Exploitation and Opportunity in the American Southwest, edited by Sherry L. Smith and Brian Frehner.  Journal of the West, Forthcoming.

2013       Kearny’s March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847, by Winston Groom.  Military History of the West, Forthcoming.
 

2012       The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century: American Capitalism and Tribal Natural Resources, Second Edition, by Donald L. Fixico.  New Mexico Historical Review, Forthcoming.

2012       Migrants and Migration in Modern North America: Cross-Border Lives, Labor Markets, and Politics, edited by Dirk Hoerder and Nora Faires.  Canadian Journal of History / Annales Canadiennes d’Histoire,  Forthcoming.

2012       Storied Landscapes: Ethno-Religious Identity and the Canadian Prairies, by Frances Swyripa.  Journal of the West.  Forthcoming.

2012       Troubled Trails: The Meeker Affair and the Expulsion of Utes from Colorado, by Robert Silbernagel. Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Spring 2012): 81-82.

2010       Undermining Race: Ethnic Identities in Arizona Copper Camps, 1880-1920, by Phylis Cancilla Martinelli.  Journal of the West 49 (Fall 2010): 88.

2010       A Gift of Angels: The Art of Mission San Xavier del Bac, by Bernard L. Fontana.  Journal of the West 49 (Fall 2010): 85.

Conference Presentations: 

2012       “The Indigenous Immigrant: Comparing Native Canadian and Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Borderlands.” Newberry Seminar in Borderlands and Latino Studies. Center for American History and Culture Programs, Newberry Library, December 2012.  Chicago, IL.

2010       “Receiving “Canadian” versus “Mexican” Indian Migrants and Refugees in Montana and Arizona: Perceived Ethnicity and Native Labor in the U.S. Borderlands.”  Western History Association 50^th Annual Conference, October 2010. 

2009       “Transborder Indigenous Migration and Refugee Experiences.”  Roundtable Panel title: “Both Borders: A Roundtable on Researching and Writing on the West’s Mexican and Canadian Borderlands,” chaired by Dr. Ben Johnson.  Western History Association 49^th Annual Conference, October 2009. 

2009       “‘I Never Was Tired of a Tribe as I am of This One’: Montanan Efforts to Deport Foreign Indians, 1880-1916.” Northern Great Plains History Conference, October 2009.

2009       “Creating Illegals out of Natives: U.S., Mexican and Canadian Borderlands and the Politics of Indigenous Migration.”  The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, March 2009.

2008       “Mexican Borderlands, Indigenous Ethnogenesis and Community Identity, 1500-Present.”  The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, April 2008.

2008       “Yaqui and Rocky Boy Cree Refugees in Arizona and Montana: Borderland Peripheries and the Formation of Federal Borderlands Indian Policy.”  The Missouri Valley History Conference, March 2008.

2007       “Justifying Autonomy through Regional Distinction: Identity Construction and Rhetorical Fallacy in Separatist Transnistria and the Republic of Moldova.” The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, April 2007.

Conference Service 

2012       “Indigenous-Defined Borderlands, Boundaries and Landscapes: A Two-Session Panel and Roundtable.”  Panel and Roundtable organizer and chair, Western History Association 52^nd Annual Conference, October 2012.

2012       “The Shifting Composition of the Great Plains.”  Panel Chair and commenter.  The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, March 2012.

2012       “Future Directions in Western History: a Roundtable Discussion with Sarah Carter, Elliott West and John Wunder.”  Roundtable Chair and Moderator.  The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, March 2012.

2012       “America: 1770-1945.”  Panel Chair.  Missouri Valley History Conference, March 2012.

2010       “Transnational Natives in International Landscapes: Comparing Indigenous Migrations, Federal Policies and International Boundaries across the Borderlands of Canada, Mexico and the United States.”  Panel Organizer, Western History Association 50^th Annual Conference, October 2010.

2008       “A Community of Consumption: Food and Music in the Twentieth Century.” Panel Chair and Commenter.  The James A. Rawley Conference in the Humanities, April 2008.

Professional Seminar Participation 

2013       “The Indigenous Immigrant: Comparing Native Canadian and Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Borderlands.”  The Newberry Library Seminar in Borderlands and Latino Studies, Chicago, December 2012.

2011       Triennial Charles Redd Seminar on Immigration in the Far West, Brigham Young University, August 2011.

Public Lectures and Presentations: 

2011       “The ‘Other’ West: Minority Experience in the 19^th Century West,” “Probing the Progressive Age,” and “American Expansion and Imperialism.”  Consultant, Guest Speaker, Summer 2011 History Alive Seminar, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Omaha Public Schools.

2010       “Conceptualizing, Organizing and Writing a Comparative History. “ Guest Speaker, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,  U.S. West Research Seminar (History 942), September 1, 2010.

2010       “Native Americans in Colonial American.”  Guest Lecture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Colonial America (History 334/894), January 28, 2010.