Adrienne J. Keene (born 20 October 1985) is an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, writer, and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. A citizen of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

, she is the founder of Native Appropriations, a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

on contemporary Indigenous issues analyzing the way that Indigenous peoples are represented in popular culture, covering issues of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...

in fashion and music and

stereotyping In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

in film and other media. She was also an assistant professor of

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

and

Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where her research focused on educational outcomes for Native students.

Early life and education

Keene is a citizen of the

and grew up in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. She earned her B.A. from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in Cultural and

Social Anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

and

Native American Studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

in 2007. Keene then received a master's degree in education in 2010 followed by a doctorate Ed.D. in culture, communities and education in May 2014 from the

Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first ...

. Her dissertation was titled "College Pride, Native Pride, and Education for Nation Building: Portraits of Native Students Navigating Freshman Year."

Activism

Keene's blog Native Appropriations is a webpage and forum for Native peoples, including discussions of

, media representations and updates on Indigenous activism. The site and Keene's writing there, as well as across other social media sites and speaking engagements, have drawn notice for commentary on topics including Native American mascots,

Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests or the Standing Rock Protests, also known by the hashtag #NODAPL, NoDAPL, were a series of grassroots Native Americans in the United States, Native American protests against the construction of the Dakota Ac ...

, college access for Native students, cultural appropriation in children's literature, tourism in Indigenous communities, fashion and racist costumes. Supporting Native college students has also been part of Keene's work. She belongs to College Horizons, an organization that has sponsored a series of workshops that support Native students through the different stages of the college process, from admissions to navigating college life. This work formed part of her dissertation. Starting in 2019, along with Matika Wilbur ( Swinomish/

Tulalip The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, ), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish people, Duwamish, Snohomish tribe, Snohomish, Snoqualmie people, Snoqualmie, Upper Skagit Indian Tr ...

), Keene co-hosts a podcast called "All My Relations," which investigates and delves into contemporary Native identity.

Academic career

In 2014, Keene became a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in

's Department of Anthropology and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. In 2016, she was appointed Assistant Professor of

and

at Brown. She resigned from this position in 2024. She cited isolation and its impact on her health as the main reason, writing on her blog that she was "exhausted and lonely." Her research focuses on access to

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

for Native students in America, as well as Native representation in media and culture. She continues this project with research on the use of media and emerging technology platforms by Native people to combat these images. Her academic book, ''College Pride, Native Pride,'' about the College Horizons program is forthcoming. She was affiliated with the

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture, U.S. culture and American history, history. It was founded in 1951 and claims to be the oldest scholarly organization d ...

, the Native American Indigenous Studies Association, the

American Educational Research Association The American Educational Research Association (AERA, pronounced "A-E-R-A") is a professional organization representing education researchers in the United States and around the world. AERA's mission is to advance knowledge about education and ...

, the Eastern Sociological Society, and the National Indian Education Association.

Publications

* ''Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present.'' Ten Speed Press, 2021. ISBN 978-1-9848-5794-1. * "College Pride, Native Pride: A Portrait of a Culturally Grounded Precollege Access Program for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Students." ''Harvard Educational Review'', 2016. * "Representations matter: Supporting Native students in college environments". ''Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity'', 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, Adrienne Jacqueline 1985 births 21st-century American women writers 21st-century Native American people 21st-century Native American women American bloggers American women bloggers Brown University faculty Cherokee Nation women writers Cherokee Nation writers Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Living people Native American academics Native American women academics American women academics Native American activists Stanford University alumni Writers from San Diego Native American women activists American women activists