Matt Gilbert facts for kids
Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert is a history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He is a member of the Hopi Tribe, an American Indian group. Professor Gilbert studies and teaches about Native American history and the history of the American West.
Education and Career
Matthew Gilbert grew up in Upper Moenkopi, Arizona, a small village in Arizona. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts in history, from The Master's College in California in 1999.
He then continued his studies, getting a Master of Arts degree from Talbot School of Theology in 2001. Later, he earned another Master of Arts degree in 2004 and a Ph.D. in history in 2006 from the University of California, Riverside.
Professor Gilbert focuses on several important topics. He studies the history of American Indian education, including the experiences of students at Indian boarding schools. He also researches American Indians and sports. In 2013, he became a full professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
His first book, Education Beyond the Mesas, looks at the experiences of Hopi students at Sherman Institute. This was an Indian boarding school located far from their homes in Riverside, California. The book shows how Hopi history and culture mixed with U.S. government rules.
Professor Gilbert's book also highlights how Native students kept their own identities. It shows how students from different tribes, like the Navajo, Apache, and Zuni, reacted to their boarding school experiences.
His second book, Hopi Runners: Crossing the Terrain Between Indian and American, 1908-1932, is about Hopi marathon runners. It explores how these runners balanced their loyalty to their schools, their American identity, and their tribal traditions.
He also helped edit a book called The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute. Professor Gilbert also helps edit a book series called Indigenous Confluences with the University of Washington Press.
Research Interests
- U.S. history in the 1900s
- Native American history
- History of the American West
- History of Southwest Indian tribes
- American Indian studies
Honors and Awards
- Conrad Humanities Scholar Award (2015-2020): This award is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Dean's Fellowship (2015-2017): Another award from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Helen Corley Petit Scholar Award (2013–2014): Given to new professors who have shown outstanding work.
- Spur Award (2013): This award was for his article "Marathoner Louis Tewanima and the Continuity of Hopi Running, 1908-1912." It was named the Best Western Short Nonfiction by the Western Writers of America.
