Profiles
Faculty : Paula D. McClain | Staff : Phail Wynn| Undergraduate : Osueke/Adams | Graduate/Professional : Jessi Bardill | Alumni/ae : Phil Rubio | Trustee : Janet Hill
Jessi Bardill
When others see her red hair, green eyes and pale skin, they often don’t recognize Jessi Bardill as an American Indian.
“People look at me and classify, and it’s like, ‘No … I
recognize what I look like to you, but I also recognize who I am,” says
Bardill, a third-year graduate student in Duke’s English department and
recipient of a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and a Mellon Fellowship in
Humanistic Studies.
What usually follows is what Bardill describes as “an educational moment”:
Her heritage, she explains, is a mix of Irish, Scottish and Eastern Band of Cherokee,
one of only three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. Most of the tribe’s
13,400 members live on the Qualla Boundary, a 56,000-acre reservation in western
North Carolina.
Bardill grew up in Kennesaw, Ga., and came to Duke in 2005 with undergraduate
degrees from Emory University in English and biology. Her research interests
now focus on biocolonialism and American Indian studies.
Whether it’s exploring beyond disciplinary boundaries in her studies or
planning events as co-chair of the Graduate and Professional Student Council’s
social committee, Bardill believes diversity enriches all aspects of the university
experience.
“Diversity has allowed me not only to find who I am and recognize how that person changes, but also has helped me find some of the best friends a person could have, who challenge me in my thoughts and my being in the world,” she says.
Recruitment of students and faculty from a broad range of backgrounds and support for student groups can help create an environment where diversity can flourish, Bardill says. For example, she has worked with Duke’s Native American Student Alliance to reach out not only to undergraduates but also to graduate and professional students as well as local community groups.
Most important, she says, diversity requires active engagement on the individual
level. Her advice to fellow students: “Make the conscious choice to meet
someone or do something outside your comfort zone, to ask about the meaning of
an event or practice you do not understand. Don’t rely on someone else
to do it for you.”
Next spring, Bardill will teach a writing course structured around modern American Indian life and literature. In addition to teaching freshmen about critical thinking and constructing a persuasive argument, she hopes to take students to powwows and discuss issues such as the implications of a putting a culture on display.
Diversity involves an ongoing process of educating others – and herself.
“We don’t all know the history of our tribes. We’re not born with this implicit knowledge,” she says. “If it’s not spoken of, or if we don’t read a book about it, there’s still education for us. (And as) there’s more for me to learn, there’s more for others to learn. We have a lot to teach each other.”