American Indian and Indigenous Studies

A scholar of American Government raised in the Southwest, Professor Richard Conley, PhD holds a doctorate from the University of Maryland (1998) and an M.A. from McGill University in Montréal, Canada (1993). He has taught at UF since 1998 and has directed the interdisciplinary American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) Program since 2020. His teaching and research include the Presidency, presidential-congressional relations, and Native American Studies. His most recent book entitled Donald Trump and American Populism, was published by Edinburgh University Press (UK) in 2020. He is currently researching a book, based on archival and field research, that investigates how national institutions – Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court – have interacted since 1949 to shape incongruencies in policymaking towards Native Americans, including economic and social development, education, and the protection of sacred sites on and off reservation lands. In 2017 and 2018 (pre-pandemic), he undertook Spring Break trips for students to visit tribal councils and historical sites, engage in service to elders, and interact with Native American artists and historians on the Great Plains and Four Corners, respectively.