Biography

Kyle is a third year PhD candidate studying modern U.S.history. Kyle's work is deeply tied to his Saginaw Anishinaabek (Chippewa) family's activism on behalf of Native people, especially children, in postwar Detroit. Starting his dissertation with the preliminary title, And We Shall Remain: Reclaiming Detroit as a Indigenous Space, 1837-1993, Kyle hopes to make Native peoples central to modern Detroit history. This project forces us to consider the relationship between Blackness and Indigeneity, and how we come to know the histories of urban spaces through our cultural and historical collective memories. 

Specializations / Research Interest(s)

• Modern U.S. History; Urban History; Global Indigenous Studies (gender/sexuality and expressive culture)
• Race and Ethnicity (Construction of race in sports and Hip Hop Studies)

Research Description

• Kyle is a transdisciplinary scholar of urban history and contemporary youth/popular culture. Kyle focuses on the relationship between African Americans and Native Americans across the 20th century. 

Education

• B.A., Social Relations and Policy, James Madison College, Michigan State University
• M.A., History, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Distinctions / Awards

• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Graduate College Fellowship Recipient; HASTAC Scholar; Summer Pre-Doctoral Institute participant (received exemplary attitude toward scholarship award); Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies Graduate Student Seminar participant (2010); Michigan State University McNair Scholars program (2007-2008); Summer Research Opportunities Programs (2007 and 2008)

Works in Progress

• Transnational Progressivism: African Americans, Native Americans, and the Universal Races Congress