Photo: Elspeth Iralu

Elspeth Iralu

Visiting Assistant Professor

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Education

  • PhD Candidate, American Studies, University of New Mexico
  • MPH, Community Health Promotion, University of Minnesota
  • MAT, Secondary Teaching, Western New Mexico University

Research

  • Indigenous geographies
  • Indigenous methodologies
  • Visual culture
  • Critical surveillance studies
  • Planning and decolonization

Elspeth Iralu is a visiting assistant professor teaching in the Indigenous planning concentration. She is Angami Naga, from Khonoma village, Nagaland, and grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. Her research and teaching interests include Indigenous geographies and methodologies, visual culture, critical surveillance studies, and planning for decolonial futures. Iralu’s current work examines the spatial surveillance of Indigenous peoples, nations, and territories in the twenty-first century to interrogate how spatial methods of counterinsurgent warfare operate as technologies of territoriality against Indigenous nations. Her writing has appeared in American Quarterly, The New Americanist, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, and Species in Peril. She has worked on community projects for environment, health, and sovereignty with Indigenous nations in India and the United States.


CRP 265, Sustainable Community Planning Methods

CRP 470, Artivism: Art+Activism

CRP 534, Foundations of Indigenous Planning

CRP 538, Community Participatory Methods

CRP 588, Project Development

Scholarly publications

Iralu, Elspeth. “On Violence, Seen Remotely.” American Quarterly. Volume 72, Number 4. December 2020.

Iralu, Elspeth. Book review: “Harjo, Laura. Spiral to the Stars: Mvskoke Tools of Futurity” American Association of Geographers Review of Books, Volume 8, Issue 4, 2020.

Iralu, Elspeth and Caitlin Grann. “Hell You Talm Bout: Mixtapes as Method for Online Environmental Justice Pedagogy.” Co-author with Caitlin Grann. Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy. Volume 7, Issue 2, 2020.

Iralu, Elspeth. “Transnational American Studies as Contrapuntal Methodology.” The New Americanist. Volume 1, Issue 1, 2018.

Iralu, Elspeth. Book Review: “Saul, Ben. Indigenous peoples and human rights: international and regional jurisprudence. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.” Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2018.

Professional Publications and Reports

Publications

HIV 101. (2017) Indian Health Service National HIV/AIDS Program. 2012 publication adapted and republished for use nationally by service units throughout the Indian Health Service.

HIV 101. (2012) Patient-centered, bilingual, health education flipbook. Partners in Health/Gallup Indian Medical Center, Gallup, NM.

HIV and Healthy Eating. (2012) Patient-centered health education flipbook. Partners in Health/Gallup Indian Medical Center, Gallup, NM.

Reports

“Working Toward Health Equity: Critical Conversations with American Indians in Minnesota.” (2015) American Indian Cancer Foundation.

“Overcoming Barriers to Develop a College Alcohol SBIRT System.” (2015) Alcohol Epidemiology Program, University of Minnesota.

“Community Perception of the Nutritional Value of Indigenous Rice Varieties.” (2014) Climate Change Adaptation – North Eastern Region of India. German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in collaboration with Nagaland Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India.

“Ditching the Classroom for Community Sustainability: Feminist Approaches to Participatory Action Research for Indigenous Science Curriculum Design.” (2012) Zuni Public School District.

“Sewanee Forest History Project.” (2009) Landscape Analysis Lab. The University of the South.

“Case Study of TDEC Watershed Approach.” (2007) Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conservation and Landscape Analysis Lab. The University of the South.

“Overview of Cooley’s Rift.” (2007) South Cumberland Community Association.


  1. Contributing editor. Species in Peril e-letter.
  2. Conversation series on “Addressing Anti-Blackness in the Asian Pacific Islander Community” between Asian American/Pacific Islander community leaders in Albuquerque, New Mexico
  3. American Indian Cancer Foundation. Project: Tribal Health Equity
  4. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Nagaland empowerment of People through Economic Development (NEPED), Nagaland, India. Project: Climate Change Adaptation North East Region (CCANER), Community Seed Exchange
  5. FoodShed Crew, Departments of Geography and Sociology, University of Minnesota, Project: How we feed each other

2014-2015. Alcohol Epidemiology Program, University of Minnesota. Projects: Identifying facilitators and Barriers to Dissemination of Alcohol Screening, Intervention and Treatment for College Campuses; A Comprehensive Analysis of State Alcohol Policy Environment and its Effects; Enhanced Alcohol Risk Management (E-ARM); Alcohol Risk Management – Military (ARM-M)

  1. Partners in Health – Navajo Nation. Project: Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (HOPE)
  2. Zuni Public School District, Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. Project: Ditching the Classroom for Community Sustainability: Feminist Approaches to Participatory Action Research for Indigenous Science Curriculum

2006-2012. Work in Beauty Inc., Gallup, New Mexico

2007-2008. Gallup Solar, Gallup, New Mexico

  1. Dr. Aryo M. Shishak Memorial Graduate Award, Naga American Foundation.
  2. Finalist, Wise-Susman Award for best graduate student paper, American Studies Association.

2013-2015. Fellowship, Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change, University of Minnesota.

  1. Global Spotlight Grant, University of Minnesota Global Programs and Strategy Alliance.
  2. International Grant, Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change, University of Minnesota.
  3. J.B. Hawley Student Research Award, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
  4. Commencement speaker, Zuni High School, Zuni Pueblo.
2012. Distinguished Graduate Award, Western New Mexico University.