Saturday, January 20, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For media inquiries, contact: Dr. Torivio Fodder, taf05@email.arizona.edu and (520) 621-3093

TUCSON, Arizona – January in Tucson (JIT), the annual intensive education session in Indigenous governance offered by the University of Arizona (UA) Indigenous Governance Program, kicked off last week by welcoming an international group of tribal leaders, citizens, legal practitioners, scholars, and other professionals, including members of the competitive “Tribal Professionals Cohort.”

The UA Indigenous Governance Program is an educational partnership between two units, the Native Nations Institute (NNI) at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program at the James E. Rogers College of Law. In 2018, its three-week JIT event offers fourteen different courses, ranging from Indigenous Food Sovereignty to Tribal Business Law, all aimed at strengthening Indigenous governance. Each course may be taken on a for-credit or not-for-credit basis.

Since its inception in 2012, JIT has attracted participants representing more than 50 Indigenous nations from six different continents, who have earned over 600 executive education or academic credits through the UA Indigenous Governance Program. This diversity provides participants with new perspectives on familiar governance challenges and helps make JIT a truly unique educational experience.

Beginning in 2016, January in Tucson has provided free governance education opportunities for citizens of U.S.-based tribes through its Tribal Professionals Cohort (TPC). The TPC covers the cost of registration, tuition, travel, and accommodation for successfully admitted candidates.