Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner

Assistant Professor, Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, College of Arts & Humanities

Dr. Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner is an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland and the founding director of the Indigenous Futures Lab. Her work centers on Indigenous epistemology, focusing on collaborative community art practices and haptic knowledge exchange. Coming from a long line of Luiseño and Cupeño basket weavers, Dr. Meissner deeply values the art of weaving, using it to preserve and transmit Indigenous knowledge. She loves teaching weaving, exploring relationships with plant relatives amid climate injustice and displacement.

Dr. Meissner’s research intersects Indigenous philosophy, language reclamation, and environmental justice. She leads initiatives like the Bead, Weave, and Read workshops, fostering cultural resilience and artistic expression. These workshops, held at the Indigenous Futures Lab, will be sponsored for the next academic year by the Arts for All initiative, highlighting their significance in promoting Indigenous arts.

Her work blends academic research with hands-on engagement, aiming to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Dr. Meissner is dedicated to creating spaces where collective creativity and cultural resilience can thrive, continually seeking to build bridges between communities through art.