The evening before I gave my presentation at the LAND conference, a colleague with whom I was having dinner said that she was looking forward to the portion of my presentation where I talked about using Native American themed films in the classroom. I laughed and said that I, too, was looking forward to hearing that part of the presentation.

I was not being flip. As I explained to my colleague, I know little about Native Americans on film. Patrick Cline was actually doing the Native American portion of the presentation. And I was looking forward to what he had to say.

As a way to give variety to my nineteenth-century American history course, I had previously incorporated film into it. Because the module worked, I was not planning on changing the module—that is until I heard Patrick’s presentation.

Patrick, one of my students at Schoolcraft College, prepared “Most Referred Films Associated with Native Americans and their Culture” in which he provided an annotated list of movies faculty members could use in their classes. His research provides me with a foundation to incorporate what I believe will be an interesting module focusing on nineteenth-century Native American issues.

As one of my students, Patrick will learn a great deal from me about doing research and thinking like an historian. But because I do not consider myself to be the “sage on the stage,” I—and my future history students—can learn from Patrick as well.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD