History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy Department
Questions? Contact Us.
Dr. Daniel Maher
- Department Chair / Professor
- Daniel.Maher@uafs.edu
- 479-788-7572
- Gardner 217
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"The pursuit of knowledge is more important than its possession" - Albert Einstein
Our department is made up of skilled scholars from a range of disciplines. Our faculty teach anthropology, diversity studies, history, philosophy, political science, religion, and sociology. By researching past and present social contexts, students acquire both critical skills and valuable assets to aid them in their pursuit of a career or advanced studies.
Land Acknowledgement Statement
The History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy (HSSP) Department of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, in the 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 System, acknowledges that the spaces in which we offer our services were previously inhabited by sovereign nations for time immemorial. The Mississippian Civilization's political hub - Spiro - was in the region from 800-1300 C.E. The Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw followed. The 1830 Indian Removal Act forced the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole into the region, as well as these Five Nation's African-descended slaves known today as the freedmen. As representatives of an educational institution and academic disciplines that have benefited from stolen land and forced labor and created ideologies that reinforced inequalities, we pledge to decolonize our curriculum by amplifying the voices previously silenced in our teaching, service, and research practices. We seek to partner with these still-living sovereign nations to elevate their sacred legacies and their shared presence in the region and to create an indigenous friendly community within the HSSP Department.
This land acknowledgement was drafted in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in October 2022 by HSSP faculty, representatives from the Native American Student Association (NASA), and invited guests. It was further revised during a department meeting at the Drennen-Scott Historic Site, in Van Buren, Arkansas, in April 2023. It is a living document, and we will continue to further develop it as we keep ourselves accountable to the commitments that it stands for.
This work was part of the 鈥淐reating an Actionable Land Acknowledgement Statement鈥 Initiative led by Dr. Svetla Dimitrova and funded by the 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Provost鈥檚 Research and Innovation Mini-Grant for 2022-2023.
For more information about why we recognize the land and its people and to connect to all sovereign nations mentioned in the statement, go to the
Drennen-Scott Historic Site
The fully restored Drennen-Scott and Willhaf houses offer an intimate look into the River Valley's history through the contrasting stories of a wealthy town founder and a working-class immigrant family.
Since its establishment in 2003, this public, non-circulating archive has been collecting, preserving, and making available for research historical materials from the River Valley and surrounding areas in Arkansas and Oklahoma.