Senior American Studies major Tyler Barron is one of 12 students nationwide to win a 2015 Native American Congressional Internship from the Udall Foundation.
Barron will complete an intensive, 10-week internship in the summer of 2015. A member of the Bay Mills Indian Community, Barron will be interning in the office of Representative Raul Grijalva in Washington D.C.
"I would argue that American studies is a major that deeply challenges its students to understand their place within society and work to improve the people, places, and institutions around them," Barron said. "The Udall internship is deeply committed to helping those in the most need, and I think with my educational experiences at Notre Dame, particularly in American studies, I can more deeply understand those people and provide better insight on how to best help them."
The Udall Foundation is a federal agency providing programs to promote leadership, education, collaboration, and conflict resolution in the areas of environment, public lands, and natural resources in order to strengthen Native nations, assist federal agencies and others to resolve environmental conflicts and to encourage the continued use and appreciation of our nations resources.
The Native American Congressional Internship Program provides American Indian and Alaska Native students with the opportunity to gain practical experience with the federal legislative process in order to understand first-hand the government-to-government relationship between Tribes and the federal government, according to the foundation’s website.
Barron was selected by an independent review committee on the basis of academic achievement and a demonstrated commitment to careers in tribal public policy.
Barron said his experience with American Studies deepened his understanding of American society and, "how our actions and environments are a product of the past, and how our culture has transformed from its past."