Zoltan Grossman is a cartographer teaching geography inNative American and Indigenous Studies at Evergreen and has been with the college since 2005. Professor Grossman shares, "I emphasize social movement alliances that move society from cross-cultural conflict to hopeful cooperation".
Zoltan's research focuses on geographic projects around the theme of settler-Indigenous unlikely alliances, serving as the basis for many publications and collaborative projects, including his 2017 book, Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands.
"As a cartographer, I often use maps to teach about cultural and ecological placemaking, military and economic networks, and geographies of empire and decolonization".
Students participating in Zoltan's programs and courses have developed many social projects over the years, most recently including, Olympia's Hidden Histories self guided walking tours of downtown Olympia, Washington.
"We hope that pedestrians looking at their phones downtown will not just be playing Pokémon Go, but learning the truths about past and recent local history".
Zoltan's work spans across the campus and community, sharing "I am a longtime community organizer in Native solidarity, environmental justice, antiracist, and antiwar movements". In collaboration with the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action, Zoltan developed "Guidelines for Working with Native Communities" and has worked with Evergreen's House of Welcome to extend relationships locally and globally. Zoltan Grossman is a past co-chair of the American Association of Geographers’ Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group; and has co-taught programs about native decolonization in the Pacific Rim, hosting three study abroad trips to New Zealand to work with Maori communities.
Learn more about Study Abroad at Evergreen
Zoltan's next project will be teaching a program in collaboration with the Puyallup Tribe around the topic of decolonization of place names in the Pacific Northwest. "My programs integrate social, racial, environmental, and climate justice, connecting past and present in local places and world regions".
