The Department of Religious Studies has awarded the first annual Dr. Michelene Pesantubbee Religion and Social Justice Scholarship to Lacie Teal for the 2022-2023 academic year. 

Teal, a first-year graduate student earning her master’s degree in Social Work, is the first ever winner of this $1,500 scholarship. For the award application, she submitted a paper on the importance of water as an ecological resource to Native American tribes, as well is the impact it had on their society and overall wellbeing. 

"With my heritage as a Native American, [I] wanted to explore some of the social issues that I could help resolve through my work in the Master of Social Work program at the University of Iowa,” Teal says. 

Her passion for social justice and advocacy, especially regarding Native Americans and the environment inspired her to apply for the scholarship.

“As I get more opportunities for research in my program, I am greatly looking forward to continuing this work and seeing what role I can play as a social worker in helping the environment and the well-being of others,” Teal says. 

The scholarship was created in honor of Pesantubbee, a longtime professor of Native American Religious Traditions at the University of Iowa who died in 2021. Its purpose is to reward and encourage undergraduate-student engagement in religious and social justice issues. 

Pesantubbee's research interests included Native American religious practice, religion and gender, as well as religion and violence — she was especially interested in questions of religion and social justice. The scholarship in her name is awarded based on either an essay or a community project that highlights the relationship between religion and social justice or injustice. 

“When Michelene passed away, her colleagues felt a strong need to make sure that her contributions to the university and her concern with religion and social justice, and especially Native American rights, would have a lasting impact,” Professor Morten Schlütter, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies explains. “This scholarship is one way to ensure that Michelene’s legacy will continue.” 

The Michelene Pesantubbee Religion and Social Justice Award is again accepting applications. To be considered, submit your paper or project description through the scholarship portal for undergraduate students with a 1–2-page cover letter and faculty letter of recommendation by October 31.