Brady DeSanti, PhD
- Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe
- Director of Native American Studies
- Associate Professor of Religious Studies
- 402.554.2628
- Native American and Religious Studies
General Information
Biography
Dr. Brady DeSanti (Citizen, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Nation) is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Native American Studies program at the University of Nebraska Omaha, a position he has held since 2019.He is an avid New York Yankees fan, enjoys horror movies and reading and collecting comic books.
Teaching Interests
Dr. DeSanti teaches classes for the Religious Studies department and Native American Studies program, focusing on Native American spiritual traditions, shamanism and global Indigenous approaches to healing, dreaming in different religious traditions, religion and horror, religion and comic books and religion, and introductory courses in Native American Studies and World Religions.His other teaching interests include Native peoples and cinema.
Research Interests
Dr. DeSanti's research interests include Native American religious traditions, Native American history, and religion and popular culture. He is co-editor (with Kristofer Ray) of Understanding and Teaching Native American History (University of Wisconsin Press, 2022). He is the author of “The Cannibal Talking Head: The Portrayal of the Windigo ‘Monster’ in Popular Culture and Ojibwe Traditions.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 27:3 (Fall, 2015), and “Classroom Cannibal: A Guide on how to Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using the Windigo and Film,” Journal of Religion & Film (2018). More recently, he authored “The New Native Cinematic Renaissance,” in John Lyden, ed., The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film 2nd Edition (Routledge Press, forthcoming March 2026).
Service Summary
Along with serving as the Director of the Native American Studies program, Dr. DeSanti is a member of the Executive Council for Native Studies, a member of the UNO Goldstein Human Rights Executive Committee, Human Rights Curricular Committee, and co-adviser for Religious Studies majors. He also chairs RPT duties for the Religious Studies Department.