Dr. Susan Lobo is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where she was the coordinator of the Center for Latin American Studies, and at the University of California, Davis. In September 2005, Lobo presented multiple public lectures at universities in Copenhagen, Denmark and Nuuk, Greenland.
At Ilismatusarfik in Greenland, Dr. Lobo presented "American Indians and the Urban Experience" focusing on demographics of urban migration, mobility patterns within cities and return migration to homelands, the role of community-based organizations, and the leadership of women in urban Native community-building. She also lectured on "Inuit in Urban Spaces" discussing identity and gender roles, networks of relatedness, and contemporary means of creating linkages between communities. Dr. Lobo met with students and faculty at Ilismatusarfik to discuss mutual interests in current and ongoing research regarding Native peoples' urbanization and modernization.
While in Copenhagen, Dr. Lobo gave a talk on "Urban American Indian Community-building" giving participants background on American Indian migration to urban areas since the 1950s. She also discussed the residence patterns in cities, including dispersed households, extended families, and the role of building alliance networks and community-based organizations. Emphasis was placed on contemporary issues and urban Indian community dynamics.