Beginning in January, The Catoosa Public Library will be hosting a series of book discussions. Each month, from January through May, a different book title will be available to readers who would like to participate and local scholars will lead a discussion about the book
Community members are invited to join us for any or all of these discussion events. The first book is available to borrow now (pick up a copy at the library) and subsequent books will be available at the previous month's event, or at the library after the event.
The theme will be Native American Identity From Past to Present: A More Perfect Union. Literature and popular media are littered with stereotypical and fantastical images and stories of Native American people, often painting them as people living in a mystical past or as a pure but vanishing race who remain on reservations, far removed from the rest of American society. This theme challenges this narrative by presenting Native American identity through the lens of Native writers and Native experiences. These writers speak to the complexities of Native identity: including mixed identity; colonial traumas, such as removal; living in urban spaces; and the way the past informs the present for Native American people, families, and tribal nations.
"Books, services, and other materials for this series are provided by Let’s Talk About It, a project of Oklahoma Humanities. Generous funding and support for this series was provided by the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and Oklahoma City University. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Oklahoma Humanities.”
Schedule
January 19, 2023 - 6:00pm
The Removed by Brandon Hobson
Discussion Led By: Dr. Kurt Lively
Dr. Kurt Lively is an Associate Professor of History at Tulsa Community College. Dr. Lively is a lifelong Oklahoman. He was raised on a cattle ranch in the small farming community Sharon, OK in the far northwestern corner of the state. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern Oklahoma State University. At Oklahoma State University, Dr. Lively completed a Master of Arts and PhD in the History of the American West. Dr. Lively’s research focuses on agriculture in Oklahoma before the 1950s, paying particular attention to tenant farmers and sharecroppers. When he isn’t teaching, Dr. Lively loves all sorts of outdoor recreational activities – hunting, fishing, golfing, among other things. He also really enjoys the LTAIO series. It allows for some great conversations with people who actually read without being forced to.
February 16, 2023 - 6:00pm
There There by Tommy Orange
Discussion Led By: Dr. Richmond Adams
Richmond Adams holds a Ph. D. In nineteenth century American literature from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2011). He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Memphis. A native of Tennessee, he has lived for most of his adult life in Oklahoma, having attained the status of “adopted Okie” via the certification of his wife, born and reared in Shawnee.
Since 2005, Dr. Adams has authored one book of literary criticism, more than 20 articles as well as film and book reviews in various scholarly journals. He has the current pleasure to serve as Pastor of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pawnee.
March 16, 2023 - 6:00pm
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Discussion Led By: Dr. Jeromy Miller
Dr. Miller was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at Northeastern State University in 2008 and 2009 respectively, majoring in literature with an emphasis on Native American Literature. He earned his Doctorate from the University of Arkansas with an emphasis on Native American Cultural Studies in 2021. He has worked with the Cherokee Nation since 2017 in the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program where he is now a curriculum developer. He is also an Assistant Professor of Cherokee Culture and Indigenous Studies at Northeastern State University. His continued research interests included modes of representation of Native American identity in film, television, literature, and new media with a particular emphasis on gender and language.
April 20, 2023 - 6:00pm
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Discussion Led By: Helen Clements
Helen Clements, a third-generation native of Elk City, Oklahoma, majored in English, and worked as a library assistant at Oklahoma State University in the 1960s. She went on to library school at the University of Illinois and took her first professional position at the OU Library in Norman.
Helen went on to earn degrees in cultural anthropology at the Texas Tech University, and at the University of Texas at Austin. Her master’s thesis and dissertation were about Mexico; she did fieldwork in Zapotec indigenous weaving villages in the state of Oaxaca, in far southern Mexico.
Helen’s anthropological career has basically been that of a librarian. She served as a library liaison to several departments at OSU. She retired in the fall of 2018, but returned part-time to work on a special project and served as the Interim Architecture Librarian before finally retiring in November 2021. She enjoys leading Let’s Talk About It book discussion series.
May 18, 2023 - 6:00pm
Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah Miranda
Discussion Led By: Dr. Russell Lawson
Russell M. Lawson has a Ph.D. in history. He has taught college courses for forty years and currently teaches as an adjunct at Tulsa Community College. He is the author of many books: narrative histories, biography, local histories, encyclopedia. He lives in Broken Arrow.
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