Lee recognized for research on Native American musicians

(Tahlequah, Oklahoma) -- Northeastern State University Associate Professor Dr. Kimberly Lee contributed to a book, Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story: Teaching American Indian Rhetorics that has recently been recognized by the College of Composition and Communication.

Lee will receive an Honorable Mention Award this year at the College Composition and Communications Conference in March. Lee authored the books chapter titled "Heartspeak from the Spirit: The Songs of John Trudell, Keith Secola, and Robbie Robertson.

Heartspeak from the Spirit" examines the ways contemporary Native American musicians create a fusion of traditional musical forms and modern technologies to address serious issues facing Native communities.

Because music is a particular kind of rhetorical vehicle, this piece shows how Native artists are confronting erasure, ecocide, and racism through song, Lee said.

Lee, a professor in the Department of Languages and Literature, has been teaching at NSU for seven years. Her research and teaching focuses on Native American writing, rhetoric and literature. She received her doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 where she did archival research on Mari Sandoz and the intersectionality of Native American cultural continuance and advocacy of Native American rights in the 20th century. Additionally, she does significant research around American Indian songwork and Native musicians as catalysts for change and reform.

Her book, I Do Not Apologize for the Length of this Letter: The Mari Sandoz Letters on Native American Rights, 1940-1966 was published in 2009 by Texas Tech Press and received the Texas Institute of Letters Award for Design and the Nebraska Book Award in 2010.

Lee also co-edited the book Indigenous Pop: American Indian Music from Jazz to Hip Hop with Jeff Berglund and Janis Johnson which was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2016.

We are excited that Dr. Lee has once again been honored for her research. Her scholarship is both timely and important, and she maintains an aggressive research agenda. She is very deserving of this honor, said Dr. Phillip Bridgmon, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Since 1949, the CCCC has been the world's largest professional organization for researching and teaching composition, from writing to new media.