Womack to deliver April 13 keynote address at NSU Symposium

(Tahlequah, OK)--Dr. Craig Womack, an associate professor of English at Emory University in Atlanta, will deliver the Wednesday afternoon keynote speech at the 39th annual Symposium on the American Indian at Northeastern State University.

Preliminary symposium activities begin April 11 with the full schedule running April 13-16. This year's theme is "Hands Across Nations: Smart Legacies Strong Spirits."

The title of Womack's presentation is "Literature and Other Make Believe Stuff: What They Have to do With Traditions of Community Leadership."

"I want to relate the relevance of Native American creative writings to NSU's history of the annual symposium and work with the Cherokee Nation by discussing the importance of imagination in relation to community relations," he said.

Womack is an author and leading figure in Native American literary studies and argues that mainstream contemporary approaches to such studies need change. His books include American Indian Literary Nationalism, Red on Red: Native American Literary Separatism, Drowning in Fire and Art as Performance, Story as Criticism. He is a co-author of Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective.

He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1995. During his career he has taught at OU, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Nebraska.

Other confirmed speakers for the symposium include Dr. Theda Perdue and Dr. Marcellino Berardo. Womack, Perdue and Berardo are the 39th Symposium's Oklahoma Humanities Council Scholars. The three are also appearing with the assistance of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The symposium, organized by the NSU's Center for Tribal Studies and the American Indian Heritage Committee, includes traditional arts booths, book displays, film screenings, workshops and the annual NSU Powwow on Friday and Saturday. Admission is free and open to the public.

Sponsors funding the 39th Symposium on the American Indian include the Muskogee Creek Nation Casino and Oklahoma Arts Council, NEH, the OHC, Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism, EPSCoR, the Institute for Native Justice, the National Indian Women' Health Resource Center and private contributors.

For a complete symposium schedule visit the Symposium page.