Dr. Debbie Reese, educator, librarian and creator of the blog “American Indians in Children’s Literature” will give two talks at Fresno State on Oct. 13.
The Arne Nixon Center Advocates will hold its annual meeting featuring Reese as guest speaker on “American Indians of the 21st Century: Still Here, Still Fighting.” The lecture will be free and open to the public. The program will begin with a catered reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Henry Madden Library (Room 2206). The reception will be followed by Reese’s presentation at 7:30 p.m.
Earlier in the afternoon, a presentation for teaching credential and other Fresno State students, “Teaching Children About American Indians,” will introduce concepts of sovereignty and federally recognized tribes. Reese will talk about how those concepts appear or do not appear in children’s and young adult literature. She will provide suggestions on teaching about American Indians, noting hot-button issues such as Thanksgiving and Columbus Day. California tribal nations and books about the gold rush will also be discussed.
The Madden Library’s Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature and the Arne Nixon Center Advocates at Fresno State will sponsor the talks.
Reese, tribally enrolled at Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico, is a founding member of the Native American House and American Indian studies program at the University of Illinois. She is on the literature advisory board for Reading is Fundamental and the advisory board for Reach Out and Read American Indian/Alaska Native.
Reese’s visit coincides with the Madden Library’s traveling exhibition “Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness.” The exhibition, hosted by the Madden Library’s Diversity Committee, is made possible through a grant from the American Library Association and the National Institutes of Health.
Both speaking events are free. Parking is restricted. Please obtain a parking permit entering the code 218708 into parking permit dispensers found at entryways on campus.
For more information, contact Jennifer Crow in the Arne Nixon Center at 559.278.8116 or jcrow@csufresno.edu.
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