English Majors Emily Angell and Casi Brintle Represent at the 13th Native American Symposium

ECU English Students Present at Professional Conference. 

On November 1, 2019, Emily Angell and Casi (Hembree) Brintle presented papers at the Thirteenth Native American Symposium held in Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, OK. Emily, a graduate student at ECU, and Casi, an undergraduate completing her degree in English Education, presented their work at this professional conference alongside academics and other specialists from across the country. Emily and Casi both drew theoretical support from the existential theory of Albert Camus in their works, particularly his theory of revolt as an ideal response to the absurd. Though focusing on different tribes, both Emily and Casi argued that mechanisms used by indigenous communities to resist assimilation and maintain the integrity of their culture could be understood as meeting Camus’ definition of revolt. 

Emily’s paper was titled, “Storytelling as Revolt.” Casi’s paper was titled, “Tewa Culture through an Existential Lens.” Both students will have the opportunity to have their papers considered for publication in the conference proceedings volume that will be published in 2020. 

Dr. Jennifer McMahon also presented at the conference. Her essay considered the manner in which Native Americans are typically represented in film using reductive stereotypes, stereotypes challenged by the recent film, The Rider (2017). Her presentation was titled, “Cowboy, ‘Indian’, Rider: Deconstructing Dichotomous Stereotypes in The Rider.” This coming weekend, six more students from the English and Languages department will be presenting their work at a language and literature conference at the University of Central Oklahoma.