Coming in spring, a new season of Let’s Talk About It! at OCU
Free loaner copies of books available this summer at Dulaney-Browne Library! Availability is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
This season's theme:
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"Most American"
A United We Stand Theme
In the turbulent 1930s, Oklahoman Woody Guthrie penned his famous lyrics This land is your land, this land is my land, and the song is still widely sung in schools, at rallies and community celebrations. Often, though, it seems that only the second half of the chorus is really meant—this land is my land. This land is our land. Meaning people who look like me, speak like me, have the same histories as me. How do we stand united as Americans when there seems to be so much that divides us? This series seeks to foster cross-cultural understanding, empathy, and community resilience by introducing readers to works that recognize the myriad ways we are they, and they are us.
“Most American” looks at our shared but separate histories—rich, complex, wounded, inspiring—which we may not think of as belonging to all of us. And yet they do. Each is a piece of the American tapestry, a narrative that has played out in especially dramatic, sometimes violent, always compelling ways in Oklahoma. These four books—two novels, a collection of stories, and a collection of essays—ask interwoven questions in myriad ways: What does it mean to be ‘American’? Whose America is it? Who gets to be called ‘American,’ and who decides that identity?
To learn more about the books and theme, click here for a copy of the full series essay. Printed copies of the theme essay will also be available with book check-out. If the program's copies of the books run out, community members are also welcome to join with their own copies!
The program will begin February 11th and books will come available for checkout after the new year. Stay tuned for more details!
All sessions will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, at Oklahoma City University
Petree College of Arts & Sciences Walker Center, Room 151
NW 26th and N. Florida
Each session features a short lecture, followed by small-group discussion of the book.
DATE | BOOK TITLE | PRESENTER |
---|---|---|
FEB. 11 | Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place by Rilla Askew | Rilla Askew, Author |
FEB. 25TH | The Roads of My Relations by Devon Mihesuah | Harbour Winn, Center Director Emeritus |
MARCH 11TH | Citizens Creek (Part I) by Lalita Tademy | Dr. Tracy Floreani, Center Director |
MARCH 25TH | Citizens Creek (Part II) by Lalita Tademy | Conversation continues with Part II |
APRIL 8TH | American Ending by Mary Kay Zuravleff | Nathan Shank, Professor of English at Oklahoma Christian University |
Free parking is available in the lots surrounding the building.
