Georgia Humanities Symposium
2020-02-07 09:00 - 16:00 UTC | Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road, Columbus, 31906, United States
Georgia Humanities Symposium
The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia will host the second Georgia Humanities Symposium, a national conversation on the public humanities, in the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Georgia.
The event is free and open to the public.

The Influence of the Agriculture and Timber Industries in Randolph County and Southwest Georgia
2020-02-08 09:00 - 11:00 | Railroad Depot, 58 Park Avenue, Shellman, Georgia, 39886
The Influence of the Agriculture and Timber Industries in Randolph County and Southwest Georgia
The Influence of the Agriculture and Timber Industries in Randolph County and Southwest Georgia is an accompanying program of the traveling Smithsonian exhibition, Crossroads: Change in Rural America, sponsored by the Randolph County community. Held at the Railroad Depot in Shellman, the event will include breakfast and remarks from Dr. David Bridges, president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and interim director of Georgia’s Rural Center. The accompanying forum discussion will include local farmers and foresters as participants.
This event is free and open to the public.

The 2020 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
2020-02-10 08:00 - 2020-02-27 17:00
The 2020 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Celebrating its twentieth year, the 2020 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival includes forty-eight feature films, sixteen short films, three world premieres, five North American premieres, and two U.S. premieres from seventeen countries around the world.
Screenings will be presented at venues across metro-Atlanta, including the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, Regal Perimeter Pointe, UA Tara Cinemas, Landmark Theatres Midtown Art Cinema, the Plaza Theatre, and the Woodruff Arts Center.
The annual festival will also offer compelling guest speakers and visiting filmmakers who provide unique perspectives to the film line-ups.
See the festival line-up and screening locations here.
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Planet Deep South: ATL 2020
2020-02-19 08:00 - 2020-02-22 17:00 | Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 111 James P Brawley Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA, 30314, United States
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020 is an interdisciplinary conference open to all scholars, artists, and students that explores the intellectual and creative expression of African people. Through a series of presentations and panel discussions, the conference is designed to inspire the inquiry of Africana cultural production through a digital, historical and speculative lens.
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020 is hosted by the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Clark Atlanta University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Spelman College.
Learn more about the conference.

Sounds from Randolph County
2020-02-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Randolph County Historic Courthouse/Welcome Center, 51 Court Street, Cuthbert, Georgia, 39840
Sounds from Randolph County
Sounds from Randolph County is an accompanying program of the traveling Smithsonian exhibition, Crossroads: Change in Rural America, sponsored by the Cuthbert community. Held in Randolph County’s historic courthouse, the event will feature music from the late jazz musician Fletcher Henderson Jr., born and raised in Cuthbert, and the late country and pop music songwriter Boudleaux Bryant, born in Shellman.
This event is free and open to the public.

Keynote Lecture with Ytasha Womack, Planet Deep South: ATL 2020
2020-02-21 12:00 - 14:00 | Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 111 James P Brawley Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA, 30314, United States
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020 is an interdisciplinary conference open to all scholars, artists, and students that explores the intellectual and creative expression of African people. Through a series of presentations and panel discussions, the conference is designed to inspire the inquiry of Africana cultural production through a digital, historical and speculative lens.
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020 is hosted by the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Clark Atlanta University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Spelman College.
Ytasha Womack will deliver the conference’s keynote lecture. Womack is an award-winning author, filmmaker, scholar, and dance therapist, and the leading expert on Afrofuturism. Womack is the author of Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi and Fantasy Culture (Chicago Review Press).
Planet Deep South: ATL 2020’s keynote lecture with Ytasha Womack is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.
Learn more about the conference.

4th Annual Ogeechee International History Film Festival
2020-02-27 - 2020-02-29 | Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
4th Annual Ogeechee International History Film Festival
The Ogeechee International History Film Festival is the only open submission, juried, international cinema program of its kind. Now in its fourth year, the annual festival continues to promote and celebrate history presented through motion pictures. The theme of the 4th Annual Ogeechee International History Film Festival is “War and Conflict.”
The 4th Annual Ogeechee International History Film Festival is presented by the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau and Georgia Southern University.
View the festival schedule here.
The festival supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Trailblazing African American Women of Coastal Georgia
2020-02-29 10:00 - 14:30 | St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Parish Hall, 401 Fort King Georgia Drive, Darien, GA, 31305
Trailblazing African American Women of Coastal Georgia
Melissa Cooper, author of Making Gullah: A History of Sapelo Islanders, Race, and the American Imagination will deliver the keynote lecture for “Trailblazing African American Women of Coastal Georgia.” Cooper will address the context from which Geechee women emerged, and three “trailblazers” will be highlighted by additional speakers: Saint Anna Alexander (presented by Dwala Nobles), Elizabeth Elaine Lemon (presented by Michele Nicole Johnson), and Susie King Taylor (presented by Hermina Glass-Hill). This event is free and open to the public.
“Trailblazing African American Women of Coastal Georgia” is supported by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Women, Sex, and Violence in Georgia: The 75th Commemoration of the Execution of Lena Mae Baker
2020-03-09 09:00 - 16:00 | Clark Atlanta University, Haven Warren Hall, 223 James P. Brawley Dr. S.W., Atlanta, GA, 30314
Women, Sex, and Violence in Georgia: The 75th Commemoration of the Execution of Lena Mae Baker
This one-day symposium will highlight contemporary issues in the age of the “Me Too” movement. Through a series of panel discussions, topics including the law, activism and advocacy, the response of the faith-based community, and student perspectives. The symposium, held March 9, in the Davage Auditorium of Haven-Warren Hall at Clark Atlanta University.
The symposium is free and open to the public, and supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Bare Essentials Play Reading: "The Sunrise from the Moon" by Hannah Manikowski
2020-08-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Online
Bare Essentials Play Reading: “The Sunrise from the Moon” by Hannah Manikowski
The first online Bare Essentials play reading, “The Sunrise from the Moon,” is written by Hannah Manikowski and presented by Essential Theatre. The play is set in the future and features a young woman who is the only survivor of a failed lunarcolony that is kept under confinement when she returns to Earth. The young woman is under the care of a female scientist who begins to have feelings for her.
The play, directed by Peter Hardy, will be followed by a conversation with the director, cast, and playwright.
Learn more and register for this virtual event at the link below.
The online Bare Essentials Play Reading Series is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence Documentary Q&A Session
2020-08-13 16:00 - 17:00 | Online
Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence Documentary Q&A Session
Join the Columbus Museum for an online Q&A session on the documentary film Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence. The discussion will feature filmmakers Hal and Henry Jacobs; Nick Norwood, Director of the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians; and Patricia Bell-Scott, a women’s studies scholar and the 2017 recipient of the Lillian Smith Book Award. The discussion will be moderated by Rebecca Bush, Curator of History, at the Columbus Museum.
Lillian Smith (1897–1966) gained national recognition as the author of Strange Fruit (1944) and Killers of the Dream (1949). Smith was one of the first prominent white southerners to denounce racial segregation openly and to work actively against the entrenched and brutally enforced world of Jim Crow. (Read more about Smith in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.)
The Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence documentary will be available for online screening from August 8–15, 2020, prior to and following the Q&A discussion of the film. Once attendees register for the event (registration is available at the link below), each registrant will receive an e-mail with instructions for accessing the online screening of the documentary. The live Q&A session will be held on August 13, 2020, from 4:00p.m.–5:00p.m. More information is available at the link below.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Political Protest and the 2020 Elections
2020-09-02 15:30 - 16:45 | Online
Political Protest and the 2020 Elections
This online panel discussion, “Political Protest and the 2020 Elections,” is the first of the fall 2020 series, “Ethics and the 2020 Elections,” presented by the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics at Georgia State University.
This discussion of the ethics of political protest will feature scholars Candice Delmas, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Northeastern University; Natasha Lennard, author and journalist, New School for Social Research; and Akinyele Umoja, Professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University.
The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A. This online event is free to attend, but registration is required.
This event is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Decatur Short Docs Film Festival
2020-09-04 09:00 - 2020-09-06 20:00 | Georgia Center for the Book
The Decatur Short Docs Film Festival, presented by the Georgia Center for the Book
The Decatur Short Docs Film Festival is a Decatur/Atlanta-based festival series showcase of short documentaries about people and places primarily in the South. The festival provides a platform for filmmakers to showcase their work, and provides a forum for fresh perspectives and insights in the community. The 2020 theme is “Art Happens,” which celebrates the visual, performing, and literary arts.
The 2020 Short Docs Film Festival will be hosted online in September. Each screening will be accompanied by a “talkback” session with the creators and contributors of the documentaries.
A 2020 featured documentary, Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence, directed by Hal and Henry Jacobs, will be screened online the first weekend of the festival, and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers on September 6 at 7:00p.m. The screenings and talkback are free to participate, but registration is required. The production of Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence was supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.
The online Decatur Short Docs Film Festival, presented by the Georgia Center for the Book, is part of the 2020 virtual Decatur Book Festival, of which Georgia Humanities is proud to be a sponsor. See the full festival line-up at www.decaturbookfestival.com.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Jericho Brown, Keynote, Decatur Book Festival
2020-09-04 14:30 - 15:30
Jericho Brown, Keynote, Decatur Book Festival
Pulitzer Prize–winner Jericho Brown is the keynote speaker for the 2020 virtual Atlanta-Journal Constitution Decatur Book Festival.
In conversation with book festival board president, Mathwon Howard, Brown will discuss his most recent book, The Tradition, that details the normalization of evil and its history at the intersection of the past and the personal. Registration for this event is required.
Georgia Humanities is a proud sponsor of the 2020 Decatur Book Festival.

VIRTUAL EVENT—The 2020 Lillian Smith Book Awards
2020-09-06 14:00 - 15:00
The 2020 Lillian Smith Book Awards
The Lillian Smith Book Awards are sponsored by the Southern Regional Council, University of Georgia Libraries, DeKalb County Public Library/The Georgia Center for the Book, and Piedmont College. The awards are presented annually at the Decatur Book Festival.
Selected by a panel of judges, nominated books represent outstanding creative achievements worthy of recognition because of their literary merit, moral vision, and honest representation of the South, its people, problems, and promises. The Lillian Smith Book Awards honors those authors who, through their writing, carry on Smith’s legacy of elucidating the condition of racial and social inequity and proposing a vision of justice and human understanding that represents the ideals of a racially just society.
The 2020 recipients of the Lillian Smith Book Award are Jelani M. Favors, for Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism, published by the University of North Carolina Press, and Brandon K. Winford, for John Hervey Wheeler, Black Banking, and the Economic Struggle for Civil Rights, published by the University Press of Kentucky.
The virtual award ceremony is free to attend, but registration is required.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Flash Here and There Like Falling Stars, Decatur Book Festival
2020-09-09 14:00 - 15:00
Flash Here and There Like Falling Stars: The Life and Work of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III
In memory of Dr. Pellom McDaniels III, the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University will host a virtual discussion of Dr. McDaniels’s life and work as part of the Rosemary Magee Creativity Conversation series, in partnership with the Decatur Book Festival.
The virtual event will begin with an overview of Dr. McDaniels’s life and work as the curator of African American collections at the Rose Library at Emory, followed by a video remembrance that lyrically touches on his many talents and gifts. A discussion of his legacy and impact on multiple communities with current and former members of the Emory community who worked closely with Dr. McDaniels will follow. Jennifer Gunter King, Director of the Rose Library, will moderate. Registration for the event is required.
Georgia Humanities is a proud sponsor of the 2020 Decatur Book Festival.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Health Care Access and the 2020 Elections
2020-09-09 15:30 - 16:45 | Online
Health Care Access and the 2020 Elections
This online panel discussion, “Health Care Access and the 2020 Elections,” is the second of the fall 2020 series, “Ethics and the 2020 Elections,” presented by the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics at Georgia State University.
This discussion will consider how health care affects, and should affect, election policy and decisions. The event will feature scholars Seema Mohapatra, Associate Professor of Law and Dean’s Fellow, Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law; Yolonda Wilson, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Howard University; Ruqaiijah Yearby, Professor of Law at Saint Louis University School of Law; and Rodney Lyn, Interim Dean of Georgia State University’s School of Public Health.
The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A. This online event is free to attend, but registration is required.
This event is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

Nomination Deadline - The Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities
2020-09-15
Nomination Deadline – The Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities
The Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities—a partnership with the Office of the Governor, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and Georgia Humanities—recognize and honor individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the civic and cultural vitality of our state. Read the nomination guidelines here. The awards ceremony will be held virtually later in the fall.
All nominations must be submitted online at www.georgiahumanities.org/nominate by September 15, 2020, at 5:00p.m. EDT.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Democracy and the Informed Citizen
2020-10-06 19:00 - 20:30
Democracy and the Informed Citizen
What is the role of journalism in society? With so much information coming at us all the time, how should we know what to believe? What are the responsibilities of the public to protect free speech, local news, and to be informed, for the good of our democracy?
Join GPB and Georgia Humanities for a livestream event on Tuesday, October 6, at 7:00p.m., with GPB’s Leah Fleming, Donna Lowry, and Virginia Prescott, in candid conversation with an expert lineup of guests addressing these questions and more. This conversation will help viewers recognize how to get the best information available and make informed decisions, no matter where they get their news.
Do you have a question on this topic to share in the conversation? We want to hear from you! Please click here to submit your question, and we will do our best to address it during the live program. We thank The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support of this initiative and the Pulitzer Prizes for their partnership.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
2020-10-08 19:30 - 20:30
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
Claudio Saunt, the Richard B. Russell Professor in American History at the University of Georgia, discusses his new book Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory, in which he explores how Native American expulsion became national policy and describes the chaotic and deadly results of the operation to deport 80,000 men, women, and children in order to secure new lands for the expansion of slavery and to consolidate the power of the southern states. In telling this gripping story, Saunt shows how the politics and economics of white supremacy lay at the heart of expulsion; how corruption, greed, and administrative indifference and incompetence contributed to the debacle of its implementation; and how the consequences still resonate today. Registration for this virtual event is required.
This virtual lecture is supported in part by Georgia Humanities, in collaboration with the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, as part of Georgia Humanities’ Civic Engagement Track at the virtual Decatur Book Festival.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Book Festival of the MJCCA
2020-10-13
Book Festival of the MJCCA: In Your Living Room
The virtual Book Festival of the MJCCA begins October 13, and continues through December 2, 2020.
For twenty-eight years, the Book Festival of the MJCCA has provided an exciting lineup of the year’s most exceptional authors, celebrities, and influencers. Although this year’s festival will be held virtually, more than 30 authors will discuss their latest works. Featured authors include Arthur Blank, Michael J. Fox, and Ina Garten.
See the full festival schedule here.
The virtual Book Festival of the MJCCA is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Ballot Access, Voter Fraud, and Voter Suppression
2020-10-13 15:45 - 17:00
Ballot Access, Voter Fraud, and Voter Suppression
The virtual panel discussion, “Ballot Access, Voter Fraud, and Voter Suppression,” hosted by the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics at Georgia State University, will discuss criticisms of the upcoming election in the United States, focusing on such issues as ballot access (particularly in underrepresented communities), the evidence or lack thereof of voter fraud, and how the locations of polling places and implementation of voting ID requirements can impact elections. This program will feature Enrijeta Shino, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Florida; Thessalia Miravaki, Assistant Professor in American Politics at Mississippi State University; and Andrea Young, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia, as part of the Blumenfeld Center’s “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series. This event is free and open to the public to attend, but registration is required.
The “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL EVENT—Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All
2020-10-14 18:30 - 19:30
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All
Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, the writers’ human rights organization devoted to the celebration and defense of free expression worldwide, will discuss her new book Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. In an era in which free speech is often invoked as a principle but rarely understood, learning to maneuver the fast-changing, treacherous landscape of public discourse has never been more urgent. Nossel offers a vital, necessary guide to maintaining democratic debate that is open but respectful of the rich diversity of backgrounds and opinions in a changing country. Nossel will be joined in conversation by Emory historian Joe Crespino.
This virtual lecture is supported in part by Georgia Humanities, as part of Georgia Humanities’ Civic Engagement Track at the virtual Decatur Book Festival.

Founding Stories: Oral Histories of Grassroots Atlanta
2020-10-17 11:00 - 2020-10-18 16:30
Founding Stories: Oral Histories of Grassroots Atlanta
Join Art Papers for Founding Stories: Oral Histories of Grassroots Atlanta, a decade-by-decade series of virtual talks exploring the founding stories of a selection of Atlanta’s DIY and artist-run spaces.
Founders of some of Atlanta’s most beloved and remembered spaces will discuss how these organizations came into existence. What were the conditions that led to the founding of the space, project, or organization? What was happening in Atlanta at that time? What goals were established for creating the space, and were those goals were met? What can the current field of artist-run initiatives learn from this history? Panelists will discuss such questions and more.
Each virtual talk will be moderated by a community member directly involved in the initiatives, and in several cases, who operated or participated in similar concurrent projects. Each conversation in the series is free and open for the public to attend, but registration is required. Participants should note that each conversation throughout the two-day series requires separate registration.
Founding Stories is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL EVENT—"Is it OK to Ignore Politics?"
2020-10-21 12:30 - 13:45
“Is it OK to Ignore Politics?”
Christopher Freiman, author of Why it’s OK to Ignore Politics (2020), argues there is no obligation for individuals to be politically aware or politically active, and suggests that people can do more good in other ways. In “Is it OK to Ignore Politics?,” a virtual panel discussion, Freiman will be featured in conversation with Georgia State University’s Tom Crean, Sherry Massoud, and William Storey. Freiman is a professor of philosophy at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
This virtual panel discussion is presented as part of the Blumenfeld Center’s “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series. This event is free and open to the public to attend, but registration is required.
The “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL—The Savannah History Remix Meet and Greet
2020-10-23 18:00 - 19:00
The Savannah History Remix Meet and Greet
The Savannah History Remix walking tours were researched and written by Georgia Southern University graduate students of history. The tours focus on narratives that are often left out of commercial tours in Savannah, including stories of immigrants, laborers, those in the LGBTQ community, and domestic life in Savannah.
Join the tour’s scholars on October 23 at 6:00p.m. for an open forum discussing these new digital walking tours, including the students’ research process, information learned, and the potential for future projects. The discussion is free and open to the public.
The creation of the digital Savannah History Remix walking tours was supported by the Digital Tour Initiative, a partnership between Georgia Humanities and the Emory University Center for Digital Scholarship.

VIRTUAL EVENT—The Liberating Promise of Philanthropy: Stories of Grant-Makers in the South
2020-10-26 18:30 - 19:30
The Liberating Promise of Philanthropy: Stories of Grant-Makers in the South
Martin Lehfeldt, former president of the Southeastern Council of Foundations, and co-author Jamil Zainaldin, president emeritus of Georgia Humanities, discuss their book The Liberating Promise of Philanthropy: Stories of Grant-Makers in the South. Very little until now has been written about the way in which grant-making foundations shaped and were shaped by the South. The authors begin their story with the role our country’s Founders envisioned for philanthropy in the new republic, and end with an examination of modern philanthropy in the region. Particular attention is given to the crippling effect that slavery, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause has had upon the building of a civil society in the South, and how generous and compassionate philanthropists have worked to alleviate that burden. The authors assert that foundations are at their best when they help to move people from a state of dependency to one of self-sufficiency, and thereby contribute to the building of a democratic, civil society.
This virtual lecture is supported in part by Georgia Humanities, as part of Georgia Humanities’ Civic Engagement Track at the virtual Decatur Book Festival.

VIRTUAL EVENT—"Vote with your Hands or your Feet?"
2020-10-29 15:45 - 17:00
“Vote with your Hands or your Feet?”
The virtual panel discussion, “Vote with your Hands or your Feet?,” is presented as part of the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics at Georgia State University’s “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series. This discussion will explore whether voting in place or exercising a freedom to move elsewhere is best for securing key political interests, and how historically, we often trace political participation to a place of residence.
Panelists will include Michael Evans, senior lecturer of political science of Georgia State University; Andra Gillespie, director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute at Emory University; and Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University.
This virtual panel discussion is free and open to the public to attend, but registration is required.
The “Ethics and the 2020 Elections” discussion series is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

From Being Property to Owning Property
2020-10-29 17:00 - 18:00
From Being Property to Owning Property
This virtual presentation from the Mitchell Young Anderson Museum in Thomasville will provide a brief history of the Stevens Street District in Thomasville, one of the few remaining and intact African American neighborhoods built after the Civil War. Included in this presentation is part of the museum’s story itself—it was formerly a boarding house in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that stood at the heart of the Stevens Street District on Oak Street.
The presentation will feature Gylbert Coker (the museum’s executive director), Jan DeCosmo, Eboné Amos, Lililita Forbes, and Juliana Forero.
The event is free and open to the public to attend on Zoom. At the time of the event, visit Zoom online or through the app and enter the following details: the event’s meeting ID is 873 2848 3950 and the event’s password is 489767.
This event is supported in part by a grant from Georgia Humanities.

VIRTUAL EVENT—A Live Reading of Sovereignty
2020-11-08 14:00 - 15:30
A Live Reading of Sovereignty
Sovereignty, written by playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle, examines the intersections of personal and political truths and historic and contemporary struggles through two parallel timelines. In present-day Oklahoma, a young Cherokee lawyer, Sarah Ridge Polson, and her colleague Jim Ross, defend the inherent jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation in the United States Supreme Court when a non-Indian defendant challenges the Nation’s authority to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence.
Polson and Ross are juxtaposed with scenes from 1835, when the Cherokee Nation was eight hundred miles to the east in the southern Appalachians, and when Polson’s and Ross’s ancestors, historic Cherokee rivals, were bitterly divided over the Treaty of New Echota, which led to the Cherokee Nation’s removal to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.
The reading, which reunites director Molly Smith with members of the original cast, will provide a unique opportunity for a live theater experience from home. Following the online reading, Mary Kathryn Nagle, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a direct descendant of nineteenth-century Cherokee leaders John Ridge and Major Ridge, will be joined in conversation with Sarah Deer, professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Kansas and a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma.
The event is open to the public. Registration for this online event is $25. Proceeds will support opportunities for Native American students at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University.
A Live Reading of Sovereignty is presented in partnership with Georgia Humanities, the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, and the Decatur Book Festival.
