Welcome to Arkansas State University!

2024 Schedule of Events

Arkansas State University's Department of English, Philosophy and World Languages Presents

Delta Symposium XXIX: Talking About the Weather

2024 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Events will be on campus with on-line components. Events will be held in the university’s Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Arkansas State University Museum, Carl R. Reng Student Union, and Bradbury Art Museum

 

Thursday, April 4

9:30 – 10:30  Climate and Community

Invited Panel – Sponsored by Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts

“Building Community in a Changing Landscape: How Climate Change Impacts Community Activism in the Ozarks” Sasha Daucus (Golden Light Center, Doniphan, Missouri)
Maile Auterson (Springfield Community Gardens, Springfield, Missouri)

Organized and Moderated by Lauren Adams Willette (Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts)
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 3001


10:45 – 11:30  Preserving and Presenting History

Panel Session

“Hoxie School Integration: Outside Instigators Change the Political Climate”
Hoxie the First Stand Executive Board Members
Ethel Tompkins, President
Frances Green
Andrea Allen
Leslie Reed

Moderated by Kristen Ruccio (Arkansas State University)
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 2006


11:45 – 12:45   Weather and Music

Research Presentations

Shanita Sanders (Arkansas State University): “Artful Symbolism: An Exploration of Weather-Related Themes in 20th Century Music and Musical Productions”

Alan Brown (University of West Alabama): “When High Water Struck a Chord”

Moderated by Lauren Adams Willette
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 2006


1:00 – 1:45   Weather and History

Research Presentations

Lillie M. Fears (Arkansas State University): “Memories of A-State: A Collection of African American Memories, 1950s – 2000s”

Michael Dougan (Arkansas State University, Emeritus): “Whither the Weather”

Moderated by Rick Burns
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 2006


2:00 – 3:15   Writing from Places, Spaces, and Times

Creative Writing

Charley Sandage (Mountain View, AR): “Writing Your Roots”

Frank Thurmond (University of Arkansas – Little Rock): ‘Southward Bound on the Mississippi”
Khem Aryal
Mike Spikes

Moderated by Khem Aryal
ASU Museum, Room 157


3:30 – 4:30   Weather, Climate, and Literature

Research Presentations

Lauren Adams Willette (Arkansas State University): “Botanizing’ on the Tatum’s Ozark 80”: The Nature Writing of Billy Joe Tatum

James Stannard (University of Essex): “Water: That’s Where to Die’: Flooding, Freedom and Imprisonment

Moderated by Kristen Ruccio
ASU Museum, Room 157

Refreshments to follow


5:00 – 6:00   Talking about Books

Writers Roundtable and Meetup

Khem Aryal
Kristen Bradley
Gregory Hansen
Bryan Moore
Anne Pryor and Steven A. Ackerman


Moderated by Rachael Isom
ASU Museum, Room 157


6:00 – 6:45  Preview of writings within A-State’s student literary magazine, Tributary

Moderated by Jessica Tran, Tributary editor


Friday, April 5

8:30 – 9:45  Weatherlore and Arkansas Folklife

A-State Student Panel

Gabriela Alonso: “Comparing Beliefs from Arkansas and California”

Anna Cox: “The Tornado is Coming for the Hospital -- I Love You”: Dark Humor in the Wake of Natural Disasters

Kirby Medlock: “The Embodiment of Prediction within Weatherlore”

Amanda Trusty: “Falconry within Arkansas Ecosystems – Insights from Fieldwork with Master Falconer Heath Garner

Panel Organized and Moderated by Gregory Hansen
Guest Commentator -- Kristen Bradley (Nashville State Community College)
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room


10:00 – 10:50   Climate, Culture, and Historic Preservation

Research Presentations

Susan Roach (Louisiana Tech University, Emerita): Preserving a Delta Plantation Church for the Louisiana Easter Rock

Maida Owens (Louisiana Folklife Program): Bay Culture Collaborative: The Intersection of Culture and Land Loss

Moderated by Ed Salo
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room


11:00 – 12:15   Contemporary Weatherlore

Research Presentations

John Fisher (Freelance writer, Kennett, Missouri): Missouri Bootheel Weatherlore

Anne Pryor and Steven A. Ackerman (Madison, Wisconsin): From Ice Saints to Conspirators: A Forecast for Weather Folklore

William M. Clements (Independent, Jonesboro, Arkansas): Delta Tornado Lore

Moderated by Kerri L. Bennett
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room


12:30 – 1:30   Narratives, Media, and Weather

Presentations

Patty S. Camp (Northeast Arkansas Master Naturalist): Hey, I’m Just Here for the Eclipse

Juli Jackson (University of Mississippi): Cultivating Stories: Exploring Agricultural Histories and Weathered Narratives in the Developing TV Series “Delta”

Moderated by LaDawn Fuhr
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room


2:00 – 2:40   Talking with a Meteorologist

Presentation on Work of Meteorologists in the Delta

Aaron Castleberry (KAIT Morning/Midday Meteorologist) Moderated by Gregory Hansen
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room


3:00 – 4:15 Keynote Presentation

Les Johnson (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Introduced by Aaron Castleberry, KAIT
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Auditorium

Reception to follow in Vaughn Lounge


5:00 – 6:00  Dancing About the Weather

Performance

Facet Dance Collective of Arkansas

Coordinated by Jessica Maddox
A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Auditorium


7:00 – 8:30  Creative Writing and Poetry

Welcoming Remarks by Bryan Moore, Assistant Chair, Department of English Philosophy, and World Languages

Readings

Mara W. Cohen Ioannides
Introduced by Kristen Ruccio

John Zheng
Introduced by Khem Aryal

Bradbury Art Museum

The Delta Symposium and the Arkansas Roots Music Festival are made possible with support from KASU 91.9 FM, A-State Heritage Sites, and Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts.