Join us for an engaging panel discussion with three scholars who will discuss architectural and interior styles, powerful landscapes, and domestic scenes that all feature prominently in Cather’s writings. These important backdrops to her novels were illuminated through her gift for idyllic description and acute observation. Join Claire Schmidt, Steve Tamayo, and Nathan Tye for this popular and perennial event that further explores our annual conference theme.

This event is free to attend thanks to the generosity of Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. The views expressed in spring conference programs do not necessarily reflect the view of Humanities Nebraska or the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

Claire Schmidt

FOLKLORIST & ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH

Claire Schmidt is a folklorist and associate professor of English. She teaches courses in British and World literature and writing. As a folklorist, Claire's research is focused on the everyday, specifically occupational humor and foodways and race. She is the author of If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers (2017, University of Wisconsin Press) and has published research in Western Folklore, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture, Oral Tradition, as well as in edited collections, including Wait Five Minutes: Weatherlore in the Twenty-First Century, Culture Work: Folklore for the Public Good, Reading Mystery Science Theatre: Critical Approaches and History of Folklore Studies in the United States and Canada.

Steve Tamayo

ARTIST

Steve Tamayo draws upon his family history as a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe. His fine arts education (BFA from Singe Gleska University), along with his cultural upbringing, have shaped him as an artist, historian, storyteller and dancer. Steve provides activities during his residencies that include art and regalia making, drumming, powwow dance demonstrations and lectures on the history, symbolism and meaning behind the Native customs and traditions. His work is currently represented in We're Still Here: American Indian Spirit in the Unmade Place which is on display in our Red Cloud Opera House Gallery through August 1.

Nathan Tye

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

Nathan Tye is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nebraska - Kearney. A historian of Great Plains and Midwest culture, literature, and labor, he has published in The Willa Cather Review, The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, and Nebraska History. He also serves on the board of the Mari Sandoz Society.