Ofelia Zepeda is our featured poet this evening.
May our minds open to receive the words we hear.
We thank you all for support tonight, your support.
Please keep in mind-- our next reading is by Dr. Luci
Tapahonso on February 16th.
First, we would like to acknowledge
that we are on Tohono O'odham land
and to express our gratitude for the opportunity
to gain an education and make a living in this beautiful place.
We would like to express gratitude
to Jun Liu, head of the English department;
Joe Heller, head of American Indian studies;
Karen Begay, special advisor to the president;
and the Poetry Center for offering this beautiful place.
Darold Joseph will open our events.
Darold Harmon Joseph is Coyote Clan
from the Hopi village of Moenkopi
in Northeastern Arizona.
He is a father, brother, uncle, son, grandson, and an educator.
He worked in his community as a special education teacher
and administrator before accepting a fellowship
at the U of A to pursue a PhD in Special Education
with a minor in Language, Reading, and Culture.
His research interests include deconstructing traditional
mainstream educational practice and building infrastructure
that implements culturally responsive schooling practice--
a lot, a lot here--
inclusive of culture, language, and identity
and addresses the overrepresentation
of Native youth and high-incident disability
populations in K through 12 grade settings.
That's a mouthful, I know.
Darold's goal is to further narrow
the research-to-practice gap by contributing
to the field in academia.
So at this time, I'd like to have Darold come up.
[APPLAUSE]