Literary scholar, educator, and storyteller Dr. Shana Russell delivered the 24th W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Lecture at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

Dr. Russell’s talk, “Storytelling in Times of Crisis: Using the Past to Fight for Justice in the Present,” drew from the work of Du Bois and the NAACP publication, The Crisis, to explore how storytelling, history, and academic discourse can inform the organization of movements and activism. Dr. Russell discussed her own work with domestic worker organizers and the Close Rikers movement and also led a broader conversation about how what we teach/learn at Bard might contribute to activism in the world.

About Dr. Russell:
Dr. Shana Russell is an Assistant Professor of English at BHSEC Newark. In addition to being an educator, she is also a literary scholar, historian, storyteller, and organizer.

About the Talk: 

Established in 1996, the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Lecture is given each year by a distinguished individual whose own achievements carry on the legacy of Du Bois, the civil rights leader and scholar born right here in Great Barrington. Recent visitors include Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, David Levering Lewis, Lorene Cary, John Edgar Wideman, Sonia Sanchez, and Penelope Andrews.