2026 Schedule of Events

3:00 – 4:30 PM  Monster and Cryptids across Disciplines at Arkansas State University

Forum Discussion:

Speakers:

• Gregory Hansen, Professor of Folklore and English
• Michele Merritt, Associate Professor of Philosophy
• Andrew Sweet, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology
• Karen Yanowitz, Professor of Psychology

Moderator: Lucky Ihedigbo

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

4:45 – 5:30 PM  The Monstrous as Metaphor

Presentation on Local History:

• Speakers: Corrina Neal and Donna L. Shelton (Arkansas State University)
  Title: “Uncovering Real Monsters: The Attack on Culture, Traditions, and Collective Healing in the Delta”

Moderator: Gregory Hansen

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

5:45 – 7:00 PM  Literary Expression and Photography Exposition

Creative Writing:

• Preview of A-State’sTributary

Moderator: Anna Cox

• Presentations of Photography

Organizer: Rachel Boillot

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Auditorium

8:30 – 9:15 AM  Public Folklore in Arkansas

Panel Session:

• Speakers: Lauren Willette and Sara Barclay (Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts)
  Topic: “In It Whole Hog: Updates from AFTA”

Moderator: Leslie Reed

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

9:30 – 11:00 AM  Research, Writing, and Placemaking

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: John Fisher (Independent Scholar, Kennett, MO)
  Title: “The New Madrid Seismic Zone and the 1811-1812 Earthquake: The Monster Still Threatens”
• Speaker: Jillian Hartley (Arkansas Northeastern College)
  Title: "I Saw the Light: Memory, Myth, and the Senath Ghost Light”
• Speaker: Patricia Hesse (Community Scholar, Weiner)
  Title: “A Town Called Weiner: Writing Local History as Stewardship, Memory, and Place”

Moderator: Ed Salo

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

11:15 AM – 12:15 PM  Challenging Heritage

Panel Session:

• Speakers: Members of Hoxie: The First Stand Museum, Hoxie
  Topic: “The Monsters Within: Examining the Dark Side of the 1955 Hoxie Schools Integration”

Organizer and Moderator: Leslie Reed

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

12:30 – 2:00 PM  Monstrosity and Metaphor within Political History

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: Taylor Abernathy (University of Arkansas)
  Title: “The Monsters Among Us: Perceptions of Japanese American Internment Camps in the Arkansas Delta”
• Speaker: Paul A. Crutcher (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
  Title: “Colonial and Evangelical Monsters in Arkansas’ Catholic History”
• Speaker: Lillie M. Fears (Arkansas State University)
  Title: “Monstrosities from the Archives: What Really Led to the Boycott of Homecoming 1976?” 

Moderator: LaDawn Fuhr

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

1:00 – 3:00 PM  Oral History, Folklife and Heritage Sites

Workshop Session:

Presenter and Coordinator: Ian Hallagan (Independent Folklorist)

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Pine Tree Room

Registration encouraged but not required

2:15 – 3:15 PM  Embodying the Monstrous

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: Peter J. Ingrao (The University of Texas at Dallas)
  Title: “Catastrophic Cryptids: Confronting Racial Trauma in South of Midnight”
• Speaker: Lauren Willette (Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts)
  Title: “Body Terror: Tangible and Intangible Fears of the Bodymind”

Moderator: Mike Spikes

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

3:30 – 4:15 PM  The Monstrous and Inspiration

Reflections on Artistic Expression:

• Speaker: Jessica Maddox (Facet Dance Collective, Jonesboro)
  Title: “Rats, Sylphs, Birds, and Ballerinas: Exploring the Uncanny in Classical Ballet”
• Speaker: John Zheng (Mississippi Valley State University)
  Title: “Ghost Places: Inspiration for Poetry Writing”

Moderator: Marcus Tribbett

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

4:30 – 5:45 PM  Literary Inquiries into Monstrosity

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: Catherine Calloway (Arkansas State University, Emerita)
  Title: “Monsters and Liminal Figures in the Works of Contemporary Mississippi Writers”
• Speaker: James Stannard (University of Essex)
  Title: “The Monstrous Land: Bears and Barbarians in Go Down Moses and Mudbound”

Moderator: Khem Aryal

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

7:30 – 8:30 PM  Delta Symposium Reading and Stories

Speaker: Christopher Teuton (University of Washington)

Welcoming Remarks: Cherisse Jones-Branch, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Communication

📍 Location: Bradbury Art Museum, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro
Special thanks to Julia Wintner, Museum Director

8:30 – 9:15 AM  Monster, Cryptids, and Arkansas Folklore

Research Presentations:

• Speakers: Catherine Bahn and Hannah Koons (Arkansas State University)
  Title: “Haunting the Hills: The Ozark Howler, Black Panthers, and Cultural Memory in the Ozarks”
• Speaker: Alan Brown (University of West Alabama)
  Title: “Arkansas Dragons: Folklore or Fakelore?”

Moderator: Ian Hallagan

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

10:00 – 10:50 AM  Mysterious Folklore and Gender

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: M. Amber Bramlett (Arkansas State University-Beebe)
  Title: “The Yazoo City Witch—A Truly Southern Gothic Tale”
• Speaker: Pauline Guerrero (Virginia Commonwealth University)
  Title: “Liminal Spaces,  Liminal Bodies, and Liminal Spectres: The Triple/Throuple Subversion of Queer Legend-Tripping”

Moderator: Lauren Willette

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

11:00 AM  International Connections to Delta Folklore

Research Presentations:

• Speaker: Anastasia A. Floraki (Democritus University of Thrace)
  Title: “Monsters Across Waters: Folkloric Dialogues between the Mississippi Delta and the Aegean”
• Speaker: Lucky Ihedigbo (Arkansas State University)
  Title: “The Fouke Monster and the  Onoja Oboni Figure in Nigerian Folklore”

Moderator: Gregory Hansen

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

1:00 PM —  Keynote Presentation

• Speaker: Christopher Teuton (University of Washington)
  Title: “Naming the Impossible: The Wondrous and the Monstrous in Cherokee Storytelling”

Introduced by: Jill Simons, Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

2:30 – 3:15 PM  Monstrous Connections to the Movie Sinners

Presentation and Discussion:

• Speaker: Lamont Jack Pearley, Sr. (Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation, Inc., Bowling Green, KY)
  Title: “Root Work, Black Cosmology, and the Reclamation of Power in Sinners”
• Panelists: Shanita Sanders and Carmen Lanos Williams

Moderator: Andrew Gadberry

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

3:30 – 4:45 PM  Reading and Listening

Creative Writing and Book Talks:

• Gregory Hansen and the story of Belle Gunness
• Patricia Hesse on the legend of Joe Brooner from A Town Called Weiner
• Frank Thurmond and Tales of the Arkansas Frontier
• John Zheng and Soulful Dancer

Moderator: Khem Aryal

📍 Location: A-State Carl R. Reng Student Union, Mockingbird Room

9:00 – 11:00 AM  Oral History, Folklife and Heritage Sites

Workshop Presenter and Coordinator: Ian Hallagan (Independent Folklorist)

📍 Location: Historic Dyess Colony: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home
Meet at Administration Center, 110 Center Dr, Dyess, Arkansas

Registration encouraged but not required

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM  A-State Museum

Guests are invited to visit the university’s museum throughout the day
41st Annual Children’s Art Exhibition: Through a Child’s Eyes

1:00 – 5:00 PM  11th Annual Arkansas Roots Music Festival

Theme: The Arkansas Roots of Sister Rosetta Tharpe

📍 Location: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, Dyess, Arkansas