Brooks Lecture Series focuses on ‘The Culture of Narrative’

09/25/2026

The many facets of storytelling are the focus of the 2026-27 Rozanne M. Brooks Lecture Series, as it explores "The Culture of Narrative."

The topic is designed to examine the different meanings a narrative can have and how they are used for better or worse.

"Stories, or narratives, tell of the past, predict the future, and serve as the vessels that explain the universe," said SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Sharon Steadman, who serves as series organizer and director of the Brooks Museum. "In short, stories rest at the nexus of human experience."

The Brooks Series honors the late distinguished teaching professor of sociology and anthropology emerita, Rozanne M. Brooks, whose donated collection of ethnographic objects to the Sociology/Anthropology Department established the Brooks Museum in 2001. It is supported by a grant from Cortland Auxiliary Services and the Cortland College Foundation.

Three scheduled lectures will take place in Moffett Center, Room 115. Pre-lecture receptions for each begin at 4 p.m. in the Brooks Museum (Moffett Center, Room 116).

All events are free and open to the public. Seating will be limited and reasonable room capacity will not be exceeded.

Wednesday, Nov. 11

Looking to the Past and the Future: Using Braided Storytelling in Community-Based Archaeology

Presenter: Hollis Miller, assistant professor of sociology/anthropology

4:30 p.m., Moffett Center, Room 115

Exploring storytelling methods in archaeology, as situated within a community-based project in Old Harbor, Alaska, a Sugpiaq village in the Kodiak Archipelago. Different methods of storytelling have a place in the practice of archaeology, from the initial formation of a research question to the sharing of results with community members and heritage professionals.

Miller will discuss how she and her collaborators have used storytelling to present new archaeological data from the Ing'yuq Village site, for community-oriented communication and as an interpretive framework within archaeology. Braiding together different threads of story creates a more nuanced picture of Sugpiaq lifeways that includes the context of Sugpiaq relationships to this specific place on the land. The talk will conclude by discussing how storytelling and heritage are important factors in imagining Sugpiaq futures in Old Harbor.

Wednesday, Feb. 24

The Story of Ahalya and More: Unsavory Narratives of Sexual Assault in South Asia

Presenter: Anisha Saxena. associate professor of history

4:30 p.m., Moffett Center, Room 115

Premodern South Asia was the birthplace of several major religious traditions, including Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Narratives about gods and goddesses, teachings of religious founders, oral traditions surrounding founders and other significant figures, and accounts of their lives were memorized, circulated and eventually recorded. These narratives became integral to South Asian collective memory, cultural identity, and understandings of heritage.

The talk will focus on "unsavory narratives" of sexual assault within South Asian narrative traditions, examining how certain accounts were selectively forgotten or marginalized, while elements that glorified male power and authority were preserved.

Wednesday, April 7

The Exception Principle: Fantasies of Inclusion in Shakespearean Drama

Presenter: Willnide Lindor, assistant professor of English

4:30 p.m., Moffett Center, Room 115

The inception of this talk arises from emerging scholarship in critical whiteness studies that has broadened conversations about race and gender in Shakespeare studies. These recent conversations call upon scholars to interrogate how whiteness operates as a complex matrix of identities encompassing marginal experiences that shape racial and gender constructs.

This talk aims to examine how fantasies of inclusion function as mechanisms of gender and racial formation. Questions will consider what happens when individuals positioned within structures of privilege come to experience marginalization and how privileged-marginalized identities complicate conversations about early modern constructs of race and gender.

For more information, contact Steadman by email or by phone at 607-753-2308.