Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics

Distinguished Lecture Series

Title: Issues of Inclusion and Access: We all have a story to tell

Rex M. Ellis, Ed.D
Vice President for the Historic Area
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Wednesday, February 20, 2002, 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium, Annenberg Presidential Conference Center
Texas A&M University

Abstract

If we were to take seriously the concerns of Asa Hillard, Molefe Asante, Ronald Takaki, Judith Rainey, Beverly D. Tatum, E.D. Hirsh, Charles Sykes, Eugene Garcia, Sonia Nieto, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Howard Gardner, and the many psychologists, educators, and learning theorists who are writing, researching and experimenting with alternative methods of curriculum designs, as well as learning and teaching, they all acknowledge a connection between students' ability to learn, think and act in a global society, and the importance of them developing an understanding of how they "fit in" as individuals. My talk will explore these issues and the power of the spoken word in understanding their relevance to an increasingly diverse and global community.

About the Speaker

Rex M. Ellis is a storyteller. According to a review of his book The Ups and Downs of Being Brown, Dr. Ellis weaves the strands of African folklore, early American history, and contemporary interpretations into the rich quilt that is the African-American experience. His stories spin a thread from the Windward Coast of West Africa to the shores of Jamestown and beyond. He uses storytelling as both a historical teaching tool and a method for dealing with controversial subjects. Ellis' unique style of storytelling educates, informs, and entertains, while building bridges of understanding and respect between different cultural groups.

Dr. Ellis is a teacher, historian, and storyteller. Until July of this year, he also was chairman of the division of cultural history and curator of African-American history at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. He now serves as vice president for the Historic Area of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation where he oversees the staff development, training, budgeting and general operation of Colonial Williamsburg's 173-acre Historic Area, as well as the planning and presentation of all interpretive and theatrical programs at Colonial Williamsburg. His areas of responsibility include the departments of historic sites, historic trades, historic events, performing arts and coach and livestock, as well as the Visitor Center and the Costume Design Center.

Dr. Ellis is the author of several books, including Beneath the Blazing Sun: Stories From the African-American Journey (1997) and the upcoming, With A Banjo On My Knee (2001), about early African-American banjo players. He has served as a consultant to the National Park Service, Old Salem Village in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Association of African-American Museums, the American Association of State and Local History and is a former board chairman of the National Storytelling Association.

Dr. Ellis is a native of Williamsburg. He holds a doctoral degree from the College of William and Mary in higher education, a master of fine arts from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., and a bachelor of fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.