Episode 12: Rhiannon Sorrell, Instruction and Digital Services Librarian at Diné College

Careers in the Public Humanities

In this episode of Careers in the Public Humanities, we return from our pandemic-related hiatus for a conversation between Michael Landreth and Rhiannon Sorrell, Instruction and Digital Services Librarian at Diné College on the Navajo Nation and Diné Coordinator for the NEH-funded project "The Afterlife of Film: Upgrading and Tribesourcing Southwest Materials in the in the American Indian Film Gallery." Topics discussed in the episode include recording counternarratives to the original narration tracks recorded by community outsiders for archival films showing indigenous practices, the obstacles that arise when trying to preserve indigenous cultural knowledge in digital or virtual spaces, and why the pandemic has been particularly difficult for indigenous persons in Rhiannon's community and for Navajo language revitalization efforts. The film project can be viewed at tribesourcingfilm.com.