Duke Today - Going Graphic: Six Questions with Duke Professor Courtney Lewis on Her Superpowered Library Exhibit

Two years ago, Courtney Lewis launched the university’s first-ever Native American studies research program: Research for Indigenous Studies and Engagement in the United States (or RISE-US). An enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation, the Crandall Family Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology has established herself as a rising star in Native American studies, as well as a dynamic program builder. She is also a self-described “Indige-geek” who is seriously into American Indian comic books.

Lewis and her fellow comic enthusiast Lee Francis, IV, Ph.D. (Pueblo of Laguna first descendant), curated the library exhibit “American Indians Go Graphic,” currently on display in the Chappell Family Gallery in Perkins Library through the end of the fall semester. 

The exhibit brings to life stories of Indigenous superheroes and everyday American Indians firmly rooted in their own cultural identities. Linda Daniel, Duke’s librarian for cultural anthropology and Native American studies, recently caught up with Professor Lewis to ask about the display. 

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