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American Voices I

Each week, we invite a different guest speaker to join us in our American Voices class.
Every voice adds a new perspective on the theme we're covering that week and gives us new ways to
think about being an American.

You can see additional photos from our Voices class in the photo gallery.

Hiawatha Johnson

Hiawatha Johnson is the Composer-in-Residence for the Dance Department at R-MWC. He also works with students to create the annual Flava production during Black History Month. Prof. Johnson joined us to talk about magic, which has been a passion of his since childhood.

Carl Calandra

Carl Calandra is the President of the Virginia Travel Center, a travel agency just up the street from our campus. He spoke to our students about the ways Americans travel and how the industry has changed over the years.

Chief Kenneth Branham

Kenneth Branham is the Chief of the Monacan Indian tribe, which is native to Central Virginia. He spoke to us about the history and current culture of the Monacan people, as well as their relationship with Natural Bridge. The Bridge is a sacred part of Monacan history and today the tribe has a Monacan Village at the Bridge.

Deborah Lundeen

Deborah Lundeen worked as an interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg for more than 20 years. She told us about her experiences there, different approaches to historical interpretation, and how she has seen Williamsburg change. Her visit got the students thinking about how Williamsburg presents history in preparation for our trip to the site.

Gwynn Ramsey

Local storyteller Gwynn Ramsey told several folktales from southern Appalachia and talked with our students about the importance of storytelling in our culture. His presentation complemented our unit on myths and fairy tales.

Kenny Davis

Bull rider and horse trainer Kenny Davis shared his experiences on the rodeo circuit as part of our discussion on the American West.

Rod Dempsey

Rod Dempsey is the Discipleship Pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church and the Director of the Master of Religious Education program at Liberty University. Dr. Dempsey joined us to discuss the relationship between religion and tourism.

Michael Gillette

Michael Gillette was elected to the Lynchburg City Council in 2004, and also works as a bioethics consultant. Dr. Gillette talked with the Program about city planning and development issues, and the role of the City Council in guiding that development.

Joe Turek

After watching The Corporation in American Images, we invited Joe Turek, and Economics Professor at Lynchburg College, to share a different perspective on corporate America.