Dr. Bruce Dean Willis, Director
Bruce Dean Willis is Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at The University of Tulsa. A specialist in Latin American literatures and cultures, he has written numerous articles, book chapters, and two books on literature from both Spanish America and Brazil. His current book project focuses on contemporary Mexican and Mexican-American writers and artists. He was a fellow with the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities in 2016-17, and his participation in that year’s seminar on Food led to his chapter on the cultural history of cacao in the edited volume Understories: Plants and Culture in the American Tropics, an article in Oklahoma Humanities on corn and cacao, and two local productions of his original play Time for Chocolate.
Dr. Jessica Mehta, Mellon-Funded Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Director
Jessica Mehta is an Aniyunwiya (Cherokee Nation) poet, artist, and scholar whose inter/multi/anti-disciplinary work spans books, exhibitions, and cross-genre installations. Born in the northwest region of Turtle Island (Oregon), her practice—described as avant-garde conceptualism—centers space, place, decolonization, and Indigenization. Her forthcoming projects include the poetry collection [sp]RED (Sundress Publications, 2026), which Indigenizes the tarot, and her horror story “Miss Cherokee Princess 1996” will appear in the sequel to the bestselling Indigenous horror anthology Never Whistle at Night: Back for Blood (Vintage/Penguin Random House, 2026).
Schuyler Tracy, Special Programs Coordinator
Coming from New York City with a performing arts background, Schuyler brings over eight years of experience in arts administration, concert tour operations, event management, and educational programming. She has worked at notable performing arts institutions such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and The Juilliard School in NYC and she is looking forward to expanding her passion for music into the arts and humanities.
Dr. Sean Latham, Founding Director and Principal Investigator for Mellon Foundation Initiative Sovereignty and Democracy in Indian Country
Sean Latham is the Pauline McFarlin Walter Professor of English at The University of Tulsa where he serves as the founding director of the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities and the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies. He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of modern literature and culture and has written or edited ten books, including Am I a Snob? (Cornell 2003), The Art of Scandal (Oxford 2009), the Little Review Ulysses (Yale 2015), and The World of Bob Dylan (Cambridge 2021).
Danika Bryant, Graduate Assistant
Danika is an English Language and Literature PhD student, having received a BA in English from Hannibal LaGrange University, and an MA in English Language and Literature from TU. Their primary research interest is that of queer theory with a focus on homosociality and the space for transgender identities within it. They were a Cultures of the Americas Fellow at The Helmerich Center for American Research in 2023-24 and 2024-25.