For many, arriving at the University of Oregon after spending their lives in Texas would be a radical change of pace. For Kirby Brown, an assistant professor in the UO English Department and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, the move to Eugene two years ago was a smooth transition.
“Of the available jobs… the vibe at the University of Oregon and the city of Eugene reminded me most of home,” Brown said.
That home is Austin, Texas. Brown graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and last year earned his doctorate in English and indigenous studies, also from UT-Austin.
Brown, 38, grew up in a small town in west Texas, surrounded by oil fields, cotton and cattle. “My father was a lifetime refinery worker and my mother entered crop insurance after raising four kids, so my roots are very much aligned with working-class sensibilities,” Brown said.
His passion lies in the study of indigenous people, particularly American Indian communities.
“I profoundly believe that Native peoples have been and will continue to be at the forefront of discussions on race, nation, identity and community,” he said.
The UO’s close proximity to Oregon’s nine federally-recognized tribal communities was a huge draw, and he looks forward to working with them in the future.
Teaching in Eugene is not the first time Brown has spent time on the West Coast. After receiving his undergraduate degree from UT-Austin, Brown spent some time in San Francisco, where he ended up meeting his wife, who also happened to be a native Texan.
Last year, Brown won the Don D. Walker Prize from the Western Literature Association, an annual award for the best essay published on Western American literature.
“I didn’t see it coming, “ Brown said. “And it was truly a wonderful – and humbling – surprise.”
Despite the accomplishment, Brown still cites his dissertation defense in graduate school as the highlight of his studies and research in the past few years.
“I was fortunate enough to have a room full of family and friends with whom to share the moment and draw strength, and was also humbled to have a fellow Cherokee citizen on my dissertation committee,” Brown said.
“There is a lot of work being done right now on comparative indigenous studies that examine how indigeneity might productively intervene in academic discourses of critical transnationalism,” he said.
His own work on tribally-specific articulations and experiences of nationhood, citizenship and belonging is but one piece of a puzzle examining colonialist impositions on native communities and the place of such concepts in their lives and communities.
- by Taylor Robertson, UO Office of Strategic Communications intern