Joshua B. Nelson, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a native Oklahoman, is Assistant Professor of English and an affiliated faculty member with Native American Studies and Film & Video Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He earned his PhD and MA in English from Cornell and his BA in psychology from Yale. His current project, Progressive Traditions: Cherokee Cultural Studies, looks to dismantle the pervasive assimilated/traditional dichotomy plaguing American Indian literary criticism to explore the adaptive potential of traditional practices. He and his wife divide their time between Norman and Park Hill.