Knowledge in Motion: From Ancestral Language to Future Cures

This teach-in explores how knowledge—whether carried through language, preserved in libraries, or generated through scientific inquiry—can shape history, advance justice for all, and save lives.

Dr. Spintz Harrison examines the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, whose use of Indigenous language transformed military communication while their contributions were silenced for decades. Dr. Ryan Rafferty traces the power of libraries, from cultural memory and shared storytelling to modern scientific “libraries” that unlock new possibilities for therapeutic discovery.

Together, these talks invite us to reflect on whose knowledge is valued, how access to information fuels innovation, and why recognizing and protecting knowledge systems is central to civil rights and collective liberation.

Schedule

• 2:30 - Opening Greeting & Land Acknowledgment, Dr. Kimathi Choma and Rita Hawzipta (Kiowa) 
• 2:35 - Welcome by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Chris Culbertson
• 2:40 - "Top Secret Mission: The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II"
• 3:30 - "Impacts of Libraries: From Peter Pan, the Fall of Rome, and the Titanic to Modern-Day Therapeutic Discovery"
• 4:20 - Panel Discussion and Q&A with Dr. Harrison and Dr. Rafferty, convened by Dr. Choma and Dr. Melissa Poll

Presentations

• "Top Secret Mission: The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II" 
  by Dr. Spintz Harrison (Shoshone, Navajo), Social Transformation Studies
  The Navajo code talkers changed military war communication tactics by creating a code based on the Navajo language. Even master code breakers were perplexed by it. The code was never broken until it was declassified. Learn how the code was created, its impact on the war and why Navajo code talkers were silenced after the war ended.
• "Impacts of Libraries: From Peter Pan, the Fall of Rome, and the Titanic to Modern-Day Therapeutic Discovery" 
  by Dr. Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry
  Modern libraries allow any person to be transported back in time, experience a new culture, explore the universe, and much more. New adventures and discoveries are at the fingertips for all. Like these adventures, our lab takes synthetic routes and builds new chemical libraries that allow a vast scope of chemical knowledge to be unlocked for new therapeutic discoveries.

Contact: Dr. Kimathi Choma, kchoma@k-state.edu | 785-532-6904

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences