Lavonna L. Lovern is Professor at Valdosta State University, USA, where she teaches philosophy and religious studies and Native American and Indigenous studies. She has published on American Indian issues in health and disability, including a previous book with Dr. Locust entitled Native American Communities on Health and Disability: Borderland Dialogues (2013). Recent publications also include Fostering a Climate of Inclusion in the College Classroom: The Missing Voice of the Humanities (2018), “Indigenous Perspectives on Difference: A Case for Inclusion” (2017, Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies), and Critical Pedagogy for Native American Education Policy: Habermas, Freire, and Emancipatory Education (2015, co-authored with F.E. Knowles).With contributions by Carol Locust, EdDCarol Locust, EdD, is Eastern Cherokee. She has worked with various tribes throughout her career, traveling internationally to speak to Indigenous issues of health, disability, and education. Dr. Locust’s publications include Native American Communities on Health and Disability: Borderland Dialogues (2013, co-authored with Lavonna L. Lovern) and “Wounding the Spirit: Discrimination and Traditional American Indian Belief Systems” (1988, Harvard Educational Review). Dr. Locust is now retired from the University of Arizona, USA, where she was affiliated with the Native American Cardiology Unit.
