Discussions on how colonial language shaped the literature of Native Americans and the political plight of the African-American community will be presented in April as part of UNLV's University Forum lecture series.

"An Indigenous Woman Speaks: Language and Literature" will be the topic when Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, an English professor at Eastern Washington University, speaks on April 2.

A renowned Native American scholar, Cook-Lynn has authored numerous collections of poetry and essays. A recent book, "Why I Can't Read Wallace Stegner and Other Essays: A Tribal Voice," brought national attention to her work.

At UNLV, she will speak about the nature of indigenous literature, focusing on the use of colonial language by Native Americans and how it helped create and shape their literature.

On April 17, Roy DeBerry, the county administrator for the board of supervisors in Hinds County, Miss., will talk about "Race and Politics in the United States." His discussion will address the plight of the African-American community in the United States by focusing on what life is like for the poor.

He will discuss the inability of contemporary American politics to adequately address the issues of education, poverty, and race. He also will identify both the impediments to a progressive social agenda and the steps that need to be taken to activate a dormant constituency in favor of a more egalitarian public policy.

All University Forum lectures are free and open to the public. Both the April 2 and the April 17 lectures are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History.

The University Forum lecture series is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and underwritten by the UNLV Foundation. For additional information on the series, call 895-3401.