The Carnegie Society is pleased to welcome a group of fabulous Nashville intellectuals for a panel discussion on James by Percival Everett for this year’s book club. The program will feature a conversation moderated by broadcaster Khalil Ekulona with panelists Sean Kinch, Kristen Meltesen, and H. Richard Milner IV. Together, these readers and leaders will explore Everett’s reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and discuss its literary, historical, and cultural significance. Read more about our panelists below.
KHALIL EKULONA
Khalil Ekulona is an acclaimed broadcaster whose voice and perspective have shaped conversations across NPR affiliates WPLN (Nashville) as the inaugural host of This Is Nashville and KUNM (Albuquerque) as the host of No More Normal and Your NM Government. He’s worked in television broadcasting for NBC, and PBS. Known for incisive, human-centered dialogue, he connects people and ideas with clarity, warmth, and purpose—no matter the tone.
SEAN KINCH
Sean Kinch grew up in Austin, Texas, and attended Stanford University. He has a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and currently teaches English at Montgomery Bell Academy. A contributing writer for Chapter16.org, he has published reviews and essays in The Tennessean, The Nashville Scene, and other newspapers around the state.
KRISTEN MELTESEN
Kristen Meltesen grew up in a small town near Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the University of Georgia where she earned both her undergraduate and Masters degrees in English literature. She has taught English at Harpeth Hall for 24 years and acted as the Upper School English department chair since 2017.
RICH MILNER
H. Richard Milner IV is a Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Education and Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Sociology (secondary) at Vanderbilt University. He is the founding director of the Research Applied to Education for Development of Youth (READY) Laboratory at Vanderbilt. He is a former president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), which is the largest educational research association in the world. Professor Milner is an elected member of the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of AERA, and a former Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study at Texas A & M University. In 2018, Professor Milner was selected to deliver the prestigious Brown Lecture in Education. He has published several books including two most recently:
Designing qualitative research to do no harm
The race card: Leading the fight for truth in America’s schools
