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Hall Center announces speaker series for 2020-2021
LAWRENCE — The Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas has invited renowned authors and scholars to give presentations as part of the annual Hall Center for the Humanities 2020-2021 speaker series, which begins in July. Events will take place online and shift to in-person gatherings once it is safe to do so. Lecturers include poet-author José Olivarez, investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell and U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.
KU recognizes 2020 Sustainability Leadership Award recipients
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Center for Sustainability has recognized five individuals and initiatives with annual Sustainability Leadership Awards. Honorees include Belinda Sturm, a faculty member researching removal of nutrients and microplastics from wastewater whose work is being applied at the city of Lawrence wastewater treatment plant; and Jasmin Moore, sustainability director for Douglas County and the city of Lawrence.
Spencer Museum announces 2020-2021 KU Common Work of Art
LAWRENCE — The Spencer Museum of Art has selected “Translated Vase,” a large-scale ceramic work by artist Yeesookyung, as the KU Common Work of Art for the 2020–2021 academic year. Although the University of Kansas’ Common Book program is paused because of COVID-19, the Common Work of Art will provide opportunities for shared object-based engagement with first-year students and the larger university community.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Eliott Reeder, Hall Center for the Humanities, 785-864-4798, [email protected], @KUHallCenter
Hall Center announces speaker series for 2020-2021
LAWRENCE — The last few months have highlighted the enormous value of the arts and humanities as they inform and inspire people across the United States and around the globe. The Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas is determined to sustain a lively, thoughtful community of ideas despite physical distancing and so is launching its first summer speaker series, which will take place entirely online.
The Hall Center’s fall programming will begin online and then shift to in-person gatherings once it is safe to do so. All 2020-2021 events will be filmed and livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person or feel uncomfortable doing so. Visit the Hall Center for the Humanities webpage and follow on social media for updates regarding in-person locations or how to connect to events virtually.
Summer 2020 Speaker Series
July 14: Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy and law at New York University, will talk about his recent book, “The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity.” This event replaces the postponed event from March.
July 28: Deirdre Cooper Owens, Charles and Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine and director of the Humanities in Medicine Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and director of the program in African American history at The Library Company of Philadelphia, will talk about her book “Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology.”
Aug. 12: José Olivarez, author, poet and educator, will read from his first book-length poetry collection, “Citizen Illegal,” winner of the Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize, finalist for the prestigious PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and named a top book of 2018 by the New York Public Library.
2020-2021 Speaker Series
Sept. 29: Jerry Mitchell, investigative reporter for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, and MacArthur Fellow, will talk about his new book, “Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era.”
Nov. 2: Joy Harjo, 23rd poet laureate of the United States, will give a public reading at Haskell Indian Nations University. This event is made possible by a partnership among Humanities Kansas, the Lawrence Public Library, Haskell Indian Nations University and the Hall Center for the Humanities.
Feb. 26: Tara Westover, author of the critically acclaimed memoir, “Educated,” will give a talk. Her work was described as “an amazing story and truly inspiring” by Bill Gates and “heart-wrenching . . . a beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives” by Amy Chua, The New York Times Book Review.
The Emily Taylor and Marilyn Stokstad Women’s Leadership Lecture
A lecture by Irin Carmon, senior correspondent at New York Magazine, CNN contributor and co-author of “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” has been postponed until 2021.
Meet KU’s Authors
Sept. 23: David Farber, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of History, will talk about his recent book, “Crack: Rock Cocaine, Street Capitalism, and the Decade of Greed.”
Oct. 28: Susan Harris, professor emerita of English, will talk about her new book, “Mark Twain, the World, and Me: Following the Equator, Then and Now.”
Migration Stories
Throughout U.S. history, immigration has played a central role in enriching the country’s development, yet migrants have repeatedly faced discrimination and controversy over their presence. Forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and of enslaved Africans from their homelands to the Americas has cast a long shadow over U.S. history. These stories form part of a global narrative in which migration has been a constant, often fraught component of human history. The Hall Center for the Humanities’ 2020-2021 speaker series, Migration Stories, features a range of humanities scholars and writers whose work on immigration, especially the stories of those whose lives have included migration, highlights the continued significance and relevance of the humanities to our contemporary world. This speaker series is co-sponsored by the KU Center for Migration Research.
Aug. 12: José Olivarez, author, poet and educator, will read from his first book-length poetry collection, “Citizen Illegal,” winner of the Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize, finalist for the prestigious PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and named a top book of 2018 by the New York Public Library.
Sept. 16: An Evening with Juan Felipe Herrera, 21st poet laureate of the United States. His many books include “Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream,” “187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border,” “Half of the World in Light” and his 2020 work, “Every Day We Get More Illegal.”
Oct. 22: Erika Lee (Carnegie Fellow, 2018-2020; Regents Professor, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History, and the director of the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota) will talk about her latest book, “America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States.”
March 3, 2021: Donna Gabaccia, professor emerita of history, University of Toronto, will speak about her book “Gender and International Migration: From the Slavery Era to the Global Age,” co-written with Katharine Donato.
March 25, 2021: Denise Brennan, professor of anthropology at Georgetown University, will talk about her book “Life Interrupted: Trafficking into Forced Labor in the United States.”
April 7, 2021: Lual Mayen, who grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda and is now the award-winning CEO of a game development company in Washington, D.C., will give a talk titled “From Refugee to Game Developer: Peacemaking through the Art of Gaming.”
Also in spring 2021: A KU research team including Elizabeth MacGonagle, associate professor of history and of African & African American studies and director of the Kansas African Studies Center; Marta Caminero-Santangelo, professor of English and director of the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies; Abel Chikanda, assistant professor of African & African American studies and of geography & atmospheric science; Meg Jamieson, assistant professor of film & media studies; Brian Rosenblum, librarian for digital scholarship, KU Libraries, and co-director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities; Hannah Britton, professor of political science and of women, gender & sexuality studies; and Sylvia Fernandez, postdoctoral researcher at Hall Center for the Humanities, will give a presentation about their work on the intergenerational stories of Latin American and African migration to the Heartland. The presentation date is not finalized.
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Contact: Jeff Severin, Center for Sustainability, 785-864-5804, [email protected], @SustainKU
KU recognizes 2020 Sustainability Leadership Award recipients
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Center for Sustainability has recognized five individuals and initiatives with annual Sustainability Leadership Awards. Sustainability Leadership Awards highlight outstanding work of individuals and organizations in the KU community who are committed to issues of environmental, economic and social responsibility.
Center for Sustainability Director Jeff Severin and members of the awards committee made presentations for the annual awards by surprise video and phone calls in May and June.
“Although we weren’t able to present awards in person this spring,” Severin said, “we felt it was important to create the time and space to honor faculty, students, staff and community members who are working to create a more just and sustainable future for Jayhawks and for others around the globe.”
The 2020 Sustainability Leadership Award recipients:
- KU Center for Community Outreach Earth Program, Program Award: EARTH mobilizes KU volunteers to further sustainability on and off campus, including coordination of the Campus Garden, which provides produce for the Campus Cupboard. EARTH also has been supporting a remote gardening program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- David Sconyers, doctoral student in chemistry, Student Award: Sconyers is being recognized for his research on carbon dioxide conversion into fuels. His work will not only expand opportunities for future green chemistry research at KU, but it has led to collaborative projects outside the university that could improve sustainability in the petrochemicals industry.
- Mary Bujnak, administrative assistant, Staff Award: Bujnak is being awarded for her efforts to address energy efficiency, recycling and sustainability education on the KU Edwards Campus. Her collaboration on campus and with area businesses and organizations has resulted in Green Office certifications for campus departments and the campus as a whole, as well as R5 (Reinvest, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Certification from the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment.
- Belinda Sturm, professor and associate vice chancellor for research, Faculty Award: Sturm is researching removal of nutrients and microplastics from wastewater, improving water quality while creating alternative fuels and fertilizers. Her expertise is being applied at the city of Lawrence wastewater treatment plant and across the state as she works to develop sustainable water use policies and water management plans.
- Jasmin Moore, sustainability director for Douglas County and the city of Lawrence, Alumni Award: Moore is being recognized for her work in energy efficiency, climate change, food policy, equity and public health. She recently led the push to source wind energy for 60% of the electricity used by Douglas County government and nearly 100% of electricity used by city of Lawrence facilities. On a national level, she served on a steering committee that established the first Sustainability Fellowship program designed to encourage more people of color to pursue careers in sustainability.
Additional details about the award program and this year’s awardees can be found at www.sustain.ku.edu/awards.
Along with these award recipients, the center will recognize 19 new and renewing Green Office recipients. The Green Office program acknowledges campus departments and offices that are working to use campus resources more efficiently and create a more sustainable workplace. Offices can achieve three different levels of recognition based on the sustainable practices and activities adopted throughout the department.
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Contact: Elizabeth Kanost, Spencer Museum of Art, 785-864-0142, [email protected], @SpencerMuseum
Spencer Museum announces 2020-2021 KU Common Work of Art
LAWRENCE — The Spencer Museum of Art has selected “Translated Vase,” a large-scale ceramic work by artist Yeesookyung, as the KU Common Work of Art for the 2020–2021 academic year. Although the University of Kansas’ Common Book program is paused because of COVID-19, the Common Work of Art will provide opportunities for shared object-based engagement with first-year students and the larger university community.
In keeping with the focus of recent KU Common Book and Common Work of Art selections related to current issues and events, “Translated Vase” fosters discussions of what it means to create, to repair and to transform.
“It is a sculpture that classes regularly engage with from a number of disciplinary, cultural and psychological perspectives,” Curator Kate Meyer said.
“Translated Vase” is 5 ½ feet tall and is composed of broken ceramic pieces that Yee gathered from the waste piles of Korean ceramicists. The pieces fit together to form a biomorphic shape, and the cracks are filled with gold. In Korean, the words crack and gold are homonyms, both called geum. Yee’s work invites the viewer to consider seemingly contradictory factors, such as transforming trash into art, and finding beauty in spots of weakness.
“Translated Vase” will be displayed in the Spencer Museum’s exhibition “Empire of Things” once the galleries reopen. Resources for expanding conversation about the KU Common Work of Art are available online and will continue to be updated throughout the year.
Instructors interested in incorporating the KU Common Work of Art and other Spencer Museum resources into their fall courses should contact Celka Straughn, the Spencer Museum’s deputy director for public practice, curatorial and research.
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