From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
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KU study uncovers new aspect of Ewing sarcoma
LAWRENCE — A team of University of Kansas researchers is helping uncover hidden aspects of Ewing sarcoma, which may lead to the discovery of new cancer treatments. Mizuki Azuma, associate professor of molecular biosciences, sought to go beyond the well-studied aspect of fusion protein in Ewing sarcoma, which occurs in the bones or in the soft tissue around the bones, and instead turned her attention toward an additional genetic abnormality in the cancer. The findings were just published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
Law school honors students for scholarship, leadership and service
LAWRENCE – Fourteen University of Kansas School of Law students received awards during the spring 2023 semester for distinguishing themselves in scholarship, leadership and service to the law school and the community. They include Kansans from Lawrence, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Neodesha, Overland Park, Shawnee and Wichita.
KU scientist receives honorary membership award from international organization
LAWRENCE — Evan Franseen, professor of geology at the University of Kansas, senior scientific fellow at the Kansas Geological Survey and co-director of the Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium, is the recipient of the 2023 Honorary Membership Award from SEPM, the Society for Sedimentary Geology.
Awards presented at KU’s 2023 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony
LAWRENCE — Two doctoral candidates and one faculty member received honors during the 2023 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony at the University of Kansas. The award recipients include a scholar who completed his studies in neurosciences this spring at KU Medical Center and whose work showed that following a ketogenic diet can prevent and reverse nearly all biomarkers of diabetic neuropathy.
KU International Affairs awards 13 grants for research, collaboration abroad
LAWRENCE — KU International Affairs has awarded more than $26,000 in travel grants to 11 University of Kansas faculty members and two graduate students to support research and collaboration abroad. Through these funds, faculty and students will travel to nine countries on four continents to conduct research, access archives, collaborate with colleagues and develop or maintain international partnerships. All funds prioritize projects that help to grow or expand the influence of KU research, further student success or promote healthy and vibrant communities.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Maria Losito, Undergraduate Biology, [email protected]
KU study uncovers new aspect of Ewing sarcoma
LAWRENCE — A team of University of Kansas researchers is helping uncover hidden aspects of Ewing sarcoma, which may lead to the discovery of new cancer treatments.
Mizuki Azuma, associate professor of molecular biosciences, sought to go beyond the well-studied aspect of fusion protein in Ewing sarcoma, which occurs in the bones or in the soft tissue around the bones, and instead turned her attention toward an additional genetic abnormality in the cancer.
Working with Haeyoung Kim, doctoral candidate in molecular biosciences; Hyewon Park, research assistant; Evan Schulz, doctoral candidate in molecular biosciences, and Yoshiaki Azuma, professor of molecular biosciences, the team found that the reduction of EWS proteins in a cell causes abnormal cell division, which results in a daughter cell that has abnormal copy numbers of DNA. Their findings were just published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
In a healthy cell, the EWS gene encodes a multifunctional protein that is involved in gene expression, cell signaling, and RNA processing and transport. This DNA is known to be mutated in Ewing sarcoma. Specifically, the EWS gene is fused to other gene, and one copy of the EWS gene is lost in the patient. The KU team made cells that mimic the DNA condition of Ewing sarcoma, and samples were analyzed at the Microscopy and Analytical Imaging Research Resource Core Laboratory. The team discovered that the EWS normally located at a part of DNA works together with Aurora B (an important protein required for cell division), but reduced EWS induces abnormal copy numbers of DNA due to the failure in the cell division.
Azuma’s findings could lead toward new cancer treatments, as the same process that causes the reduction of the EWS gene in a cell is common across many types of cancer, including other childhood sarcoma, leukemia, melanoma and breast cancer. By pinpointing the cause of abnormal cell division in EWS, it will allow researchers to test for and discover a drug that targets the EWS phenomena, and in turn apply the same drug to cancers with similar factors.
“When you find a particular phenomenon specific to a cancer, it allows you to screen cancer drugs that specifically work only in the phenomenon. In this case, it will allow us to test if cancer drugs will kill the Ewing sarcoma cells with lower levels of EWS,” Azuma said.
The Azuma lab is applying for a grant to continue their research.
“This research was sort of a baseline study, and we aim to reveal the entire pathway in future study,” Azuma said.
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Law school honors students for scholarship, leadership and service
LAWRENCE – Fourteen University of Kansas School of Law students received awards during the spring 2023 semester for distinguishing themselves in scholarship, leadership and service to the law school and the community.
The recipients:
1. Claudia Palacios Armstrong, Lima, Peru: The Dru Mort Sampson Center for Diversity & Inclusion Award of Distinction
2. Jacob Barefield, Augusta, Georgia: Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award
3. JC Carter, Chesterfield, Missouri: Class of 1949 Leadership Award
4. Emily Depew, Neodesha: Polsinelli Advocacy Award
5. Kat Girod, Overland Park: Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award
6. Erin Levy, Lawrence: Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement
7. Brandon Lock, Dallas: Class of 1949 Leadership Award
8. Savannah Lucas, Leavenworth: Janean Meigs Memorial Award
9. Amanda McElfresh, Manhattan: Robert F. Bennett Award
10. Allyson Monson, Clark, South Dakota: Walter Hiersteiner Outstanding Service Award
11. Lauren Page, Wichita: Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement
12. Toni Ruo, Shawnee: Janean Meigs Memorial Award
13. Sarah Schmitz, Wichita: Class of 1949 Leadership Award
14. Aimee Wuthrich, Wichita: Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement
All but one of the honorees are graduates in the Class of 2023 who were recognized at a hooding ceremony May 13. Lauren Page, of Wichita, was selected to serve as the 2023 banner carrier, an honor bestowed upon a student who exemplifies excellence in their program. The class is composed of 90 recipients of the juris doctor as well as one Master of Laws in American Legal Studies and two Doctor of Juridical Science graduates. Nine additional students graduated from the Master of Science in Homeland Security: Law & Policy program.
Funds for the awards are managed by KU Endowment, the independent and nonprofit organization serving as KU’s official fundraising and fund-management organization. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.
Student awards are listed below alphabetically.
Claudia Palacios Armstrong, of Lima, Peru, received the Dru Mort Sampson Center for Diversity & Inclusion Award of Distinction. This award is given to a student who, in the opinion of the faculty, has exhibited exemplary leadership and a commitment to promoting diversity and belonging – both in Green Hall and in the law school’s broader communities. Armstrong served as the president of the Hispanic American Law Student Association. She met each classmate and professor with kindness, patience and a passion for building community. She is a graduate of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Jacob Barefield, of Augusta, Georgia, received the Justice Lloyd Kagey Leadership Award. This award is presented each year to the graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has most distinguished themselves through leadership in the School of Law. Barefield served as a Head Dean’s Fellow and held leadership positions in multiple student organizations. He has advocated for his fellow students with grace and professionalism. Barefield is the son of Tracy and the late Mickey Barefield. He is a graduate of Evans High School and Southern University.
JC Carter, of Chesterfield, Missouri, received the Class of 1949 Leadership Award for the 2L class. This award is given annually to a student who, in the opinion of the faculty, has contributed most significantly to the overall experience of the students in Green Hall. Carter held key leadership roles in KU Traffic Court and the Student Bar Association as the executive vice president. Carter led an initiative to create the Dean’s Cup competition, which builds community between classes and encourages participation in student organizations. Carter is the child of Margaret and Patrick Carter. They are a graduate of Francis Howell High School and Southeast Missouri State University.
Emily Depew, of Neodesha, received the Polsinelli Advocacy Award. This new award is given to the graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in moot court appellate advocacy. Depew has had more success in appellate oral advocacy than any other KU Law student. She served as a chief justice of the Moot Court Council and represented KU Law in many national moot court competitions where she brought home multiple awards. She won the National NALSA Moot Court Competition three years in a row. Depew is also the recipient of the Elizabeth Dole Public Service Award. She is the daughter of Deborah and Douglas Depew. She is a graduate of Neodesha High School and KU.
Kat Girod, of Overland Park, received the Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership and Service Award. This award is given annually to the graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has most distinguished themselves in the combined areas of scholarship, leadership and service. Girod served as a Dean’s Fellow, a Shook Hardy & Bacon Scholar and recently received the inaugural Bruce Hopkins Award for Non-Profit Excellence. She participated in Kansas Law Review, bankruptcy moot court competitions, Mindfulness in Law Society, Women in Law and the Business & Tax Law Society. She expanded the reach of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program by establishing a special program to assist undocumented workers in completing their tax returns. Girod is the daughter of Susan and Doug Girod. She is a graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Erin Levy, of Lawrence, received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. This award is given annually to a graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has made the most significant contribution toward overall legal scholarship. Levy served as a Shook Hardy & Bacon Scholar and was an articles editor for the Kansas Law Review, where her article was selected for publication. Levy is the daughter of Kathleen and Richard Levy. She is a graduate of Bishop Seabury Academy, Beloit College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Brandon Lock, of Dallas, received the Class of 1949 Leadership Award. This award is given annually to a student who, in the opinion of the faculty, has contributed most significantly to the overall experience of the students in Green Hall. Lock served as the Black Law Student Association president, American Bar Association representative in the Student Bar Association and was a Dean’s Fellow. Lock is the son of Kathy and Duane Lock. He is a graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Rockhurst University and Southern Methodist University.
Savannah Lucas, of Leavenworth, received the Janean Meigs Memorial Award. This award is given annually to a graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has demonstrated a caring spirit in service to the students of the university and/or the community at large. She was a key member in organizations including Women in Law, the Student Bar Association and the Student Ambassador program. After graduation, Lucas plans to serve as a JAG officer. Lucas is the daughter of Sheila and Floyd Lucas. She graduated from Leavenworth High School and the University of Alabama.
Amanda McElfresh, of Manhattan, received the Robert F. Bennett Award. This award is presented each year to the graduate whose undergraduate degree is from a Kansas university or college and who has demonstrated leadership qualities through public service. McElfresh served as a Dean’s Fellow, editor of Kansas Law Review, secretary for the Hispanic American Law Students Association and member of Women in Law. She served as a chief justice of KU Law’s Moot Court Council and took first place in the Federal Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition where she won best oralist. She volunteered with the Guardianship Assistance Program of Johnson County and was a volunteer intern with the ACLU of Kansas.
McElfresh is the daughter of Esther Figueredo and Pedro Pablo Del Toro. She is a graduate of Rock Creek Jr/Sr High School and Wichita State University.
Allyson Monson, of Clark, South Dakota, received the Walter Hiersteiner Outstanding Service Award. This award is given to a graduate whose service to their fellow students in the School of Law or the university community demonstrates the greatest promise for contribution to the legal profession and to society. Monson served in numerous leadership positions including Student Bar Association treasurer and class representative. She was on the Pro Bono Honor Roll and took first place in the Federal Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition. Monson is the daughter of Brenda and Jerry Monson. She graduated from Clark High School and South Dakota State University.
Lauren Page, of Wichita, received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. This award is given annually to a graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has made the most significant contribution toward overall legal scholarship. Page is a Weigand scholar who achieved the highest grade-point average of any student in the Class of 2023 and amassed 10 CALI/Lawyering Awards. She served as an articles editor for the Kansas Law Review, where her article was selected for publication, and also served as a site coordinator for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. She was active in Women in Law, Christian Legal Society and the Business & Tax Law Society. At the UCLA Transactional Law Meet, her team won Best Overall for the buyer’s side. Page is the daughter of Crystal and Larry Page. She is a graduate of Trinity Academy and MidAmerica Nazarene University.
Toni Ruo, of Shawnee, received the Janean Meigs Memorial Award. This award is given annually to a graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has demonstrated a caring spirit in service to the students of the university and/or the community at large. Ruo served as the executive comments editor for the Kansas Law Review and as a lawyering research teaching assistant for two years, guiding first-year students through their first year of law school. She received five CALI/Lawyering Awards and had two articles published while in law school. She served as president of the Business & Tax Law Society and reinvigorated the 2023 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program by recruiting student volunteers. Ruo is the daughter of Amy and John Ruo. She is a graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School and St. Louis University.
Sarah Schmitz, of Wichita, received the Class of 1949 Leadership Award. This award is given annually to a student who, in the opinion of the faculty, has contributed most significantly to the overall experience of the students in Green Hall. Schmitz served as a Head Dean’s Fellow as well as a staff editor and managing editor for the Kansas Law Review, both publishing and presenting nationally. Schmitz is the daughter of Kristin and Kevin Schmitz. She is a graduate of Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School and Creighton University.
Aimee Wuthrich, of Wichita, received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. This award is given annually to a graduate who, in the opinion of the faculty, has made the most significant contribution toward overall legal scholarship. Wuthrich served as a staff editor for the Kansas Law Review and received multiple CALI Awards. She also served low-income clients in the Medical Legal Partnership. Wuthrich is the daughter of Kathy and Dr. Stan Mosier. She is a graduate of Wichita Southeast High School, Baylor University and Middle East Technical University.
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Contact: Julie Tollefson, Kansas Geological Survey, 785-864-2114, [email protected]
KU scientist receives honorary membership award from international organization
LAWRENCE — Evan Franseen, professor of geology at the University of Kansas, senior scientific fellow at the Kansas Geological Survey and co-director of the Kansas Interdisciplinary Carbonates Consortium, is the recipient of the 2023 Honorary Membership Award from SEPM, the Society for Sedimentary Geology, for “excellence in professional achievement and extraordinary service to the Society.”
SEPM is the largest and one of the oldest international societies in the field of sedimentary geology.
“I’ve been involved in SEPM since 1983 and served in many roles for SEPM throughout my career. I’ve enjoyed all of it and, importantly, SEPM has provided me with so much,” Franseen said. “My involvement in SEPM has been one of the most important and rewarding aspects of my career, so receiving this award is really special.”
Franseen, a sedimentary geologist and stratigrapher who has been with the University of Kansas for nearly 35 years, studies calcium carbonate rocks, such as limestone, that form important aquifers and oil and gas reservoirs and that are targets for deep underground storage of carbon dioxide. His research starts with information from the rocks and then incorporates a variety of approaches, from geophysical to computer modeling to geochemical analysis and more. The goals of the studies are to develop a better understanding of environmental processes, such as sea level and climate, that were important in how layers of rocks were deposited and changed through time.
“As a research geoscientist, I try to understand how geologic systems work and answer important scientific questions that not only advance our understanding but also have application to real world issues. I’ve been fortunate to have great research collaborators over the years, and this award is an important indication by the international peer community that the research has had some impact,” Franseen said.
Diana Ortega-Ariza, KGS assistant scientist and KU courtesy assistant professor who met Franseen as a student participant in a geology field trip, nominated him for the SEPM award.
“I have known Evan since 2008, first as a participant of his world-famous Spain field trip, then as his Ph.D. student, and now as a colleague at the KGS,” she said. “Evan is a very well-deserving recipient of this prestigious award. Thirteen experts from around the world wrote letters of support for the nomination. Their comments spoke to him being a leader in carbonate sedimentology, the important impact of his research and his longstanding record of service to SEPM. He easily meets and surpasses the criteria of ‘excellence in professional achievements and extraordinary service to the Society.’”
David Fowle, chair of the KU Department of Geology, said Franseen is known as a thoughtful mentor, patient teacher and strong colleague.
“Evan has been a leader in carbonate sedimentology internationally, nationally and within our own department,” Fowle said. “This leadership has been demonstrated through service to the profession, research and mentorship of a new generation of leaders in the field. His field trips associated with carbonate sedimentology are beloved by our students but, perhaps more importantly, well-respected by employers in the energy sector is a reason why KU students thrive in their companies.”
Throughout his career, Franseen has mentored numerous graduate students and early career scientists, including leading field trips to Spain and the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico and Texas for students from KU and the University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez.
“Evan is a thoughtful and empathetic adviser and approaches mentorship holistically,” said Jennifer Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies at KU and professor in the geology department. “His support is student-centered, extending through research, career preparation and personal considerations for his students. Evan has an ability to meet students and early career professionals where they are, resulting in an impressive track record of students who achieve scientifically but also go on to diverse and successful careers in geoscience.”
Franseen has served SEPM in numerous leadership and committee roles, including as SEPM president, as a member of council, board member for the SEPM Foundation and in leadership roles for strategic plan initiatives. In addition, he served as editor for two SEPM books and associate editor for the SEPM journal PALAIOS.
“Through the society, I’ve met many of the world experts in sedimentary geology, including those that were the authors of important papers and books that I read as a graduate student. I was really starstruck at the beginning of my involvement in SEPM. Those experts, and all the others throughout the years, became friends and collaborators both in service to SEPM as well as endeavors outside of SEPM,” Franseen said.
Franseen has received nine “excellence of presentation” awards at national or international American Association of Petroleum Geologists and SEPM meetings as well as four acknowledgments of excellence and best paper awards for papers published in key professional journals. He holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is the author of more than 200 scientific publications and reports and editor of three books related to sedimentary geology.
He will receive the SEPM honorary membership award at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in October in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Contact: Jill Hummels, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6577, [email protected], @KUProvost
Awards presented at KU’s 2023 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony
LAWRENCE — Two doctoral candidates and one faculty member received honors during the 2023 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony at the University of Kansas.
“I am extremely proud to recognize these three individuals for their contributions to scholarship and to the campus community. The caliber of KU’s doctoral students and the graduate faculty is outstanding,” said Jen Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies. “The Argersinger Awards do more than acknowledge the demanding work that goes into our students’ research. They recognize curiosity, creative approaches, tenacity and excellence. Our Byrd Award for faculty is a testament to our faculty’s compassion, their excellence as mentors and to the incredible professional relationships we develop with graduate students. These three are great examples of KU’s excellence found across all our campuses.”
Argersinger Dissertation Awards
Each year, KU faculty members nominate outstanding doctoral dissertations to be considered for the Marnie and Bill Argersinger Dissertation Award. Two awards are presented, one for the fields of natural and physical sciences, technology, engineering and math; the other for the fields of social sciences, education, humanities, music and the arts.
Jonathan Enders, who completed his studies in neurosciences this spring at KU Medical Center, received the award for the fields of natural and physical sciences, technology, engineering and math, for his work “Mechanisms of Analgesia by a Ketogenic Diet.”
Enders’ research focused on diabetic neuropathy, which leads to sensory dysfunction, loss of sensation in the limbs, pain and poor coordination, and ultimately, diminishing quality of life. Enders was able to show that following a ketogenic diet can prevent and reverse nearly all biomarkers of diabetic neuropathy, including stimulation of new axon growth and reductions in pain. He was able to identify new underlying mechanisms by which elevated ketones can act at the cellular level to prevent and reverse nerve damage caused by diabetes.
His nominators, faculty members Douglas Wright and Julie Christianson, stressed that this research identified two new mechanisms that add to the growing understanding of ketone metabolism. Further, the ability to reverse nerve damage is rare in this field. His research pinpoints this form of dietary intervention as a candidate to translate into clinical trials and clinical treatment of diabetic neuropathy.
Enders’ work has already been recognized multiple times. His research has been disseminated into numerous first-author publications in the journal Pain, one of the most prestigious journals in the field.
Enders is currently finishing projects at KU Medical Center through June. He will then begin a postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He plans to continue the study of pain, especially following chemotherapy treatments. His long-term goal is to remain in academia and eventually establish his own neuroscience research laboratory.
Brian Trump, a doctoral graduate in history, received the Argersinger award for the fields of social sciences, education, humanities, music and the arts, for his work “Sex Crimes and Criminal Sexuality: Legislating and Policing Community Boundaries in Nebraska, 1880-1980.”
His dissertation combines extensive legal history, social history and the growing body of scholarship on gender and sexuality in the American West. It analyzes a broad range of sexual offenses prosecuted in Nebraska over a 100-year period of rapid and deeply felt social change.
Trump’s initial broad focus was narrowed to just a single state — Nebraska — and to focus on sex crimes, which he approached through records on policing, criminal charges, trials and the courts from 1880 to 1980. He researched individual cases in local newspapers and positioned his work in the context of broader changes to the criminal code at the state level, changes which he also puts into a national context.
In this work, Trump argues that sex crime prosecutions and their subsequent coverage in the Nebraska press both reflected and reinforced hierarchies of race, class, gender and mobility at the local and state level.
His nominator Beth Bailey, wrote, “Brian traces the ways in which sex crime prosecutions reveal the distinctions that communities drew between insiders and outsiders, between those who belonged and those at the margins of society, and between those who were deemed worthy of legal protection and those from whom communities claimed they needed protection.
Trump is currently an editorial specialist with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition at the Kentucky Historical Society.
Byrd Graduate Educator Award
The university also awarded the Louise Byrd Graduate Educator Award to Phillip Drake, associate professor of English. The award is named in honor of the late secretary of the KU graduate school and of the graduate council. Byrd was noted for her deep concern for the welfare of graduate students.
Drake is an award-winning scholar who has been with the university since 2014. His scholarship crosses boundaries and connects diverse topics such as environmental literature, science and technology, cultural studies, animal studies, political ecology and science fiction. Drake has a history of service in his department, in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and at the university. He was named the Department of English director of graduate studies in 2019, shortly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His nomination contained numerous testimonials of his humanity and the appreciation the graduate students felt for his mentorship and empathetic interaction with them. At a time when graduate students are typically learning the art and science of teaching, the pandemic required re-envisioning the classtime experience and navigating the unprecedented levels of disengagement that many students felt. Drake was praised as an adviser and advocate who sought out support and resources so all students, and graduate students in particular, could succeed in their goals.
In the nomination, Drake was recognized for his proactive approach to improving the graduate program within the English department and his leadership of several changes. Numerous supporting letters praised his skill at advising, mentoring and connecting graduate students with others and with support.
KU’s Marnie and Bill Argersinger Dissertation Awards were created in 1992 through the generosity of the former vice chancellor of research and graduate studies and dean of the graduate school, William Argersinger Jr., his wife, Marnie, and their friends. The Louise Byrd Graduate Educator Award was established in 1984. Both awards are made possible through KU Endowment.
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Contact: Christine Metz Howard, International Affairs, [email protected], @KUintlaffairs
KU International Affairs awards 13 grants for research, collaboration abroad
LAWRENCE — KU International Affairs has awarded more than $26,000 in travel grants to 11 KU faculty members and two graduate students to support research and collaboration abroad.
These competitively awarded funds were dispersed among faculty and students in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the schools of Architecture & Design, Journalism and Music. Through these funds, faculty and students will travel to nine countries on four continents to conduct research, access archives, collaborate with colleagues and develop or maintain international partnerships. All funds prioritize projects that help to grow or expand the influence of KU research, further student success or promote healthy and vibrant communities.
Recipients will use the funds between now and June 30, 2024.
Faculty Grants
South, Southeast and East Asia Fund
The South, Southeast and East Asia Fund supports the development or maintenance of institutional partnerships, exchanges and academic collaborations between KU and counterparts at selected postsecondary institutions within Asia. This fund also supports faculty research projects. Grant recipients:
1. Jae Chang, professor of architecture, who will travel to South Korea to develop, strengthen and renew opportunities for KU students and faculty that promote institutional exchange, partnerships and academic collaborations with partner institutions and industry leaders.
2. Utako Minai, associate professor of linguistics, who will travel to Japan to research the acquisition of linguistic knowledge of Japanese preschool children.
3. Hyunjin Seo, Oscar Stauffer Professor of Journalism, who will travel to Seoul, South Korea, to collect interview data for a research project on digital communication technologies.
Latin America Fund
The Latin America Fund supports the development or maintenance of institutional partnerships, exchanges and academic collaborations between KU and counterparts at selected postsecondary institutions within Latin America. This fund also supports faculty research projects. Grant recipients:
1. Bartholomew Dean, associate professor of anthropology, who will travel to Peru to review the collections in the museum the Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion to assess the cultural significance of visual media associated with the country’s internal war between 1980 and 2000.
2. Jeremy Martin, professor of mathematics, who will travel to Chile to work on two mathematic research projects with collaborators from Pontificia Universidad Católica and Universidad Andrés Bello, which will result in a joint publication.
International Travel Fund for Humanistic Research
The International Travel Fund for Humanities Research supports KU faculty pursuing international interdisciplinary humanistic research abroad. Grant recipients:
1. Elise Kirk, assistant professor of photography, who will travel to Italy to research and complete photographic work at the intersection of the humanities and ecological thinking in Sicily, a location that is a hybrid landscape of rural agrarian life and global petrochemistry manufacturing.
2. Brad Osborn, associate professor of music theory, who will travel to the United Kingdom to conduct interviews and archival research for the second edition of his book “Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead.”
3. Sean Seyer, associate professor of history, who will travel to London to gather research at the Royal Air Force Archives and the National Archives that will result in two scholarly publications, including an article on transnational technology transfer and a second manuscript on the development of the American aircraft industry from World War I through the Cold War.
4. Maya Stiller, associate professor of Korean art and visual culture, who will travel to South Korea to collect art-historical research material at Buddhist monasteries and museums and to collaborate with faculty at Korea University and Seoul National University.
5. Dave Tell, professor of communications studies, who will travel to Berlin to participate in the Obermayer Foundation’s Widen the Circle visiting program, a research, collaborative and immersive educational opportunity that will add international perspectives to research on memory studies.
6. Kyoim Yun, associate professor of East Asian languages & cultures, who will travel to South Korea to perform ethnographic research on Templestay, where visitors stay at Buddhist temples to engage in daily activities as a form of wellness tourism amid the prevailing social malaise.
Graduate Grants
Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant
Pre-Dissertation Travel Grants support six- to eight-week trips for preliminary dissertation field activities taking place in Africa or Latin America. Grant recipients:
1. Alicia Houser, graduate student in history, who will travel to Tanzania to investigate access to political party and municipal government records, court cases and oral histories of Moshi.
2. Ifeloju Olusanya, graduate student in architecture & design, who will travel to Nigeria to explore the perspectives of residents, experts and business owners on cultural heritage resource development.
For more information, visit international.ku.edu.
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