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ESPN commentator, professor Kevin Blackistone speaking at KU’s ‘Race and Sports’ symposium
The Langston Hughes Center, Kansas Athletics and the Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Kansas will present “Race and Sports in American Culture: A KU Symposium” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in the Jayhawk Welcome Center. The seventh annual event will feature a keynote address from Kevin Blackistone, an award-winning sportswriter, author, ESPN commentator and University of Maryland professor, as well as a panel discussion with former KU student-athletes Derek Fine (football) and Austin Richardson (women’s basketball).
Second annual KU School of Business entrepreneurship celebration to feature leader in innovation
Bestselling author and leader in innovation Steven Johnson will be the keynote speaker of the second annual Startup Jayhawk, a University of Kansas School of Business multiday event celebrating entrepreneurship. Johnson’s talk, set for 6:30 p.m. March 26, will take place in the Dicus Family Auditorium, 1111 Capitol Federal Hall. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Shawn Alexander, 785-864-5044, [email protected]
ESPN commentator, professor Kevin Blackistone speaking at KU’s ‘Race and Sports’ symposium
LAWRENCE — The Langston Hughes Center, Kansas Athletics and the Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Kansas will present “Race and Sports in American Culture: A KU Symposium” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in the Jayhawk Welcome Center.
The seventh annual event will feature a keynote address from Kevin Blackistone, an award-winning sportswriter, author, ESPN commentator and University of Maryland professor, as well as a panel discussion with former KU student-athletes Derek Fine (football) and Austin Richardson (women’s basketball).
The event is free and open to the public. Donations benefiting the Langston Hughes Center will be accepted.
Shawn Leigh Alexander, professor and current chair of African & African-American Studies and director of the Langston Hughes Center, said the world of sport allows for a multi-level discussion about many issues, including corporate power, race, gender, homophobia, urban planning, health and labor.
“Sport, while occupying a central place in American culture and society, also has served as symbolic sites of protest, power, inclusion and discrimination for America’s racial minorities,” Alexander said. “For the past seven years, KU has been at the forefront of this discussion with its annual symposium, and we look forward to continuing our demonstrating leadership in this field and conversation with this year’s spectacular event.”
Blackistone has been an influential voice among African-American writers and editors throughout his journalism and academic career. He has been a longtime columnist at the Boston Globe, Chicago Reporter, Dallas Morning New and the Washington Post, among other positions. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” a contributor to NPR, the co-author of “A Gift for Ron: Friendship and Sacrifice On and Off the Gridiron,” with Everson Walls.
He is also the co-producer and co-writer of the award-winning documentary “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.” Blackistone has received numerous honors and awards for sports column writing and other scholarly works.
Past events featured keynote addresses from sports sociologist Harry Edwards, The Nation’s sports editor and author Dave Zirin, author and former New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden, sportswriter Kavitha Davidson, sports historian Lou Moore and award-winning sports columnist and ESPN contributor Claire Smith.
This year’s co-sponsors include the School of Journalism & Mass Communications, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, KU Native American Initiatives and the KU departments of Health, Sport & Exercise Sciences, History and Political Science.
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Contact: Lauren Cunningham, 785-864-9540, [email protected]
Second annual KU School of Business entrepreneurship celebration to feature leader in innovation
LAWRENCE — Bestselling author and leader in innovation Steven Johnson will be the keynote speaker of the second annual Startup Jayhawk, a University of Kansas School of Business multiday event celebrating entrepreneurship.
Johnson’s talk, set for 6:30 p.m. March 26, will take place in the Dicus Family Auditorium, 1111 Capitol Federal Hall. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Johnson will present “Where Good Ideas Come From: Patterns of Innovation and How We Got to Now,” examining the cultural, environmental, biological and historical factors that fuel major developments. He is the editorial director at Google Labs, a cornerstone of Google’s artificial intelligence division. He also is one of the creators of NotebookLM, Google’s experimental AI-powered research tool designed to generate insights and information based on a user’s notes or other selected sources.
Johnson has written more than a dozen books centered on how innovations drive societal change. His next book, titled “The Infernal Machine,” will be released in May and explores anarchism, the rise of the “modern detective” and the emerging surveillance state. Johnson also regularly contributes to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine and other publications. He hosts the TED Interview podcast and has delivered several TED Talks.
The KU School of Business’ Startup Jayhawk celebrates the KU student entrepreneurial ecosystem and the communities the university serves. KU students are invited to participate in additional Startup Jayhawk events, which include a Kansas City startup tour March 22 and a 60-minute challenge leveraging AI tools March 25. More information about the events, including registration links, can be found at the Startup Jayhawk website.
The inaugural Startup Jayhawk took place in April 2023 and featured keynote speaker Jeni Britton, founder and chief creative officer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, among a lineup of other activities.
More information about KU School of Business entrepreneurship curricular and co-curricular programming and events, which are open to all KU students, can be found on the School of Business website.
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