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KU student finalist for Truman scholarship
DaNae Estabine, a junior and University Honors student from Olathe, is a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship. The prestigious national awards provide up to $30,000 for graduate study. Estabine is majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy. She will participate in an interview for the scholarship at the end of March in Kansas City. Since 1981, 20 KU students have become Truman scholars.
KU Theatre explores labor and community in award-winning drama ‘SWEAT’
“SWEAT” was based on research and dialogue that arose from the playwright embedding herself with the working class community of Reading, Pennsylvania, exploring how marginalized people build community and how they respond when that community is divided against itself.
Humanizing the witch on stage, screen
In a new book, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance is not saying directors must not or should not have a green-skinned witch in “The Wizard of Oz” or “Wicked.” Rather, she says that they should consider where these physiological stereotypes came from and whether and how to make them appropriate in a contemporary context.
Study: SCOTUS created two-tier health care system with Dobbs decision
A KU professor co-wrote new research showing that the Supreme Court’s refusal to connect the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision to gender-based ramifications, the results created a system of health care that exacerbates existing disparities in health care.
An evening with Nadya Tolokonnikova
Russian musician, conceptual artist, political activist Nadya Tolokonnikova will hold a public dialogue on the Lawrence campus with Ani Kokobobo, professor of Russian studies and chair of the Slavic, German & Eurasian studies department. The dialogue will conclude with a short audience Q&A session.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Erin Wolfram, [email protected]
KU student finalist for Truman scholarship
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas junior and University Honors student from Olathe is a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
DaNae Estabine is majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy. She will participate in an interview for the scholarship at the end of March in Kansas City. Final scholarship selections will be made in mid-April.
The prestigious national awards provide up to $30,000 for graduate study. The awards are given to college juniors for leadership in public service. They are highly competitive, with only about 60 Truman Scholars named nationwide each year.
This year, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation selected 191 finalists from 132 institutions to interview for the scholarship awards. The foundation received 709 applications from 285 institutions to determine the finalists.
The campus nomination process is coordinated by the Office of Fellowships, a unit of Academic Success. Students interested in applying for the Truman Scholarship in future years are encouraged to contact the office, which can nominate a limited number of students each year. The next application cycle will begin in fall 2024.
Since 1981, 20 KU students have become Truman scholars. Samuel Steuart was the most recent KU student to receive the honor in 2019.
More information about KU’s Truman finalist is below.
DaNae Estabine is the daughter of Jean and Kristy Estabine and a graduate of Olathe East High School. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minoring in philosophy with plans to earn a juris doctor and doctorate in psychology and becoming a prosecutor in the state of Kansas. Estabine was named to the Multicultural Scholars Program as a sophomore and was selected for KU’s Legal Education Accelerated Degree program.
Her freshman year, she served as a senator in KU’s Student Senate, held the government relations director position as a sophomore and currently is the student body vice president. In summer 2023, Estabine interned for U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, and she now interns in the Statehouse for Kansas State Rep. Barbara Ballard. Outside of KU, Estabine volunteers her time as the director of the Johnson County Fair Pie Contest, an Olathe Fishing Derby board member and a Lawrence Mothers of Pre-Schoolers volunteer. Additionally, she is a substitute teacher in the Lawrence School District and was recently selected as KU’s 2024 Newman Civic Fellowship nominee.
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Contact: Lisa Coble-Krings, 785-864-5685, [email protected]
KU Theatre explores labor and community in award-winning drama ‘SWEAT’
LAWRENCE – The University Theatre will present Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “SWEAT,” which explores the lives of Rust Belt factory workers and the pressure of productivity.
Performances are in the William Inge Memorial Theatre at Murphy Hall. “SWEAT” will play at 7:30 p.m. March 22, 23, 26, 27 and 28 and at 2:30 p.m. March 24. Tickets are available for purchase at kutheatre.com/sweat, by calling 785-864-3982 or in-person at the box office in Murphy Hall from noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“SWEAT” was based on research and dialogue that arose from Nottage embedding herself with the working class community of Reading, Pennsylvania, exploring how marginalized people build community and how they respond when that community is divided against itself. At times the text allows the characters space to cut loose and have fun before returning to serious subjects, like job security, prejudice and addiction, with globalization and neoliberalism as a backdrop.
The production is directed by acclaimed playwright Darren Canady, KU professor of English, who writes about the Black experience in the Midwest. His work has been produced at theatre companies across the country.
“’SWEAT’ is really about labor in America and how it affects the ways a community relates to its members, how a community builds its sense of joy and how the labor of that community also leads to its destruction,” Canady said. “It also asks, ‘What makes me who I am?’ and ‘How do I make a meaningful life in a society that decides my value based on my productivity?’”
The work confronts dehumanization as a byproduct of corporate greed and the dangers of defining a person’s value by their productivity. ‘SWEAT’ has mature language and violence depicted on stage and may not be appropriate for all audiences.
Canady’s recent directing and dramaturgy work have been seen at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Helen Hocker Theatre and Theatre Lawrence. His own plays have been seen at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, American Conservatory Theater, Sound Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, the Alliance Theatre, Horizon Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Fremont Centre Theatre, Congo Square Theatre, the BE Company, American Blues Theater, KC Rep and London’s Old Vic Theatre.
He is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University, New York University and the Juilliard School. Canady currently teaches playwriting at the KU. His participation in SWEAT is made possible in part by the LeWan Alexander Spiritship Fund.
The creative team is rounded out by Rana Esfandiary, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, as scenic and costume designer; Elliot Bowman, a senior in theatre, math and linguistics from Topeka, as lighting designer; Jane Barnette, associate professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, as dramaturg; Dan Heinz, a guest artist and freelance actor, director and fight director based in Lawrence, as fight director; and Connor L. Maloney, a junior in theatre design from Wichita, as stage manager.
Cast members are ShonMichael Anderson, a sophomore in theatre performance from Wichita; Katelyn Arnold, a sophomore in theatre performance from Topeka; Alex Haynes, an actor, KU lecturer, and alum; Myles Hollie, a senior in theatre performance from Richmond, Virginia; Jordan Nevels, a senior in theater performance from Overland Park; Caleb Jonathan Parish, a senior in theatre performance; Nicole Piekalkiewicz, a senior in theatre performance from Lawrence; Sergio L. Román Alicea, a Ph.D. student in theatre studies from San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Casey Schenk, a sophomore in theatre performance and math from Topeka.
The University Theatre and University Dance Company are production wings of the University of Kansas’ Department of Theatre & Dance, offering public productions throughout the academic year. The University Theatre and University Dance Company productions are funded in part by KU Student Senate fees, and the theatre’s season is supported by Truity Credit Union.
The Department of Theatre & Dance is one of three departments in the School of the Arts. As part of the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the School of the Arts offers fresh possibilities for collaboration between the arts and the humanities, sciences, social sciences, international and interdisciplinary studies. For more information on the Department of Theatre & Dance, visit theatredance.ku.edu. For the most recent updates on KU Theatre public performances, visit kutheatre.com and for KU Dance performances, dance.ku.edu.
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Contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852, [email protected]
Humanizing the witch on stage, screen
LAWRENCE – Jane Barnette believes that witches on stage and screen should get the same respect that other minority identities do.
Barnette is a University of Kansas associate professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance and a practitioner of the craft herself. Barnette reminds readers of her new book that witches are people, too, citing a study showing there are as many of them in the United States as there are Unitarians.
The KU researcher said part of the reason she wrote “Witch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen” (Routledge) was that “so many witches are portrayed on stage as either agents of Satan, which is derived from the long heritage of witch hunts and crusades, or they’re just completely and utterly fantasy, which is fine, as long as you also recognize in some way that there are human beings — just like you and me — who actually practice witchcraft as their religious practice.”
She’s not saying directors must not or should not have a green-skinned witch in “The Wizard of Oz” or “Wicked,” but that they should consider where these physiological stereotypes came from and whether and how to make them appropriate in a contemporary context.
This principle applies, she argues, whether one is presenting a Greek tragedy (“Medea”), Shakespeare (“Macbeth”) or a Harry Potter film.
“Now that we have a different understanding of minoritized subjects — and I hope we go through casting in a way that is more sensitive to race and gender and sexuality and all those other pieces of the puzzle — I’m saying we can also ask the question of how witches are represented,” Barnette said.
“I would suggest that somewhere on your team, whether it’s the dramaturg or one of your designers, you have someone working with you who has practiced (witchcraft) in their life — period,” Barnette said. “And that person should be in the room with you in casting.
“It’s the same thing they would do if you were casting a play where the playwright said ‘I don’t want all white bodies on the stage. I don’t care how you do it, but make sure that it’s not just a sea of whiteness.’ OK then, if your entire production team is white, you’re already starting in a problematic state. You should probably get some folks of color on your team. Lest you make decisions that are going to further minoritize that person, it would be wise to consult wisdom outside of your own ability.”
A truly sensitive director could even subtly indicate this understanding to witches in the audience by, for instance, having the “three weird sisters” of “Macbeth” arranged onstage in a ritual “calling circle,” Barnette said. She likened this to the way queer artists in generations past used coded language to signal their intentions.
Humanizing the figure of the witch on stage and screen is particularly timely, Barnette argues in the book, in light of the rise of Christian nationalism in American politics.
“When people don’t want church and state to be separate … in the past, it has not been good for witches,” she said.
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Contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860, [email protected]
Study: SCOTUS created two-tier health care system with Dobbs decision
LAWRENCE — When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, it did so by insulating itself from considering the effect the decision would have on women and marginalized communities, according to authors of a new study.
By refusing to connect the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to the gendered impact of its decision, the authors said the decision has resulted in a two-tiered system of health care that exacerbates existing disparities.
Alesha Doan, professor of public affairs & administration and women, gender & sexuality studies, is co-author of a study that examines the Dobbs decision, published in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy.
In a critical legal analysis of the Dobbs decision, the authors wrote that the court did not connect abortion with “invidiously discriminatory animus against women” by claiming the topic was not about gender, nor did preventing abortion constitute sex discrimination. That ignores previous abortion cases like Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, both of which noted clearly that gender was paramount in the issue.
“The majority opinion in Dobbs completely dismissed and ignored the fundamentally gendered reality of abortion,” Doan said. “There is a line in the majority opinion that says, ‘This has nothing to do with gender.’ However, if you read the briefs submitted by hundreds of experts, providers, physicians, advocates and others, it is expressly present. And it is present in decades of research that provides empirical evidence that women suffer medical, legal, economic and other dire consequences when the government criminalizes abortion.”
The Supreme Court’s dissenting opinion also pointed out that gender was a central component of previous rulings on the matter, in addition to amicus briefs submitted to the court, Doan said. The result in curtailing women’s rights is unique in that legal arguments are generally on the side of expanding rights, she added, but the court insulated itself from discussion of removing rights by claiming the case was not about gender.
The study, co-written with Lori Brown of Syracuse University and Shoshanna Ehrlich of the University of Boston, connects a critical legal analysis with an examination of how the Dobbs decision has affected practitioners and those seeking abortion care. The authors conducted interviews with 22 providers in states with both abortion restrictions and protections.
Providers were interviewed after the Dobbs case was argued but before the decision was announced. That uncertain period, including the leaking of the decision to the media, created a snapshot of a fraught period of time. Results showed that providers were highly concerned about how the decision would affect their ability to deliver care equitably.
About a year after the Dobbs decision, approximately half of the providers were interviewed again. Many worked in states where abortion was criminalized or in the process of being criminalized.
“If you take one thing away from this paper, it should be the compounding inequality that resulted after Dobbs,” Doan said. “Although these were issues that existed before the decision, they have dramatically increased the difficulty for society’s more vulnerable people to receive abortion care, reproductive health care, reduce the quality of care they do receive and so much more.
“We know that women of color and people living in poverty have poorer health outcomes, and the physicians we interviewed unanimously expressed their concern about how this disparity will only get worse,” she said.
Providers expanded on how the decision has reduced the quality of care they could provide. Specifically, for women who travel to abortion-protective states, they often do not have the time for follow-up visits or to spend more than the minimum time at a care facility because of child care or work responsibilities waiting at home, or they cannot afford the travel-related costs of a longer stay.
Further, routine OBGYN care dictates that doctors serving a pregnant woman ask questions such as how many times they have been pregnant and how many miscarriages or abortions they have had previously.
“Because abortion is criminalized in many states, miscarriages may be called into question, so people are less willing to disclose them to their physician if they are criminal,” Doan said. “That’s just one of many ways the quality of reproductive health care has been compromised and reduced.”
Providers also expressed concern about the training of future doctors and health care providers. Several noted that medical schools in their states can no longer provide training on how to manage miscarriages, a common occurrence and necessity for OBGYN practitioners, or how to perform abortions. Medically, they are the same, but because the latter is now illegal in some states, some schools are shying away from its teaching.
Additionally, OBGYN residents are accepting more residencies in abortion-protective states, interviewees said. And data shows that residents tend to continue their medical careers in the states in which they complete residences, Doan added.
As a result, some states will have fewer fully trained health care providers, not only in OBGYN, but family medicine and other areas, the interviewees said.
As the dissenting justices wrote, the Supreme Court’s majority decision and claim the Dobbs decision was not about gender shows it “knows or cares little about women’s lives or about the suffering its decision will cause,” which the authors underscore in the study.
“You’re getting a two-tiered system of medical training, which translates to a two-tiered system of health care delivery. This was a very significant concern voiced in the interviews, this fracturing of reproductive medical care and what it will mean for deepening the existing inequitable health outcomes for women of color and other communities living in precarity,” Doan said.
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Contact: Ani Kokobobo, [email protected]
An evening with Nadya Tolokonnikova
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies is hosting Russian musician, conceptual artist, political activist and founder of Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova, at 6 p.m. April 4.
Tolokonnikova will hold a public dialogue on campus with Ani Kokobobo, professor of Russian studies and chair of the Slavic, German & Eurasian studies department. The dialogue will conclude with a short audience Q&A session.
The dialogue will address the history of Pussy Riot, the “Punk Prayer” song that launched the group into global prominence, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the recent death and funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. These questions pave the way for a broader discussion of democracy, authoritarianism, freedom of expression, gender and the role of art as a form of protest in contemporary Russia, the U.S. and beyond.
This event is free but ticketed for KU faculty, staff, students and community members. Reserve tickets online for the event in Murphy Hall’s Swarthout Recital Hall. The dialogue will be simultaneously livestreamed but not recorded for subsequent viewing. Register for the livestream through Zoom.
Audience members have the opportunity to submit questions online in advance for the speaker, and a few will be featured at the event.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies, Max Kade Center for German-American Studies, Office of Graduate Studies, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, International Affairs, Center for Global & International Studies, The Kress Foundation Department of Art History, Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging and the U.S. Russia Foundation.
About the artist
Conceptual artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest-art movement. In 2012, Pussy Riot performed the song “Punk Prayer” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, opposing the reelection of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency. The performance and the group’s subsequent arrest and show trail brought Pussy Riot a global following.
Tolokonnikova was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment following the performance. While in prison, Tolokonnikova went on a hunger strike raising awareness for the inhumane prison conditions in Russia. Since her release, she has continued to engage in guerrilla performances condemning political repression in Putin’s Russia and the war in Ukraine.
Along with other Pussy Riot group members, Tolokonnikova co-founded Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she raised $7 million in aid for Ukraine through cryptocurrency.
Alongside her political activism, Tolokonnikova is also an award-winning artist. She has performed at major music festivals and events worldwide. “Punk Prayer” was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century, and she’s released music with the likes of Big Freedia, Tom Morello, MARINA, Boys Noize and Tove Lo.
Tolokonnikova curated an immersive experience at Saatchi and an auction at Sotheby’s. She put on an installation, “Putin’s Ashes,” at the Deitch Gallery in January 2023. She has also published two books: “How to Start a Revolution” (Penguin, 2016) and “Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism” (Harper Collins, 2018).
In March 2023 the Russian government put Tolokonnikova on their wanted list.
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