Arts, Architecture and Humanities

Science fiction writer Bogi Takács Perelmutter's “Song of Spores” was recently published by Broken Eye Books. The KU faculty member’s novel addresses questions like the persistence of prejudice, the possibilities of international cooperation and what happens when reality doesn’t match the high-minded slogans you’ve been taught to uphold.

KU dance faculty member Shannon Stewart has received a $10,000 unrestricted grant that comes with one of 53 inaugural State of the Art Prizes from the New York-based Creative Capital Foundation. She'll use the funding in part for an April performance to coincide with the opening of a new nature trail within Baldwin Woods, part of KU Field Station.

In a new picture book aimed at younger readers, Giselle Anatol, professor of English at the University of Kansas, offers a joyful tribute to Zora Neale Hurston, the “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance.”

KU Music scholar Colin Roust has published the first “Complete Works” of early 19th century African American bandleader and composer Francis Johnson. The work includes 282 songs, cotillions, quadrilles, waltzes and quick steps that comprised the popular dance music of Johnson’s day.

Contributing a chapter to the new book “The Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Inquisition,” a University of Kansas professor stresses the limits of the Spanish Inquisition’s ability to control literature and free thought. “The key takeaway is still valid today — that when you prohibit things, it makes them more attractive,” Patricia Manning said.