News
Researcher offers communication tips for combating military mental health stigma
KU professor Rikki Roscoe has contributed to the new book “Mental Health Communication for Underserved Populations,” detailing ways to reduce stigma and secrecy among soldiers and veterans who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health issues.
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Thu, 04/09/2026
Composer elevates voices of women poets on new recording
A University of Kansas professor has released a new album, “Three Silent Things: Vocal Chamber Music by Ingrid Stölzel,” featuring the settings of female poets’ writing, including one by Kansas native aviator Amelia Earhart.
Thu, 03/26/2026
Filmmakers save stories of Topeka’s Bottoms neighborhood
A 30-minute version of the documentary “Reclaiming Home: Remembering the Topeka Bottoms” premieres at 6 p.m. March 27, closing out the related exhibition at the University of Kansas Department of Visual Art’s Off-Site Art Space downtown.
Tue, 03/17/2026
Music theorist finds chord’s ‘third nature’ in composition suppressed during Soviet era
Music theorists have previously described how certain chords contain the possibility of flowing smoothly into other similar-sounding chords, which they refer to as the chord’s “second nature.” Now a University of Kansas professor of music theory has published a paper that sets out the “third nature” of a chord.
Wed, 03/04/2026
Scholar links Greek tragedy, new evidence on transmission of trauma
A University of Kansas scholar has won a fellowship from the National Humanities Center to work on a book drawing parallels between the rhythmic tropes of ancient Greek tragedy and cutting-edge scientific research on epigenetic trauma.
Tue, 03/03/2026
Enslaved people transformed clothing into instruments of rebellion, research reveals
In a new article, Zay Dale, assistant professor of English at the University of Kansas, reveals how textiles operated as violent aesthetic tools in the formation of Black existence during American slavery, but enslaved people transformed these fibers into instruments of refusal, creativity and ontological reclamation.
Thu, 02/19/2026
Japanese painting tradition meets street materials in new exhibition
The many lives of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani: The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has brought together the largest collection of work by the beloved street artist in an exhibition opening Feb. 19.
Tue, 02/17/2026
Pioneering book aims to uplift Nigerian Hausa Muslim women
In a new book, Rahina Muazu shows how Hausa Muslim women and men are actively interpreting scripture, making families, earning livelihoods and building institutions amid rapid social change. The book is an act of decolonizing knowledge because it is written in her native Hausa language, according to the KU faculty member.
Wed, 02/11/2026
Author offers hope in ‘mushroomy’ sci-fi novel ‘Song of Spores’
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.
Wed, 01/28/2026
FOREST Collaborations: Choreographer using grant for ongoing nature project
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.
Tue, 01/27/2026
Childhood stories from ‘Queen of the Harlem Renaissance’ depicted in new book
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.”
Thu, 01/15/2026
Professor’s ‘Complete Works’ preserves music of pioneering African American bandleader
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.
Wed, 01/07/2026
Scholar says censorship was constant struggle during Spanish Inquisition
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.
Wed, 12/17/2025
KU scholar’s work comes alive as empire-building video game character
A few years ago, Amal El Haimeur could hardly find any information about the 16th century “pirate queen” of Morocco. After the University of Kansas professor published her research, Sayyida al-Hurra became a character in a leading video game.
Wed, 12/10/2025
Resistance to Spanish tribute in colonial Panama reflective of early Black community mobilization
In a new article, Robert Schwaller, a professor of history at the University of Kansas, details the tireless efforts and legal proceedings of the free Black community in 16th century Panama to challenge the tribute imposed by King Philip II of Spain.
Tue, 12/09/2025
Modern mixmasters have nothing on Poverty Row movie music mavens
For the first time, a University of Kansas musicologist has traced the sources and remixing of 16,000 musical fragments used to score all 66 serials produced by Republic Pictures.
Tue, 11/18/2025
KU filmmaker’s new series captures stories, traditions of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Rebekka Schlichting, assistant professor of the practice at the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, released the series “Baxoje Basics” this past month. Her episode “In Honor of Pete Fee” captured the last interview with the revered elder of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.
Wed, 10/15/2025
History of Japan’s signature beverage sake shared in new book
Eric Rath, professor of history at the University of Kansas, explores the evolution of Japanese sake from homebrew to flavored varieties, while tracing its cultural significance and global rise, in his new book, “Kanpai: The History of Sake.”
Wed, 10/01/2025
Everything old is new again on latest Draper Family Band recording
A University of Kansas School of Music professor’s multigenerational band is back at it with a second album of original songs. Brandon Draper dusted off old material and wrote new works, as well, for for the Draper Family Band’s new album in a blues-rock vein.
Wed, 10/01/2025
Lawrence creatives among recipients of 2025 Rocket Grants for community-driven art projects
Charlotte Street and the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas have announced the 10 recipients of the 2025-2026 Rocket Grants awards, a re-granting program of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Mon, 09/29/2025
New book examines how ‘bookish’ language of Shakespeare’s England influenced today’s society
In a new book, Jonathan Lamb, professor of English at the University of Kansas, reveals how the broad lexicon of book-related words in the newly print-savvy era of Shakespeare’s England taught cultures how to think, contemplate and describe the world.
Wed, 09/24/2025
Director brings urgency to production of ‘Silent Sky’
University of Kansas lecturer Michelle Miller enlisted a KU astrophysicist colleague to fire up the cast of “Silent Sky,” to be staged Oct. 3-5 at University Theatre. The play about pioneering woman astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt and overcoming sexism in the scientific workplace is still relevant today, according to Miller.
Tue, 09/09/2025
US military’s destructive relationship with the Pacific Ocean explored in new book
A new book edited by Andrew Isenberg, Hall Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Kansas, focuses on the military’s actions in the Pacific Ocean from World War II through the Vietnam War, offering essays on the inextricable relationship between the natural world and human warfare.
Tue, 09/09/2025
KU design professor lets students in on book cover illustration job for big publisher
Matt Cook’s yearlong illustration project for Simon & Schuster comes to fruition with the release of the children's science fiction book “Press 1 for Invasion,” by J.A. Dauber. The KU professor allowed his students to watch the steps along the way.
Mon, 09/08/2025
Male monarchs throughout history portrayed as ‘mother’ figures, new research reveals
In a new article, Luis Corteguera, a professor of history at the University of Kansas, introduces the concept of “king as mother,” using biblical and classical sources and evidence from nature to explore gendered metaphors meant to shape the perception of male rulers across early modern Europe.
Fri, 09/05/2025
Osage artist wants to engage viewers in conversation
Norman Akers’ paintings on display at Temple Contemporary’s Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery raise issues of indigeneity, even as their surfaces beguile the viewer. They are the fruit of Akers’ spring 2025 residency in Philadelphia.
Fri, 08/29/2025
Spanish celebrity couple from last century embraced power of myth
A KU researcher’s journal article on the union of literary critic and journalist Enrique Gómez Carrillo and performance artist Raquel Meller is part of a larger study of a period “obsessed with female artists.” Margot Versteeg's new work is part of a book project about late 19th and early 20th century women performance artists in Spain.
Thu, 08/28/2025
Charlotte Street award show draws on artist’s Asian heritage
In the current exhibition of Charlotte Street Visual Artist Award winners at the University of Kansas’ Spencer Museum of Art, Merry Sun has constructed three monumental sculptures referencing Chinese architecture and migrant identity.
Wed, 08/20/2025
Curator links Spencer Museum of Art, community in upcoming exhibitions
The work Sydney Pursel has been doing behind the scenes as curator for public practice at the Spencer Museum of Art will come to fruition with two upcoming exhibitions: “My Mother's Tongue Ties Me Together,” opening Aug. 26, and “Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe: Return of the Sacred Red Rock,” opening Sept. 9.
Thu, 08/14/2025
Research pins down skills that make a good music therapist
Two University of Kansas researchers are co-authors of the new work “Defining Music Therapy Musicianship: An Analysis of Music Therapists’ Clinical Work.” In it, they write that musical flexibility and responsiveness to clients are more important than instrumental skill.
Thu, 07/31/2025
Art historian brings to light Korean Buddhist temple design, decoration
A University of Kansas art historian’s new paper focuses on details of 18th-century Korean Buddhist temple design. Maya Stiller writes that like their contemporaries in Europe during Baroque or Rococo periods, Korean Buddhist artisan-monks believed that, when it came to worship structures, more is more, not less.