The Joyce and Elizabeth
Hall Center for the Humanities
Fall 1997 Communiqué
The University of Kansas
The prospect of becoming director of the Hall Center for the Humanities has given me the occasion to reflect on the constituency I will be serving. We who work in traditional Humanities disciplines have felt a sense of crisis for several years now (if not longer). This sense of crisis has been fueled by both economic and conceptual factors. Money for research in the Humanities has been cut back (most notably and noticeably) at the NEH. University and college allocations for positions and other facilities have not kept pace with needs, and salary discrepancies between Humanities professors and professors in other disciplines have not been addressed.
Many believe that the conceptual issues that have dominated most Humanities disciplines in the past twenty years have had a direct bearing on underfunding in the Humanities. The "culture wars" have thrown the Humanities into the public limelight in a way that they had not experienced for some time. Current debates over what constitutes appropriate material to be addressed by the Humanities reflect problems at large in society. If we had grown increasingly technical and abstruse in our interests and methodologies in the 1970s and 1980s, the debates over canons and the inclusion of material about underrepresented groups in our curricula and research projects have brought us back to earth, so to speak. For example, a perusal of a number of recent issues of journals in the Humanities disciplines indicates that ethics have returned to the Humanities as a central concern. Ethics provide a common ground that can draw the many areas of the college and university together--humanities, science, social science, journalism, art, education, law and business.
The Humanities can play a central role in bridging the gaps between the different provinces of university and civil life. This is not a new role for the Humanities, but one that has perhaps not been emphasized in recent years. Pete Casagrande, Associate Dean for the Humanities, mentioned to me in a recent conversation that he preferred the term "humanistic study" to "humanities" because "humanistic" is more inclusive and signals the connections between Humanities disciplines and other branches of knowledge. I invite everyone in the university to think of the Hall Center for the Humanities as a "center for humanistic study" in the sense that Dean Casagrande articulated.
I am eager to hear from faculty and students in every corner of the university as to the kinds of programs they would find helpful and stimulating for their research and teaching, and how we may best serve their interests. The ultimate goal of all university disciplines from history to medicine, from the visual arts to literature or law, is to understand and enhance the quality of life. The Humanities, which stress critical inquiry, are well equipped to coordinate these efforts and to find avenues for cooperation. I look forward to working with a wide spectrum of the university faculty and administration to further our mutual goals of enhancing the quality of life for Kansans and for humanity in general. Let us in the Humanities convert the energy generated by our current crisis into a launching pad for making connections with our colleagues across the campus.
Roberta Johnson, Director
In this issue...
The Humanities Lecture Series officially began on October 7, 1947, when T. V. Smith, a philosopher from the University of Chicago, became the first speaker invited by the College. His lecture was entitled "The Humanities and Modern Life" and was delivered to more than 800 people in Fraser Theater. Since that time, in the fifty-year history of the Humanities Lecture Series, more than 150 visiting scholars from around the world have participated in the program.
This year's fiftieth-anniversary series promises to be engaging and provocative. Donald Worster, Hall Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Kansas will begin the season on September 18 at 8:00 p.m. in 110 Budig Hall. In his lecture entitled "The Inhabited Prairie: Nature and Culture on the Great Plains," Worster will look at how people have thought about the prairies in the past and how we, aided by the photography of Terry Evans, might think about them today, as they have become hybrids of nature and culture.
On November 5, Winona LaDuke, a Native American environmentalist named by Time Magazine as one of America's most promising leaders under age 40, will speak at 8:00 p.m. at the Lied Center. Her lecture will be on "Native American Environmentalism at the Cusp of the Millennium." LaDuke will also conduct two colloquia on November 6 on "Native Americans and the Environment"-- Part I at 10:00-11:30 a.m., Hall Center Conference Room (preregistration required), and Part II: "A Continuing Discussion..." from 2:00-4:00 at Haskell Indian Nations University.
The spring will feature three lecturers--I. Michael Heyman, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, will lecture on "Exhibition Dilemmas" on February 5 at 8:00 p.m. at the Lied Center, and The Honorable Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former United States Senator for the state of Kansas, is scheduled for March. To cap off the season, Chancellor Robert Hemenway will speak on "Humanities and American Politics" on April 7, 1998 at 8:00 p.m. at the Lied Center.
In this issue...
The Hall Center will welcome new and returning junior faculty to a get-acquainted reception on Wednesday, August 27 at 4:00 p.m. As a follow-up to the reception, two lunches will be held in September designed to help new faculty learn more about the Center's programs. The first will feature presentations and opportunities to discuss NEH Summer Stipends and Hall Center Travel Grants, and the second information on Grant Locating and Advising Services at KU.
Faculty in the Humanities who are in their first three years at KU have received invitations to these events. If you have not received an invitation and would like more information, please call the Hall Center (4-4798).
In this issue...
April 10-11, 1998 -- Spring Symposium
The Symposium, commemorating more than 150 years of Hispanic and Latino/a experience in the United States, will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions and interactive workshops on the following topics:
- The impact of the U.S. Latino/a Literature and Culture on the U.S.
- Current trends of Latinos/as in Education, Business, and Government
- Future Opportunities for Latinos/as in the U.S. and the World
Watch for more information...
In this issue...
The Fall 1997 faculty seminar, "Professions and Professional Ethics," codirected by James A. Brundage, History and Law, and Michael H. Hoeflich, Law and History, will be held on Thursdays from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in the Hall Center Conference Room beginning on August 28.
The first two meetings in September will be centered around discussion of outside readings related to the seminar topic.
Participants presenting papers, selected in a faculty-wide competition last spring, are: M. Clay Belcher, Architectural Engineering, "A Code of Ethics for the National Society of Architectural Engineers"; Robert Harrington, Educational Psychology, "Iatrogenesis in Psychological Practice: The Ethics of Treatment Ineffectiveness"; Michael Hoeflich, Law School, "The Soul of Legal Ethics in the Nineteenth Century: The Rise of the Concept of Zealous Advocacy"; David Katzman, American Studies, "Standards of Professional Conduct for Historians: A Personal View"; Donald Marquis, Philosophy, "Confidentiality and Absolutism"; Katherine Miller, Communication Studies, "The Symbolic Convergence of Professional Identity: The Case of Osteopathic Medicine"; Clyde Stoltenberg, Business, "International Trade Law and the Accountancy Profession--The Impact of GATS"; and Thomas Mulinazzi, Engineering, "Professionalism in Engineering Profession".
A guest speaker, yet to be announced, will make a presentation on November 6.
Any KU faculty member may attend the seminar on a regular or occasional basis, and may obtain copies of the seminar papers from the Hall Center. A complete schedule of the seminar is included in the Hall Center calendar.
In this issue...
The Hall Center is pleased to announce its partnership with the New Generation Society of Lawrence, a recently founded group that seeks to provide life-long learning, volunteer and social opportunities to its members.
The idea for the group was conceived in April 1996 when Bob Mueller, now treasurer of the society, sent an April 2 newspaper clipping from USA Today to Lynwood Smith. This article documented a trend which finds retirees living longer, fuller lives, who want to stay involved in intellectually stimulating environments such as are found near universities. "They were looking for more in their retirement, to be involved in volunteering, to get together with people with similar interests," said Smith, who is now chairman of the group's planning committee. To meet these needs, university communities throughout the country have developed varied programs to attract these retirees and to satisfy their needs and interests. The university communities recognize what an asset these individuals represent to the community and to the university--it becomes a win-win situation for all.
The energetic individuals who make up this vibrant group are generally representative of this trend. The only qualifications for membership are interest and a willingness to pay annual dues plus a fee for each progr a.m. "We won't try to define location, age, or retirement," Smith said. "(And) it's not a program limited to KU graduates."
The first social event, held in February, was attended by 75 potential members who were surveyed regarding their interests and hopes for the group. The planning committee then selected the first four programs based on their responses. The programs already in place include a collaboration with the Spencer Museum of Art and the Lawrence Arts Center; exploring the history of Lawrence with Steve Jansen, director of the Elizabeth M. Watkins Museum; and a 9-week program on the appreciation and understanding of KU football. Still in the planning stages are programs with the Lied Center and with the Theatre and Film Department. Information packets including membership forms, details of the 1997-98 program schedule, and sign-up forms for the individual programs were distributed to 136 potential members who attended a social in late June. As of July 28, there were 108 paid memberships and numerous registrations for the various programs. According to Smith, "Our most optimistic thoughts had been for a starting membership of 100. Needless to say, we are delighted with the response so far."
In this issue...
Art and the Art Museum at the End of the Millennium
In cooperation with the Spencer Museum of Art...
Watch for more information...
In this issue...
The Hall Center travel grants selection committee awarded just over $8,000 for the period July 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997. These awards provide funds to Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka (Women's Studies/Theatre & Film), who will interview key Francophone (French-speaking) theatre artists in Limousin, France, as part of her sabbatical research project on "Writing Women, Writing Nation: African Literature and Critical Perspectives"; Victor Bailey (History) for travel to various archives in Britain researching his book on the essential principles and patterns of punishment in Britain since 1895; Richard Clement (Spencer Research Library), to study in Cody, Wyoming, for his article "Print Culture and the American Frontier: The Role of Buffalo Bill Cody in the Creation of a National Identity"; Anthony Corbeill (Classics), for travel to France and Italy to view crucial pieces of art for research on a chapter in his upcoming book Gesture in the Roman World; Michael Krueger (Visual Art), to do collaborative research with Carlos Colombino at his artist colony in Asuncion, Paraguay; Paul Laird (Music History), to collaborate with José Luis Palacios Garoz of the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón, Spain, and to conduct research on Spanish music at the personal library of José López-Calo of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela; Eric Love (History), for research at the National Archives and other research libraries in the Boston area for his book project, "Race Over Empire: Racism and United States Imperialism, 1865-1900"; Rita Napier (History), for a week of research at the National Archives for her upcoming book on the way cultural systems of property developed in the American West; Ron Popenhagen (Theatre and Film), to collaborate with M. Lecoq in Montigny, France, on his project "The Dynamics of Space: Architecture, Mask, and Movement"; Ann Schofield (American Studies/Women's Studies), for travel to the Winterthur Collection in Wilmington, Delaware, and to Dublin, Ireland, to research a project in cultural history, "Respectability in Turn-of-the-Century America"; Lee Skinner (Spanish & Portuguese), for travel to Bogota, Colombia, to research part of a book-length project tentatively entitled Refiguring the Nineteenth-Century Historical Novel in Spanish America" Denise Stone (Visual Art Education), to conduct research on her project titled "Art Museums and Schools: Partners in Education" at museums in Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and Philadelphia; Carl Strikwerda (History), to gather primary research data in Germany and France for his book project The World At the Crossroads: The Great War and the Re-Making of Modern History" and David Vertacnik (Art), who will participate in the 1997 Slovene Artists Colony in Most na Soci, Slovenija.
Faculty travel grant competitions are held twice each year--in the fall for awards covering a six-month travel period beginning January 1, and in the spring for awards covering a six-month travel period beginning July 1.
In this issue...
presents
The University in the Art Museum
Saturday, November 15, 1997
The fall 1997 session of The University in the Art Museum will be Saturday, November 15. The day-long session will acquaint faculty with the art museum and its collections and help them integrate this content into established curricula. Faculty from all disciplines are welcome to attend. For further information or to register, contact Pat Villeneuve, curator of education, Spencer Museum of Art, 864-4710.
In this issue...
"Society, Slavery, and Civil War," directed by Phillip Paludan (History), brought together teachers from thirteen states to study four major texts of the Civil War era: Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Lincoln's writings on slavery, Mary Chesnut's "Diary," and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. The four week seminar consisted of not only regular meetings of the group, but also extended to several field trips including one featuring a tour of Civil War sites surrounding Lawrence and Lecompton guided by Paul Stuewe, local historian and teacher at Lawrence High School.
Several participants responded when asked how the seminar had impacted their own teaching and learning experiences.
"The opportunity afforded by the NEH is a much needed tonic for the fragmentation of the academic world. The few weeks reconnect high school teachers to the energy of higher learning and reenergize the participants for their vocational duties." Mark Lega, Louisville, KY
"As always, NEH has provided an excellent experience. A colleague described NEH as the Cadillac of programs and it remains true. Fifteen professionals and scholars sharing ideas and discussing theories reinforces one's views of education and allows a renewed motivation for the fall term. Who would have guessed there was so much to say or think about Uncle Tom's Cabin which is generally considered a children's book! Perhaps most important of all our work was an open, and sometimes moving, discussion of race in America, which points to the constant application of the past to the present." Peggy Scott, Normal, IL
"Professor Paludan conducted a brilliant seminar. First he shared his years of research and vibrant authorship with us. He also encouraged us to uncover our own nuggets of knowledge through readings, field trips and participant directed presentations. We argued over Mary Chesnut's diary, grieved at the mass gravesite of the Lawrence victims of Quantrill's raid, marveled at the neatness of Harry Truman's presidential desk in Independence, MO, and stood in awe before the statues of pharaohs at the Nelson Art Museum in Kansas City. I can truthfully say there was not a boring moment. I feel like I've absorbed a semester of graduate school in a month. The academic lives of my 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students at Kenowa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, MI, will be vastly enriched from what I've learned here. As a native of Green Bay, WI, I would rate the seminar right up there with the Super Bowl (Packer win over New England)... well, almost." Michael Johnston, Rockford, MI
"This is my fifth NEH Seminar/Institute. They have all been great, but I probably have received more practical insights from this one than any other. This is because my school is in the South, and I teach a large number of minority students. I will think more now about the effects of the legacy of slavery on them and the society in which they live." Barbara James, Florence, SC
"The structure of the seminar demands thoughtful and committed participation, and the seminar participants themselves expand the content and scope of the work with their interests, personal experiences, and teaching expertise. This seminar is the best, most rigorous, and most helpful class I have encountered since finishing my master's degree." Joyce Nyberg, Miles City, MT
"There was a wide range of participants who ... shared information and ideas, not only about historical topics, but also about our teaching methods. The selection of materials to be studied was thoughtful as well; I could see how each book fit with the others and the logical progression throughout the seminar. The topics of the Civil War have always generated much discussion and debate--this class was no exception! I know that I will be taking numerous new ideas back to my own school in the Fall." Lisa Buoncuore, Middlebury, CT
1997 NEh Summer Seminar Participants with director Phillip Paludan (photo: Wally Emerson)
In this issue...
University of Kansas, Lawrence
October 17-18, 1997
Plenary Speakers-- Margot Finn, Emory University and Glenn Burgess, University of Hull
Concurrent sessions on fifteen topics, with 45 presenters, are scheduled on Friday afternoon and Saturday.
Information and Registration:
- Cathy Dwigans
- University of Kansas
- Division of Continuing Education
- Continuing Education Building
- Lawrence, KS 66045-2067
- Phone: (785) 864-3284. Fax: (785) 864-5074.
Sponsors:
- Midwest Conference on British Studies
- The University of Kansas:
- Department of History
- School of Law
- Office of the Provost
- Division of Continuing Education
In this issue...
Each year the Hall Center solicits applications for the Hall Fund for the Improvement of Teaching awards. Awards are made to projects which improve teaching from a practical standpoint within the classroom. The funds for this year's awards total approximately $11,000. Application forms and guidelines for grants under this program for the academic year 1998-99 are available from the Hall Center and are due at the Center by November 1. Awards will be announced in December to facilitate careful advance planning of the projects to be supported.
Three recently awarded projects are underway. "Teaching Research: A Workshop for Teaching Faculty & Librarians" met in February and April of 1997. The faculty participating, guided by Cindy Pierard (Watson Library), include Nyla Branscombe (Psychology), John Broholm (Journalism), Deborah Gerner (Political Science), Chico Herbison (African & African American Studies), Mary Klayder (English), Alice Lieberman (Social Welfare), Nancy Peterson (Special Education), Cathy Preston (Theatre & Film), Tony Rosenthal (History and Latin American Studies), and Marjorie Swann (English). Each of these faculty have incorporated into at least one of their courses a library research component to help students develop the research skills needed to successfully complete assigned projects. "As an added benefit," stated Pierard, "the workshop seems to have spurred other types of collaboration." These include "fairly regular discussions on new teaching techniques they are trying out."
"Writing Consulting: Faculty Resources," KU's writing-across-the-curriculum service, is developing the web site Resources for Writers http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~writestd as a support for KU students and an instructional tool for faculty. Students may use this site to access workshops and tipsheets that will provide information about writing processes, guidelines which will help them develop specific academic- and work-writing documents, and links that will give them access to major OWLs (on-line writing labs) and other writing resources. Faculty can use the site as a forum to refine their expectations of writing in their courses, their programs, and their disciplines. They may collaborate with Writing Consulting to make this site a course-specific resource for their students. Faculty clients of Writing Consulting may post syllabi to the site and work with the staff to add materials to Resources for Writers. In addition, through this site they may access Writing Consulting's faculty development homepage http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~writingc. Lee Hornbrook is the webmaster for the project. Writing Consulting staff members Angela Jones, Anne Farmer, and Pat McQueeney are developing documents for Resources for Writers and assisting in the design of the web site.
Funding received by the Freshman-Sophomore English program will be used to conduct a summer training workshop for mentor GTAs who will be chosen to help introduce new GTAs to English 101. Professor Andrea Lunsford, a nationally renowned expert on writing pedagogy, collaboration, and teacher training from Ohio State University, will lead an all-day training workshop on Friday, August 15, 1997, in the Hall Center conference room. The goal for the training worship is to expand the mentor's knowledge of current composition theories and pedagogy, thus providing them with the means of translating what they do into why they do it--a way to ground practice in theory so that the mentor GTAs can subsequently teach their mentees to reapply the theories in their own teaching. In addition, the workshop will introduce the mentors to various methods of teacher training, so that they can perform their mentoring more effectively. The Hall funded mentor workshop will result in a richer mentoring experience for the new GTAs, who will not only be better prepared to meet the challenges of teaching English 101, but will also be able to make the experience for those students taking the course that much richer.
In this issue...
Hall Center Deadlines:
The Fall 1997 Communiqué Calendar will serve as a
reminder of the events you may wish to attend. For further information about specific events, please call the Hall Center at (785) 864-4798 or by e-mail at hallcntr@ukans.edu.
In this issue...
The Joyce & Elizabeth Hall Center for the Humanities
The Executive Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Center's Director. The members are drawn from among Humanities faculty at the University. The Center reports to the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Public Service. It is located in Watkins Home, south of Watson Library on Sunflower Road on the KU campus.
Staff
Roberta Johnson, Director
Janet S. Crow, Executive Director
Allan Hanson, Chair, Executive Committee
Elizabeth A. Granberg, Secretary
Susan E. Pauls, Secretary
Executive Committee: Stephen Goddard, Art History; John Gronbeck-Tedesco, Theatre & Film; Elizabeth Kuznesof, Latin American Studies; Cheryl Lester, English; Lee Mann, Design; Donald Worster, History. Ex-officio: Robert Zerwekh, Assoc. Vice Chancellor--RPS; Peter Casagrande, Assoc. Dean--Liberal Arts; Carole Ross, Assoc. Dean--Fine Arts; Joey Sprague, Sociology--Chair, 1998-2000 Humanities Lecture Committee.
Advisory Board: Charles Battey--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KN Energy, Inc.; Robert Creighton--Brown, Creighton & Peckham; Michael Fields--William T. Kemper Foundation; John Laney--The Hall Family Foundations; Connie Menninger--Kansas State Historical Society; Robert Mueller--retired, Arthur Young & Company; Tom Murray--Barber, Emerson, Springer, Zinn & Murray; Lynwood Smith--retired, Mayo Clinic; Estelle Sosland--A Civic Volunteer; John H. Stauffer--Stauffer Communications, Inc.; Deanell Reece Tacha--Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals.
In this issue...
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The Hall Center web pages are created and maintained by Elizabeth Barnhill. Please send comments or suggestions to hallcntr@ukans.edu.
Updated August 11, 1997