Today’s News from the University of Kansas
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
Indigenous Peoples’ Day activities to build awareness at KU
LAWRENCE — Several University of Kansas organizations and offices have partnered to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day through a program featuring a renowned Cherokee Nation scholar reflecting on representation of Native cultures on college campuses. “Representations Matter: Serving Native Students in Higher Education,” featuring Adrienne Keene, assistant professor of American studies and ethnic studies at Brown University, will be a Zoom program at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12. The program is free and open to the public.
KU partnering with Douglas County to provide civic engagement office hours
LAWRENCE — Several University of Kansas units will offer virtual weekly Civic Engagement Office Hours, in conjunction with the Douglas County Clerk’s Office, leading up to the 2020 general election. “This year, it is extremely important that accurate information is available to voters,” said Jamie Shew, Douglas County clerk and election officer. “Our office is pleased to partner with these organizations in this educational effort.”
KU professors honored by American Journal of Sociology
LAWRENCE – University of Kansas researchers Argun Saatcioglu and Tom Skrtic have been selected to receive the 2020 Roger V. Gould Prize from the American Journal of Sociology. They are being honored for their article “Categorization by Organizations: Manipulation of Disability Categories in a Racially Desegregated School District.”
Full stories below.
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Contact: Jill Hummels, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6577, [email protected], @KUProvost
Indigenous Peoples’ Day activities to build awareness at KU
LAWRENCE — Several University of Kansas organizations and offices have partnered to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day through a program featuring a renowned Cherokee Nation scholar reflecting on representation of Native cultures on college campuses.
“Representations Matter: Serving Native Students in Higher Education,” featuring Adrienne Keene, of Cherokee Nation, will be a Zoom program at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12. The program is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Keene, assistant professor of American studies and ethnic studies at Brown University, will discuss the experience of Native students in higher education, using her own experiences at Stanford University dealing with mascots and misrepresentations, while providing context and statistics about the invisibility of Native students in college spaces.
She is a Native scholar, writer, blogger and activist who is working to reframe how the world sees contemporary Native cultures. She is the creator and author of Native Appropriations, a blog discussing cultural appropriation and stereotypes of Native peoples in fashion, film, music and other forms of pop culture.
Keene’s research areas include college access, transition and persistence for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, including the role of pre-college access programs in student success. Additionally, she examines representations of Native peoples in popular culture, Native cultural appropriation in fashion and design, and the ways that Indigenous peoples are using the internet, social media and new media to challenge misrepresentations and create new and innovative spaces for art and activism.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Native American studies and cultural anthropology from Stanford University and her doctorate in culture, communities and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been awarded several honors and fellowships, including the Harvard University Presidential Scholarship, the National Academy of Education Spencer Dissertation Fellowship and the NAEd Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Register for the program at http://rockcha.lk/ipd2020. Anyone who needs accommodations to participate fully is encouraged to email [email protected].
The event is co-sponsored by KU First Nations Student Association; Native Faculty and Staff Council; Indigenous Studies Program; Office of Diversity & Equity; Office of Multicultural Affairs; College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; KU Libraries; Spencer Museum of Art; Office of Admissions and Lied Center of Kansas.
In addition to Keene’s public presentation, the Lied Center is hosting a private workshop as part of Indigenous People’s Day celebrations.
The multiday Indigenous Arts Initiative Workshop will run Oct. 14-17 at the Lied Center. This event will host master Indigenous artist Dana Warrington, who will work with 10 local Native artisans on the skill of quilling. Warrington is an enrolled member of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi of Kansas and grew up on the Menominee Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin. Warrington is a traditional artist and started beading when he was a child. He later picked up quillwork. Today, his many media include beadwork, quillwork, bustle-making, moccasins and cradleboards.
A partnership between the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, KU Department of Film & Media Studies, the Spencer Museum of Art and the Lied Center, and the Indigenous Arts Initiative supports a rotating series of Indigenous art workshops that provide Indigenous artists the opportunity to hone their creative skills and expand their professional networks. This workshop was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and will follow all COVID-19 protocols in place.
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Contact: Emily Ryan, The Commons, 785-864-6923, [email protected], @TheCommonsKU
KU partnering with Douglas County to provide civic engagement office hours
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will offer weekly Civic Engagement Office Hours, in conjunction with the Douglas County Clerk’s Office, leading up to the 2020 general election.
Led by The Commons, the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity, the Center for Service Learning, KU Libraries and the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, the effort will offer a reliable and regular space for questions about the election.
“The strength of our democracy is evidenced by our collective participation in voting and other civic processes,” said Jomella Watson-Thompson, director of the Center for Service Learning. “In the 2016 presidential election, the voting rate for KU students was 51 percent. It is critical that college students feel empowered by their vote, which is evidenced through full participation in the process from registering to voting a ballot.”
In spring 2020, the Center for Service Learning, Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity and The Commons developed the Educate & Act Series to connect research at KU with civic engagement opportunities and processes. The events have occurred on the first Tuesdays of the month, leading ultimately to Election Day in November. Topics have included the Census, the voting process, voting from the margins and the feminist agenda.
Beginning 11 a.m. today, Oct. 9, with additional support of the KU Libraries and the journalism school, the group will launch Voter Education Office Hours with the Douglas County Clerk’s Office.
“This is a natural extension of the Educate & Act series, which welcomes questions from students and community members alike, about how to participate in democracy,” said Emily Ryan, director of The Commons. “Observing that a lot of processes look different in the face of the pandemic, we wanted to offer a platform to anyone with questions about voting protocol.”
The sessions are intended as drop-in opportunities for clarifying information or finding reliable resources to share.
“This year, it is extremely important that accurate information is available to voters,” said Jamie Shew, county clerk and election officer. “Our office is pleased to partner with these organizations in this educational effort.”
Events are hosted on Zoom and can be accessed at thecommons.ku.edu.
Registration information for office hours — Oct. 9, 13, 20 and 27 — is available in the online version of this press release.
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Contact: Janelle Laudick, School of Education, 785-864-6089, [email protected], @Kansas_SOE
KU professors honored by American Journal of Sociology
LAWRENCE – Argun Saatcioglu, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies and (by courtesy) the Department of Sociology, and Tom Skrtic, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education, both at the University of Kansas, have been selected to receive the 2020 Roger V. Gould Prize from the American Journal of Sociology (AJS).
Saatcioglu and Skrtic are being honored for their 2019 article in AJS, “Categorization by Organizations: Manipulation of Disability Categories in a Racially Desegregated School District” (125:184–260). Their article was selected because, in the editors’ views, it most closely embodied the qualities that made Gould’s own work in sociology outstanding (theoretically rich, lucidly written and empirically rigorous). In addition to being listed in the July issue of AJS as the 2020 winners, Saatcioglu and Skrtic will each receive an award of $1,000. More information about the Roger V. Gould Prize can be found here.
Saatcioglu and Skrtic discussed their research in this 2019 news release.
“Saatciolgu and Skrtic’s work represents cutting-edge research on organizations and education,” said Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education & Human Sciences. “The prize is appropriate recognition of the high quality of their research.”
Saatcioglu joined the faculty at KU in 2007, and his research has focused on educational and organizational inequality, educational policy, governance and quantitative methods. More information on Saatcioglu can be found here.
Skrtic joined the faculty at KU in 1976, and his research specializes in organization theory, special education policy and administration, and qualitative research and evaluation. More information on Skrtic can be found here.
Usually, prize winners are featured guests at the AJS editors’ luncheon held at the annual American Sociological Association (ASA) meetings, but those meetings have been canceled this year. Saatcioglu and Skrtic will be included on the guest list for the 2021 meetings in Chicago.
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