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KU journalism professor documenting project to revive Pawnee varieties of corn
LAWRENCE — Nebraska may be known as the Cornhusker State, but a University of Kansas professor is in the midst of a new documentary project telling the story of “the first Cornhuskers,” who have revived nearly 20 Indigenous species of corn as part of the Pawnee Corn Seed Preservation Project. Rebekka Schlichting was a recipient of a $37,500 grant from Firelight Media, PBS and the Center for Asian American Media to produce a documentary on the project. The documentary is expected to run 8-10 minutes and air on Nebraska Public Media stations this fall.
KU International Affairs names Eron Memaj as International Support Services director
LAWRENCE — KU International Affairs has announced a new leader for its office that provides programming to increase international student involvement on campus and oversees international admissions. Eron Memaj will be coming from Kent State University, where he served as director of the Office of International Student Affairs for seven years. He begins his role as director of KU International Support Services on Aug. 1.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings
KU journalism professor documenting project to revive Pawnee varieties of corn
LAWRENCE — Nebraska may be known as the Cornhusker State, but a University of Kansas professor is in the midst of a new documentary project telling the story of “the first Cornhuskers,” who have revived nearly 20 Indigenous species of corn as part of the Pawnee Corn Seed Preservation Project.
Rebekka Schlichting was a recipient of a $37,500 grant from Firelight Media, PBS and the Center for Asian American Media to produce a documentary on the project, part of a larger initiative called HOMEGROWN: Future Visions, to support emerging filmmakers who identify as Black, Indigenous and/or people of color to tell stories of the American Midwest. Schlichting’s film, tentatively titled “Back to the Land: The Pawnee Corn Seed Preservation Project,” will focus on Pawnee citizens working in Nebraska to build a seed library.
Schlichting, assistant professor of the practice in the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, first learned of the project while working with Vision Maker Media, a company that trains and funds Indigenous filmmakers and documentarians. While working on a documentary about land being returned to original tribal owners, she learned of the corn seed project and wanted to tell its story.
“They’ve been able to bring back about 20 different varieties of Pawnee corn,” Schlichting said of the project. “Nationwide, tribes have identified about 700 different varieties of corn that differ not only in appearance but in nutritional value from the dominant corn today. We decided that the Pawnee Corn Seed Project was too big to include in the returning the land story and needed a story of its own.”
Schlichting and her crew have shot the majority of their footage of Pawnee families working with Nebraska farmers to plant corn, building a seed library and discussing the importance of the project. Over the summer they will finish writing and editing the film, which, like the other films in the HOMEGROWN: Future Visions series, will run 8-10 minutes. Through the project, Schlichting has partnered with Nebraska Public Media’s Nebraska Stories series, which will air the film on its member stations this fall.
A member of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Schlichting said the story of reclaiming food sovereignty and returning to healthy, traditional lifeways of the Pawnee people spoke to her.
“Corn is important in my life, particularly, which is part of why I was interested in this story. My family was able to harvest our own Indian corn on the Kickapoo reservation,” Schlichting said. “The tradition of harvesting our own corn is an important part of our culture. With each seed, we pray and think about every life that will be touched by it. With each piece harvested we are reminded how sacred it is, and we give thanks for it.”
The film will feature Pawnee leaders and citizens, who are now based in Oklahoma but are able to work through partnerships with settlers in their traditional lands in Nebraska. The Pawnee, who have called themselves the first Cornhuskers, discuss what the reclamation means to the tribe, how colonization threatened Indigenous foods like corn, how they are building their seed library, how they are revitalizing corn varieties and how the native varieties can help combat health problems like diabetes, which are prevalent in Indigenous communities.
Schlichting, who teaches documentary filmmaking classes at KU, said she hopes to hold public screenings of the film and enter it in the festival circuit as well after initial airings this fall.
“It is possible to bring back native food sources. It’s a lot of work, but it has totally changed people’s lives,” she said. “We don’t often see stories about Native people in popular media today, or if we do, they’re stories from the past. I’m proud to be able to share this story.”
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Contact: Christine Metz Howard, International Affairs, [email protected], @KUintlaffairs
KU International Affairs names Eron Memaj as International Support Services director
LAWRENCE — KU International Affairs has announced that Eron Memaj will be the new director of International Support Services at the University of Kansas.
Memaj will be coming from Kent State University, where he served as director of the Office of International Student Affairs for seven years. In that role, Memaj created strategies and assessment tools to improve international students’ sense of belonging. He also expanded opportunities for all Kent State students to engage in international and intercultural experiences, facilitated internationalization efforts across campus and organized and executed the university’s first International Resident Assistant Exchange program with Deakin University in Australia.
“I am deeply excited to welcome Eron and his wife, Carrie, to Lawrence this summer,” said Charlie Bankart, KU’s senior internationalization officer. “Eron brings with him deep knowledge and rich personal and professional experience as an international educator, and he implicitly understands our mission and commitment to our international students.”
International Support Services (ISS) provides activities and programming to increase international student involvement on campus and in the community, education about resources on campus and assistance in maintaining legal status while an international student. ISS also oversees international admissions, which recruits and guides prospective international students through the application process as well as helps their transition to life in the United States.
KU’s Lawrence campus has more than 1,600 international students from more than 100 countries and more than 900 international faculty and staff.
“I am deeply honored to join an already thriving team at the University of Kansas and to become a member of the Jayhawk family,” Memaj said. “I immediately felt an undeniable sense of community when I first stepped in Lawrence. This is such a great place for international students to experience the U.S., and I look forward to working with a dedicated and caring team of professionals to advance KU’s internationalization efforts. I also look forward to serving and connecting with students at KU and helping them build a lifelong connection with the university.”
During his time at Kent State, Memaj received the President’s Award of Distinction, which recognizes staff members who demonstrate exceptional performance in advancing one or more of the university’s strategic goals. Memaj’s contributions to creating a sense of belonging for international students, alongside other key strategies from campus partners, helped advance the university’s strategic goal of global competitiveness.
This year, Kent State is the only university to receive the prestigious Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The award recognizes successful efforts to integrate international education throughout the university and its campuses. These international efforts came on the heels of Kent State University’s completion of the American Council on Education (ACE) Internationalization Lab.
“I look forward to partnering with Eron as we build upon the recommendations of our own KU ACE Internationalization Lab efforts, which culminated this spring with our peer review visit,” Bankart said.
Originally from Albania, Memaj completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration and international business, as well as a master’s degree in higher education, from the University of Akron in Ohio. He earned his doctorate in education support from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Memaj will finish the semester with Kent State University and will begin his role at KU on Aug. 1. Joe Potts, assistant vice provost for international innovation and initiatives, and Roberta Pokphanh, assistant vice provost for academics, administration, and diversity, equity and belonging, have been serving as interim co-directors of ISS and will return to their previous roles.
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