College of Liberal Arts & Sciences news

Student researchers help document memories of religion in Kansas
Students from KU's department of religious studies are scouring Kansas to record oral histories of everyday people with recollections of a host of faiths. They are taking part in a new class led by Tim Miller, professor of religious studies, who hopes to collect memories of older Kansans’ experiences in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples before such stories are lost to time.

Economics professor earns grant to study why women leave the sciences
With the help of a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Donna Ginther intends to find out what’s causing a substantial number of women in the sciences to leave the field before attaining academic careers. The research comes at a crucial time, when about half of all doctoral degrees in the biomedical sciences are being earned by women but far fewer advance to academic careers.

KU mourns longtime faculty, staff members
With eight decades of service combined, economics professor Harry Shaffer and German department administrative assistant Montana Huslig touched the lives of many KU students. Shaffer, 90, had taught at KU since 1956; Huslig, 58, had worked in the German department since 1980.

Doctoral student wins national scholarship for dissertation research
Emily Zimmerman, a doctoral student in developmental speech physiology and neuroscience, is one of only six doctoral students nationally to receive the 2009 New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, which honors exemplary doctoral candidates who are committed to completing a research doctoral degree and pursuing an academic career in communication sciences and disorders in the United States.

Graduate students receive fellowships to study African languages
The four doctoral students and two master’s students are studying languages including KiSwahili, Arabic and Hausa. The fellowships will provide a $15,000 stipend and up to $12,000 in tuition and fees for the six students. Doctoral students may use the fellowships for study abroad.

 

School of the Arts news

University Dance Company presents fall concert
Tap, ballet, bolero, rumba, hip hop, modern, jazz and flamenco—the University Dance Company’s fall concert features a cornucopia of dance forms in works by award-winning guest choreographer Bill Evans and KU dance faculty. The concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 19 and 20, at the Lied Center of Kansas.

University Theatre stages “The Glass Menagerie”
Tennessee Williams’ classic drama "The Glass Menagerie" will be staged by the University Theatre Nov. 19-22 at the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. The KU production is directed by Jack B. Wright, professor of theatre, and features original music composed by Paul Bowles for the premiere production.

Visual art faculty member creates virtual environment
for Dia De Los Muertos festival
Lecturer Stacey Fox created an interactive environment on Second Life in which the Smithsonian's Latino Virtual Museum is celebrating the Dia De Los Muertos festival. Fox is the lead artist and senior adviser for the museum.

KU mourns accompanist Barbara Puckett
Barbara Puckett studied music at KU and taught piano professionally for more than 30 years, including serving as the piano accompanist for the KU Department of Music and Dance before joining the Theatre staff in 2007.

 

School of Business news

Twin MAcc students discover different paths
Anyone who has had a roommate with whom they share their college classes knows it’s either a huge help or major burden. Luckily roommates and Master in Accounting (MAcc) students Emily and Katie Minion have only benefited from being roommates with the same classes, and being twins helps, too.

MBA student works to separate from crowd with CFA charter
Second-year MBA student Brett Kunshek passed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams in June 2009. "The Level I exam is a strong weed-out exam," said KU School of Business Teaching Fellow and CFA charter holder, Kelly Welch.

Real-life Informant agent to deliver Fall 2009 Chandler Lecture
Robert Herndon, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and KU School of Business graduate, will deliver the Anderson Chandler Lecture, “CLuEs from the Convicts: Life Lessons on Character, Leadership, and Ethics from the files of the FBI,” at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the Lied Center of Kansas. Herndon was a key officer in the investigation that is now the basis for the Warner Bros. movie The Informant, starring Matt Damon.

Some exciting numbers from the KU School of Business
Sometimes numbers tell the story best. At the KU School of Business, we have some exciting numbers to share.

H. Bernard Fink Scholarship supports high-potential Kansas students
Each year, the School of Business awards a $2,500 scholarship from the H. Bernerd Fink Scholarship Fund to a high-potential pre-business student from a Kansas high school. The scholarship is renewable for the recipient’s four years as an undergraduate, so there are up to four Fink Scholars in any given year.

 

School of Law news

KU law students take second in National Criminal Procedure Tournament
A team from the University of Kansas School of Law captured second place at the National Criminal Procedure Tournament. Third-year law students Bonnie Boryca and Stephanie Lovett-Bowman rose to the top of a field of 40 teams from law schools across the country at the annual competition, held Nov. 5-7 at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Research project, law professor honored by U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform presented the 2009 Research Award to the Searle Civil Justice Institute at Northwestern University School of Law for its in-depth empirical research on consumer arbitrations. Christopher R. Drahozal, the John M. Rounds Professor of Law at KU, chairs Searle’s Consumer Arbitration Task Force.

KU law professor, clinic featured in Sunflower Foundation report
The law school’s Family Health Care Legal Services Clinic is supported, in part, by the Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans. The foundation features the clinic’s important work in this year’s annual report, complete with a video interview of Professor Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, clinic director.

Photos from Green Hall
Two recent events helped first-year law students prepare for their future legal careers. At the annual Mentor Reception, students met area attorneys and judges who have agreed to serve as their mentors through the 1L year and beyond. And the annual Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays tested the legal research skills students have learned in the lawyering program.

Mentor Reception photos
Bluebook Relays photos