Research Seminar Schedule
Attend a research seminar
Seminars are open to all graduate students, faculty and staff of the University of Kansas and their guests. The Colonialism and Disability Studies Seminars will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the Gender & Trans* Studies Seminar will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., unless noted otherwise. No prior registration is required. Please sign up below to receive emailed information about each seminar.
When papers are provided for sessions, they are available as password protected PDF files.
If you would like seminar paper password information, email Hall Center Administrative Associate April Walton at hchseminars@ku.edu.
Join a seminar email list
You can sign up to receive email updates for individual seminars by completing one or more of the forms below:
Seminar descriptions
Colonialism Seminar
This seminar examines the history and legacy of colonialism in Latin America. Meetings provide an opportunity for a dynamic examination of hemispherical and transatlantic connections across four major themes: identity, territory, religion, and cultural production.
For more information, contact Robert Schwaller (History, 864-9435, schwallr@ku.edu) or Christine Bourgeois (French, 864-9074, cbourgeois@ku.edu)
Monday, October 6, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Rachel Schwaller - History, Religious Studies, University of Kansas
"The Monstrosity of Unsettlement: A Case Study in Settler Colonialism in Lawrence, Kansas"
Monday, November 3, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Ridwan Muhammed - History, University of Kansas
"Repatriation and Reproduction: Identity Politics, and the Making of Reproductive Health Institutions in Colonial Lagos 1835-1885"
Disability Studies Seminar
The Disability Studies Seminar will provide a much-needed forum for scholars to explore and share research on topics relevant to disability within and across the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Scholars within Disability Studies tend to recognize disability in terms of social construction and minority culture.
For more information, contact Ray Mizumura-Pence (American Studies, 864-2302, rpence@ku.edu) or Sherrie Tucker (American Studies, 864-2305, sjtucker@ku.edu).
Thursday, August 28, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Megan Kaminski - Poet and Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Kansas
"Prairie Alchemy: Place, Healing, and Neurodivergence"
Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Han Mao - History, University of Kansas
“Prosthetic Politics: Reclaiming Pain and Visibility Beyond Crip Theory.”
Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Elizabeth Stevens - Department of Special Education and Affiliated Faculty, KU Center on Disabilities, University of Kansas
"Effective Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities"
Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.
Maya Delmond - American Studies, University of Kansas
" Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Alaska Tribes' Sovereignty: Stories from Alaska Native Intellectual History, 1962-1990"
Gender & Trans* Studies Seminar
The Gender & Trans* Studies Seminar explores gender as both a core concept in humanistic scholarship and a key organizing force in social life. It also examines trans* not only in terms of transgender identities and experiences, but more broadly as an approach to understanding how cultural, social, political, and linguistic systems have historically constructed and enforced hierarchical binaries—such as male/female, straight/queer, and human/non-human—across different times and cultures. At their core, both gender and trans* studies aim to expand humanistic inquiry by situating gender within a wide range of intersecting identities and-culturally and historically shaped- experiences.
For more information, contact Katie Batza (Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, 864-2310, batza@ku.edu) or Marta Vicente (Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, 864-2235, mvicente@ku.edu).
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 3:30 p.m.
Sarah Cullinan - Classics, University of Kansas
"Walk like a Man? Transgender Readings of Adonis"
Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 3:30 p.m.
Kelly Sharron - WGSS, University of Kansas
"The Pedagogy of Policing"
Wednesday, November, 19, 2025, at 3:30 p.m.
Marian Phillips - WGSS, University of Kansas
"Out by Sixteen, or Dead in the Scene: The Werewolf and its Transformation as Queer Allegory in Horror Films"
Humanities Out Loud: Music, Theater, Literature & Culture Seminar
The Humanities Out Loud seminar seeks to link forms of cultural production that employ the medium of sound in the making, dissemination and/or interpretation of cultural expression. Music and other performing arts are a particularly dynamic area of culture because they emerge in public spaces and speak to identity, cultural difference, and power dynamics in inescapable ways.
The Humanities Out Loud Seminar is on hiatus at this time. Any future seminars will be updated here.
Medieval & Early Modern Seminar
The Medieval & Early Modern Seminar meets each semester to discuss original work relating to any aspect of the history, culture, literature, art, or society of any part of the world between c. 400 and c.1800.
The Medieval & Early Modern Seminar is on hiatus at this time. Any future seminars will be updated here.
Nature & Culture Seminar
Nature is our oldest home and our newest challenge. This seminar brings the perspective of the humanities to bear on past and present environmental issues. It includes research on the changing perception, representation, and valuation of nature in human life, on the reciprocal impact of environmental change on social change, and on the variety of ways we use, consume, manage, and revere the earth. Co-sponsored by Environmental Studies.
For more information, contact Alex Boynton (Environmental Studies, ajboynton@ku.edu, 864-9648)
The Nature & Culture Seminar is on hiatus at this time. Any future seminars will be updated here.