Rodolfo Dirzo and Jorge Soberon in Conversation

The Commons in the News

The Commons offers opportunities to engage through in-person and virtual programs, dialogues, and events. We invite you to read more about what we've done, and where we're going.


Fall 2021 News

2022 Community Engaged Learning Summit Promotion

KU to host second annual Summit on Community-Engaged Learning and Scholarship

The KU Center for Service Learning will host the second annual virtual Summit on Community-Engaged Learning and Scholarship from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 13, 2022. This year, the summit’s theme is “Expanding the Impact: Advancing a Shared Commitment to Community Engagement.” The program will feature keynote speaker Andrew Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, at 10:30 a.m. In his book, “The Engaged Scholar,” Hoffman argues for the emergence of a more publicly and politically engaged scholar. Hoffman’s lecture is a call to make the path toward public engagement more acceptable and legitimate for the academic scholar in today’s world. This keynote is sponsored by The Commons and the KU Libraries.
Andrew Hoffman Promotion

KU Libraries, The Commons to host presentation by author Andrew Hoffman on Jan. 13

The University of Kansas Libraries and The Commons will present the Engaged Leaders Speaker Series, a virtual lecture program on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, featuring author Andrew Hoffman. In his keynote address, which is open to all KU faculty, staff and students, Hoffman will discuss the research around his book, “The Engaged Scholar: Expanding the Impact of Academic Research in Today’s World.”
Community Learning & Practice Graphic

FNSA, The Commons offer series highlighting Native ways of thinking

This fall, the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association (FNSA) and The Commons are offering regular events that center approaches and ideas of Native peoples, drawing on themes offered in the 2021-22 KU Common Book, "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants," by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The next event, which will examine the roles of language in culture and understanding, will take place at noon Nov. 18.
Alex Red Corn speaking

Alex Red Corn to speak on sovereignty, education

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, departments at the University of Kansas are bringing Alex Red Corn, assistant professor of educational leadership at Kansas State University, to offer a presentation titled “Liberating Sovereign Potential in Indigenous Education: Building Capacity and Confronting Colonial Entanglements.” // Photo by Laura Kingston