Regular Series
Series 1
All We Can Save
Climate change is often discussed in scientific terms, but the work of responding to the urgency of climate change requires many voices. The realms of social, creative, activist, spiritual, food production, and many others, play critical roles in the larger conversation. As well, we know that climate change disproportionately affects certain populations. We present this series to showcase the works of leaders included in All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson.
Artist Projects
Visiting artists create site-specific projects that incorporate and directly respond to the space of The Commons, exhibit strong interdisciplinary elements addressing exploratory themes, and build upon knowledge in the arts, humanities, and sciences.
Coffee @ The Commons
Coffee @ The Commons is intended to provide a venue for conversation between interested members of the community and a visiting expert. In collaboration with departments across the University, The Commons identifies speakers who are on campus to speak about their research, and whose work applies broadly, with implications for many disciplines. Coffee @ The Commons is then an opportunity for more intimate dialogue with these visitors.
Community Conversations
The work of The Commons is informed by diverse disciplinary expertise and a broad range of human experience. It is a place to discuss current events in context and with potential for new ways of understanding and addressing challenges. Community Conversations highlight society-level topics that affect people on and off campus, with intention to broaden discussion, deepen understanding, and elevate new possibilities.
Series 2
Community Learning & Practice: Native Ways of Thinking, Knowing, Being
Community Learning & Practice is presented by KU First Nations Student Association and The Commons to offer space for building understanding around topics resonating with researchers at KU and in public life in 2021. These sessions lead with Indigenous values and practice, including reciprocity, relationship, and reconciliation.
Educate & Act
This series features experts on different aspects of US democracy, and centers opportunities for civic engagement. It is intended to help demystify elements of the systems and processes at work in the US democracy.
Engaged Leaders Speaker Series
The Engaged Leaders Speaker Series welcomes leading scholars to KU to lead intentional conversations which emphasize open, equitable, divergent, and critical thinking posed to guide the future university. This series combines the institutional priorities of Jayhawks Rising, the strategic plan for the University of Kansas, by illuminating the work and structure of higher education through research & discovery, with an eye toward “Healthy & Vibrant Communities,” which depends on the well-being of students, faculty, and staff who make up the communities of KU.
Kenneth Spencer Lecture
The Kenneth Spencer Lectures gives The Commons an opportunity to invite leaders in their fields to speak to the University of Kansas and area communities. The voices represented include scholars and public figures whose work applies across disciplines as they approach larger themes and topics that affect humans on a broad scale. Support for the Kenneth A. Spencer Lecture is made possible by the KU Office of the Provost.
Series 3
Red Hot Research
As a part of our continued effort to bring together scholars from all disciplines, The Commons presents the Research Sharing Sessions--a series designed specifically for research exchange. The format of these sessions is inspired by Pecha Kucha, which features short, slide-based talks that introduce audiences to an idea.
Spotlight on Care
Care and well-being are central to discussion about living a balanced life, but how do research and practice align? This series considers aspects of well-being, with special attention to the demands and expectations of higher education. What can we learn in sharing space around topics of care, across roles and interests at the University? Is the culture of work-life balance unique at a university? How can we understand the research in ways that will enable us to live most contently? This series will feature opportunities to incorporate practice with learning.
Wellness in Our Democracy
These sessions are designed to address the ways in which systems perpetuate the spread of misinformation and disinformation, especially as they stem from dominant narratives in American society. These ongoing University of Kansas events, which uplift research and a culture of responsive care, will connect teachers, students, scholars, and leaders with the tools that can better help us navigate these perilous times.