The Commons announces shift to virtual format for Red Hot [Remote] Research in fall 2020


Red Hot Research will return this fall in a different setting. The series, sponsored by The Commons at the University of Kansas, will take place over Zoom and feature most of the trademark elements of the traditional in-person event as it shifts to a digital channel for connecting scholars to their peers across disciplines.

Red Hot [Remote] Research will continue as a regular Friday event, beginning at 4 p.m. and featuring research from disciplines across the university around core themes. Each session will feature five presenters sharing short talks on an area of focus within their work. The series will continue to open the door for new ways of understanding work through discussion across perspectives.

The first event is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 18 and will focus on Care & Aging. Subsequent sessions are scheduled for Oct. 9 on Rural/Urban, Oct. 23 on Gender & Representation and a special session Oct. 28, hosted in conjunction with a series of events KU has planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Additionally, one Red Hot Graduate Research session, an opportunity for graduate students to share their work with colleagues across campus, will be presented remotely Nov. 20.

In keeping with the goals of this series, presenters are asked to consider how other disciplinary perspectives could contribute to their research, the likely next steps for the research and challenges that they face in conducting the research. In turn, audience members are asked to, from their own perspectives, offer insights, questions and ideas.

Check The Commons’ website for Zoom registration information: https://thecommons.ku.edu/coming-events

Sept. 18: Care & Aging

  • Tracey LaPierre, associate professor of sociology
  • Ashley Herda, assistant professor of health, sport & exercise science
  • Lisa Friis, professor of mechanical engineering and bioengineering
  • Joe Colistra, professor of architecture
  • Liz Langdon, visiting assistant professor of visual art

Oct. 9: Rural / Urban

  • Joel Mendez, assistant professor of public affairs & administration
  • Abel Chikanda, assistant professor of geography & atmospheric science and African & African-American studies
  • John Rury, professor of educational leadership & policy studies
  • Wally Meyer, lecturer in business and director of the Entrepreneurship Program
  • Nathan Wood, associate professor of history

Emcee: Dave Tell, professor of communication studies and co-director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities

Oct. 23: Gender & Representation

  • Rene Jamison, clinical associate professor, KU Pediatric Center for Child Health and Development
  • Ever Josue Figueroa, assistant professor of journalism & mass communications
  • Marta Vicente, professor of history and women, gender & sexuality studies
  • Sarah Gross, assistant professor of visual art
  • Darci Fulcher, visiting assistant professor of theatre & dance

Oct. 28: Disability Studies

  • Nilou Vakil, assistant professor of architecture
  • Jean Hall, professor of applied behavioral science and director of the Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies
  • Ray Pence, associate teaching professor of American studies
  • Ken Fischer, professor of mechanical engineering 
  • Evan Dean, researcher, KU Center on Developmental Disabilities

Emcee: Dot Nary, assistant research professor, Research & Training Center on Independent Living


Nov. 20: Graduate Research

  • Hilary Hicks, clinical psychology
  • D’Arlyn Bell, public affairs & administration
  • Chris Peace, English
  • Ellen Collier, French, Francophone & Italian stwudies
  • Fatemeh Shayesteh, journalism & mass communications

Emcee: Elise Higgins, doctoral student in women, gender & sexuality studies.