15 KU College moments from an extraordinary year
2020 has been — well, take your pick of adjective: Difficult. Uncertain. Unpredictable. Unprecedented. Challenging. By now, we’ve all heard and used these words so many times that they hardly do justice to the collective whiplash and mind-boggling paradigm shifts we’ve adjusted to during the past…
Unwinding: Molly Zahn tackles the changing text of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Can religious texts be changed by the scribe copying them down? Associate Professor of Religious Studies Molly Zahn's new book Genres of Rewriting in Second Temple Judaism explores the evolution of religious texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Listen as she talks about her research, path to KU, how…
Top 10 #HeartofKU stories of 2019
As the first month of 2020 comes to an end, we're taking a look back at some of our favorite KU stories of 2019. From bees, beer, and Oscar buzz to research excellence, a Jayhawk Women's Hall of Famer, and the search for habitable planets outside of our solar system, here are 10 stand-out moments…
Unwinding: Dave Tell on race, memory and the legacy of Emmett Till
What does it mean to commemorate a moment in time? For Professor of Communication Studies Dave Tell, commemorating the legacy of the murder of Emmett Till has taken him on a journey from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago. As part of the Emmett Till Memory Project, Tell has worked with Till's family…
Unwinding with Jennifer Delgado: Astrophysicist
If you spent any time on social media this summer, you probably heard that United States government agencies confirmed the existence of video footage of UFOs taken by military aircraft. The videos reignited speculation about the presence of alien life visiting Earth.In an effort to bring some…
Unwinding with Hannah Britton: Anti-trafficking Researcher
What does human trafficking look like? Most of us have seen stories of captivity play out on big or small screen with familiar casts of villains and victims. Compelling drama, perhaps, but the reality is far more complicated, and closer to home, than we might like to imagine. Make no…
Unwinding with Katie Rhine & Macie Rouse: Community Researchers
When most of us imagine a “lab,” familiar images and associations come to mind: sterile spaces equipped with white coats and Petri dishes, beakers, glass test tubes and granulated cylinders galore. Spaces where life-changing discoveries are made, no doubt — but Katie Rhine and her dedicated team of…
Unwinding with Ward Lyles: Compassionate Urban Planner
What’s the foundation of a city? For urban planner Ward Lyles, the spaces we inhabit are defined as much by an approach to life, and the people we encounter, as they are by the systems and physical structures that make up a sound infrastructure. The way he sees it, the true bedrock of a strong…
Unwinding with Paul Stock: Optimist and Environmental Sociologist
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still…
Unwinding with Alison Olcott: Dinosaur Hunter and Mars Explorer
Do aliens exist on Mars? Possibly. But how do humans actually go about answering that question? One option is to examine rocks to understand the types of life-forms, like squishy things, that roamed the earth billions of years ago. That's what Alison Olcott does in her role as…