Meet Our Faculty


Dr. Arash Mafi: Executive Dean of the College!

Arash Mafi and the front of Strong Hall

Dr. Arash Mafi is the new — and first — Executive Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. We let him settle into his new role for a week, then asked a few questions to get to know him better.  What excites you most about KU and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences?…

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Writing from a quiet place: College retreat helps faculty dive in to 'Deep Work'

Faculty group standing next to a bison metal carve-out with the caption: 'Writing from a quiet place: College retreat helps faculty dive in to 'Deep Work''

By Tamara Falicov Two years ago at a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty focus group, one faculty member spoke about her challenges impeding research productivity. In order to complete a journal article under deadline, she stated, she would need to rent a hotel room for two nights…

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Busy award season for College's Kevin Willmott

Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee looking at monitors on a movie set

KU professor of Film & Media Studies Kevin Willmott has had a busy awards season. As a co-writer on Spike Lee’s newest film, “BlacKkKlansman,” Willmott has received numerous industry award nominations for his work on the script. The biggest recognition Willmott received came during the…

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I am Seeking: Steven A. Soper

Steven A. Soper with the text 'I am seeking, Steven A. Soper'

Our new video series, I am Seeking, highlights what our faculty are seeking with their research. From elevating African-American playwrights, to looking for signs of alien life in rocks on earth, or finding new ways to treat addiction, our faculty are innovators and explorers seeking answers and…

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Why I Give: Professor’s admiration for ‘Moby-Dick’ steers gift

Elizabeth Schultz, professor emerita of english, shares her history with novel that influenced her career, professorship fund.Reading Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” for the first time in college in 1957, I found myself plunged into a new world of language and thought. A decade later, teaching…

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