The topic for the 2010 University Lecture Series at The Commons is Jazz.  This topic will dovetail with the Commons course designed for Honors Program students, taught in Spring 2010 by Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese. 

From the course description for Writing Jazz:
“Jazz is a unique art-form that invites study from a multi-disciplinary approach.  The course Writing Jazz will explore the historical evolution of music from the point of view of literary and intellectual history, highlighting the ways in which poets, essayists, and novelists have responded to the innovations of major figures from Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington to Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis.”

Students in this course will attend the University Lecture Series; however, the goal is for all programs in the series to attract a diverse audience from inside and outside the University.

The University Lecture Series at The Commons is sponsored by the University of Kansas Honors Program in association with The Commons, a partnership among the Biodiversity Institute, the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the Spencer Museum of Art.  The Commons fosters the exploration of nature and culture across the sciences, arts, and humanities.

All lectures are free and open to the public.  For more information call 785-864-4225

Chuck Berg Quartet                
Tuesday, October 20th
Spooner, 7:30 p.m.

Fred Moten
Department of English, Duke University
Thursday, February 25th
Spooner, 7:30 p.m.

Tammy Kernodle
Department of Musicology, Miami University
Tuesday, March 9th
Spooner, 7:30 p.m.

Paul Lopes
Department of Sociology, Colgate University
Thursday, April 15th
Spooner, 7:30 p.m.

2009 Commons Course

2008 Commons Course