Sept. 17, 2002

Contact: Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853.

KU faculty receive 3 NEH grants for humanities education projects

LAWRENCE -- Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas have received three National Endowment for the Humanities grants totaling more than $169,000 for education programs. KU was the only university in Kansas to receive NEH funding.

The NEH grants are for:

 • the Olathe School District to collaborate with KU faculty in developing a course on East Asian studies for Olathe high schools. Jan Heinen, Olathe district director of middle level education, directs the $24,900 grant project with KU.

 • a six-week seminar for 15 college and university teachers on selected poems by 20th-century Spanish and Latin American authors. Andrew Debicki, KU distinguished professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and Jill Kuhnheim, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, co-direct the $119,365 program that will investigate critical approaches to Spanish and Latin American poetry at the end of the 20th century.

 • a series of workshops for 15 high school teachers in Washington, D.C., on Toni Morrison's novels and literary criticism. Maryemma Graham, KU professor of English, directs the $25,000 grant program, titled "Language Matters: Reading and Teaching Morrison."

The Olathe collaborative project with KU will launch the new 21st Century High School International Studies program for the Olathe district's 2003 school year.

Elaine Gerbert, director of KU's Center for East Asian Studies, and Nancy Hope, outreach coordinator for the center, will work with the Olathe teachers to develop curriculum and model lesson plans. Paul D'Anieri, associate dean of international programs at KU, will work with Olathe school officials to provide information that will enable a smooth transition for Olathe high school graduates planning to continue international studies at the university level.

The KU seminar on Spanish and Latin American authors was one of 29 NEH higher education projects funded nationwide. The seminar on Toni Morrison's literature was one of 30 seminars for K-12 teachers funded nationally, and the collaborative project with the Olathe School District to develop a high school course in East Asian studies was one of six in the nation.

The Spanish and Latin American poetry seminar will take place June 16 to July 25, 2003, and will be administered through the Hall Center for the Humanities at KU.

The Toni Morrison project began this fall with Saturday seminars that will continue through the end of the 2002-03 school year at Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C., for 15 teachers selected from D.C.-area high schools.

The project seeks to encourage the use of Morrison's novels in classrooms, particularly those where the enrollment includes multiracial students from inner-city and suburban neighborhoods and from low-income and affluent families. Morrison will attend a session during the one-week summer 2003 seminar; all sessions will be taught by Morrison specialists.