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The Kansas Studies Institute at JCCC promotes research and teaching on the culture, history, economics and natural environment of Kansas.

Kansas Studies Institute, founded in 2009, fulfills its mission by collaborating with individuals and entities both at JCCC and throughout Kansas to expand our understanding of the state’s peoples, places, and landscape. Tai Edwards is the director.

Follow us on Instagram: @kansasstudiesinstitute
Ongoing Projects

Kansas Cosmos

map of Kansas with overlay of solar system.

KSI is coordinating a multi-disciplinary project where students are creating a to-scale version of the solar system that maps over the state of Kansas. Imagine driving on I-70 across the state and having this app tell you where you are in the solar system, when you reach the orbit of each planet/object, and the relative size and other interesting facts about each object. In 2020 students began designing, coding, researching, writing, and building the application. We soft-launched the app/website on Kansas Day, Jan. 29, 2021, and will continue building and updating it throughout the spring semester. Read about our progress or visit kansascosmos.org.

 


In ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project

Kansas Studies Institute is a collaborator on the Mellon Foundation grant project In ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock. This two and a half year project builds on the work of the “Between the Rock and a Hard Place”/Robinson Park project, on which KSI also collaborated. Members of the Kaw Nation, the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, Kanza Heritage Society, and others will relocate In ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe, a 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder from Robinson Park in Lawrence, to the Kaw Nation’s Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park near Council Grove. Interpretation, community engagement, and the development of educational materials will also be part of this project.

Other recent projects include:

Kansa, an earthwork by Stan Herd, was completed on the JCCC campus in April 2013
Kansa, an earthwork by Stan Herd, was completed on the JCCC campus in April 2013
  • Tai Edwards shared a Big Idea on the Humanities Kansas website: How Should We Honor Someone's Military Service?
  • Recording oral histories. This began with Vietnam-era veterans in “Kansas Stories of the Vietnam War” – a Humanities Kansas project. KSI has continued this work, recording oral histories with veterans of any era. KSI also partnered with Special Olympics Kansas on “Celebrating Inclusion Since 1970: A Special Olympics Kansas Oral History.”
  • Production assistance for Kansas-themed documentaries.
  • Hosting lectures on a variety of Kansas topics, such as depletion of the Ogallala aquifer, artistic representations of Kansas, and Quindaro Townsite preservation.
  • Commissioning and maintenance, including prairie burning, of Stan Herd’s “earthworks” installation titled Kansa, on the southwestern side of the JCCC campus.
  • Traveling with students and teaching coursework on the state.
  • Student internships involving a range of opportunities, including researching and designing installations in celebration of JCCC’s 50th anniversary; publishing peer-reviewed scholarship; and assisting in the Johnson County Trails Project that posts historic signage around the county’s hiking trails.
  • Annual programming on Kansas Day, Jan. 29 – the date Kansas became a state.

Much of this great work can be accessed through the Kansas Studies Institute digital archive, available through JCCC’s Billington Library and on the Kansas Studies Institute playlist on JCCC's YouTube channel.