In Conversation with the 2025–2026 KU Common Book

January 27, 2026–February 22, 2026

Jack & Lavon Brosseau Center for Learning

Color photograph of a box of crayons
Print of a ginko tree with bright yellow leaves in front of a building

The Brosseau Learning Center features new installations monthly that relate to teaching and research across KU. This installation draws inspiration from KU Reads: A Common Book Experience. The Common Book program represents a campus-wide initiative to engage students in a shared learning experience. This year’s book by John Green—The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet—has prompted the selection of this year’s KU Common Work of Art, a painting by Hollis Sigler on display in our Empowerment, as well as this installation. For this conversation, Spencer staff members reviewed aspects of the human-centered planet inspired by artworks from the collection, modeled on the style of The Anthropocene Reviewed.

Print of a ginko tree with bright yellow leaves in front of a building
Print of a ginko tree with bright yellow leaves in front of a building
Clifton Karhu
Gingko Trees in Nijo
2004
Round, rough rock with a paper tag attached by a string
Round, rough rock with a paper tag attached by a string
loom weight
Middle Bronze Age (2000–1600 BCE)
Black-and-white photo of a maid filling a bathtub
Black-and-white photo of a maid filling a bathtub
Bill Brandt
Parlourmaid Preparing a Bath before Dinner
1930s
White ceramic sculpture shaped like a boat with smokestacks
White ceramic sculpture shaped like a boat with smokestacks
George A. Flaccus , Westmoreland Specialty Glass Company , George A. Flaccus , Westmoreland Specialty Glass Company
mustard dish
circa 1898
Ragged woman sitting on the steps in the foreground. Her baby is falling out of her arms as she reaches into a snuff can. People drinking and dying beyond the woman, the town is in ruins.
Ragged woman sitting on the steps in the foreground. Her baby is falling out of her arms as she reaches into a snuff can. People drinking and dying beyond the woman, the town is in ruins.
William Hogarth
Gin Lane
1751
Fat men in foreground with steins and beer, a man fondling a woman holding a key, two women with baskets of fish and sign painter above them. More beer drinkers in background, looking prosperous.
Fat men in foreground with steins and beer, a man fondling a woman holding a key, two women with baskets of fish and sign painter above them. More beer drinkers in background, looking prosperous.
William Hogarth
Beer Street
1751