Photo of Griffey Lecture

Franklin D. Murphy Distinguished Alumni Lecturers

Since 2005, the department has annually invited a distinguished alumnus of our program back to KU to deliver a public lecture.

Click the linked names for a spotlight on the honoree. The Distinguished Alumni Lecturer is also profiled in the department newsletter.

  • 2005 James K. Ballinger

    Politics, Controversy, and Intrigue: The Unexpected in Art History

  • 2006 Hollis B. Goodall

    From "More is Better" to "Less is More": Developments in Japanese Decorative Arts, 1880-1950

  • 2007 Marla F. Prather

    Retrospective at Mid-Career: Some Observations on Curatorial Practice and Contemporary Art

  • 2008 Mindy Nancarrow

    Insiders and Outsiders: The Impact of Political Transformation in Spain on Research Opportunities for Art Historians

  • 2009  Donald A. Wood

    Buddhas and BBQ: Asian Art in the Deep South

  • 2010 Elizabeth Broun

    Understanding American Democracy Through American Art

  • 2011 Matthew Welch

    Adventures in Curating: Missteps and Milestones

  • 2012 Michael Grauer

    My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys and Indians, and other Horror Stories of an Unorthodox Historian of Art (and other stuff)

  • 2013 Vernon Hyde Minor

    The Importance of Being Art History

  • 2014 Corine Wegener

    From Berlin to Baghdad: When Art Historians go to War