By Mack McCormick and Whitney Hale

Members of the Affrilachian Poets. Photos by Joseph Rey Au/Courtesy of the Affrilachian Poets.

When Frank X Walker coined the culturally encompassing term “Affrilachian” 25 years ago, he had no idea the group of colleagues who got their start inside a University of Kentucky elevator would transform into a radically influential social movement.

The Affrilachian Poets emerged out of a desire for solidarity and to advance the visibility of diverse voices through the cultivation of writing that is both challenging and evocative. This innovative band of artists and activists number nearly 40 today and continues to shape the literary and social landscapes of the Appalachian region and

By Kristie Law

The University of Kentucky Women's Forum announces 14 women have been nominated for the 2018 Sarah Bennett Holmes Award, one of UK's most prestigious awards for women. Women's Forum, who established the award in 1994, is currently celebrating over 26 years of open discussion and creativity while providing leadership development for all women employed at UK.

The Sarah Bennett Holmes Award honors a distinguished former dean of women at the University of Kentucky. Holmes, who was widowed at a young age, raised four children while completing her own education. She went on to have a successful career at UK where she inspired young women to persevere in the face of hardship and pursue their career goals. Among

By Blair Hoover Conner

Over the past two weeks, millions of people worldwide have gathered around televisions to watch athletes across the world compete for their respective countries in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. For University of Kentucky students Beeson Shin and Wonjin Kim, watching the games is getting a glimpse of home.

Shin – a psychology senior – was born in Anyang, South Korea, two and a half hours from PyeongChang. Shin moved to the United States in 2012 and attended high school in Western Kentucky. In her college search, Shin was looking for schools with prominent science programs. She applied to UK, was accepted and shortly after began her journey as a Wildcat.

Beeson Shin on the bridge that connects Yeosu, Korea and Odongdo Island.

Kim – a junior chemistry major from Suwon, South Korea – came to the

By Gail Hairston, Amy Jones-Timoney, and Kody Kiser

Many people can say they’ve been “around the world,” but only a few of those have actually set foot on all seven continents.

University of Kentucky alumnus Jason Darnall (1999) can beat that boast by miles ... at a jog. From a standing start, it has taken less than six years for Darnall to run around the world, touching foot on all seven continents, including ice-bound Antarctica, one marathon at a time. Along the way, he has earned about $10,000 in charitable contributions to cancer and asthma research.

He started his world tour of marathons with resolve. The second marathon he ever ran was Boston, in April 2012. That’s when he learned about the other World Marathon Majors, the six biggest, most competitive marathons in the world — Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo and Berlin. Once he

By Gail Hairston

Watch the trailer for "Wide as the Wind" by Edward Stanton above.

A third international book award has been presented to University of Kentucky Professor Emeritus Edward Stanton for his young adult, prehistorical fiction novel “Wide as the Wind” (2016, Open Books Press).

He was recently awarded the Silver Feathered Quill Book Award in the category of teen fiction (13-18 years).

Stanton’s “Wide as the Wind” first won the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Young Adult Fiction, presented by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group. A few months later in

By Kathy Johnson

The Center for Equality and Social Justice at the University of Kentucky is hosting a conversation with Lexington Mayor Jim Gray as part of its Keys to Our Common Future conversation series. He speaks at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in the Boone Center in UK's campus.

Gray will talk about political polarization in today's society and how opposite sides can work toward compromise.  After Lexington became a focus of national news when Confederate statues downtown were moved, Gray found himself in the middle of a national debate.  He will discuss what it is like to personally engage in controversial decisions and how citizens with differing views on issues can still live and work together.

The mission of the Center

Dateline: Lexington, KY

By D. Stephen Voss, Political Science Department Publicity Director

The American Political Science Association contacted Prof. Abby Córdova on Wednesday to announce that she and a coauthor will be receiving APSA's Centennial Center grant for their research on female representation in El Salvador.

The $1,800 grant from the Women & Politics Fund, associated with the Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs, supplements funding that Córdova previously received through Iowa State University's Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics.  It will allow Córdova and coauthor Annabella España-Nájera of Cal State-Fresno to pursue a

By Jenny Wells

Jakub Famulski, an assistant professor of biology in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has received a grant for over $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to study the early formation of the anterior segment of the eye. The research has the potential to lead to more treatment options for patients with blinding disorders.

The Research Project Grant (R01), "Comprehensive analysis of periocular mesenchyme composition, specification, and function during anterior segment formation," will be funded by the National Eye Institute over the next five years. Famulski and his team will study the anterior segment of the eye (which includes the cornea, iris, ciliary muscle, drainage canals and pupil) which is critical for collecting

By Jenny Wells

Chad Risko, an assistant professor of chemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a 2018 Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Started in 1994, Risko is the first recipient of the award at UK, a designation that recognizes top early-career scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy.

Cottrell Scholars focus on the dual role of the teacher-scholar. Through his Cottrell award, Risko will develop a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) with specific focus on the application of computing and data science in chemistry. Though the concept of big

By Julie Wrinn

Brittney Woodrum (B.A. ’15) never expected to major in Hispanic Studies, or train dolphins in Bermuda, or teach English to Buddhist nuns in Myanmar, or become a Fulbright Fellow. But she has done all of these things and is now in her second year as a Princeton Fellow in Asia. Connecting all of these endeavors is a love of languages, and that love caught fire in UK’s Department of Hispanic Studies.

“Every single Spanish professor I’ve taken has been so fantastic,” recalls Woodrum. She was especially impressed with a study abroad trip to Madrid led by Dr. Susan Larson. “She was a very inspiring, powerful woman. I really admired her, seeing where she went with Spanish. She was American, but she seemed so natural with the language and the culture. She showed me that you could become part of an entirely new world just with language.”

In high school

By Gail Hairston

UK geology senior Adam Nolte explains his research on sinkholes in Woodford County to President Capilouto.

The University of Kentucky was represented by 16 undergraduate students and their 14 research projects at the 17th annual Posters-at-the-Capitol event last week at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.

Posters-at-the-Capitol is an annual event that showcases undergraduate researchers representing colleges and universities throughout Kentucky. The annual collaborative event was created to educate Kentucky state legislators of the importance of undergraduate research and scholarly work.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, members of the General Assembly, representatives from students' hometowns and other guests toured the exhibitions and engaged directly with some of the state’s best young scholars.

The mission of

By Whitney Hale

UK students in the 2018 Bingham Seminar will visit the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, over spring break.

This year’s Thomas D. Clark Lectureship in the Humanities, presented by the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities, will be given by Leonard V. Smith, the Frederick B. Artz Professor of History at Oberlin College, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, in the Niles Gallery, located in the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center. The lecture, “Rites of Passage in French Soldiers' Testimony of the Great War,” is free and open to the public.

The 2018 Clark Lecture will give

By Tony Neely

Student-athletes at the University of Kentuckycombined to earn a total of 80 spots on the 2017 Southeastern Conference Fall Sports Academic Honor Roll, the league announced earlier this week. 

The 2017 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll includes the sports of cross country, football, soccer and volleyball. It is based on grades from the 2017 spring, summer and fall terms. Among other qualifications, student-athletes must have a 3.0 grade-point average to be on the honor roll.   

Fittingly, UK’s SEC co-champion volleyball team also tied for the most student-athletes on the SEC Honor Roll with 13. UK placed seven student-athletes in the sport of men’s cross country, six in women’s cross country, 27 in football, 13 in men’s soccer and 14 in

Dateling: Frankfort, KY

By D. Stephen Voss, Political Science Department Publicity Director

Kentucky's State Senate recognized the passing of Emeritus Prof. S. Sidney Ulmer, a long-serving and distinguished member of the UK Political Science Department, on February 7 by adopting a resolution in his honor authored by Sen Tom Buford (R-Nicholasville).

Senate Resolution #142 posthumously thanked Ulmer for his service to the United States as a pilot during World War II as well as for his many contributions to the University of Kentucky, which included 25 years on the faculty and six years chairing the Political Science Department.

Prof. Ulmer, a highly regard expert in judicial politics, passed

By Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis

In January, the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published findings that show a 700 percent increase in the number women in their late 20s who filled a prescription for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication between 2003 and 2015.

It’s a finding of particular interest to Michelle Martel, an associate professor in psychology in the UK College of Arts & Sciences. She is studying how hormones impact the expression of ADHD symptoms in young women.

She gathered data through a pilot project on ADHD in 30 women thanks to funding from the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program. BIRCWH not only supports researchers in their work, but also jump-starts careers, aids in the publication of research and helps forge partnerships and

By Chris Crumrine

Thirteen University of Kentucky students are working alongside lawmakers and elected officials in Washington, D.C., this semester as participants in the inaugural class of the Wildcats at the Capitol program. The program allows students to participate during the academic year, utilize their financial aid and remain full-time students enrolled in credit-bearing courses.

The program is a partnership between the Department of Political Science, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the President, with the shared goal of providing an affordable opportunity for students to intern in the nation’s capital without

By Amy Jones-Timoney and Kody Kiser

The University of Kentucky’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies (WRD) is dedicated to the study and teaching of writing practices, public rhetoric and digital media. The department serves over 5,000 UK undergraduates each year, and the writing, rhetoric, and digital studies major offers UK students three tracks:

The department also offers a minor in writing, rhetoric, and digital studies, as

By Julie Wrinn

Fulton City High School’s 1972 yearbook shows a photograph of Mr. Milner’s Advanced Biology students dissecting a shark. One of those students was Mark Owens (Biology ’76), and he loved his biology labs: “We had sharks and cats and worked on all kinds of stuff in the laboratory. I thought it was fascinating, the things that we did.”

Thanks to Mr. Milner’s engaging labs, by the time Mark was in 11th grade he knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps into optometry. He saw the comfortable living his dad made in Fulton City, a small town near the southwestern Kentucky–Tennessee border, and he greatly enjoyed his biology classes with Mr. Milner. Dr. Shelton Owens was a WWII veteran who attended Murray State University on the G.I. Bill and went to the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. He played basketball for Brewers High School in Marshall

By Whitney Hale

Author Mary Gaitskill reading an excerpt from her memoir, "Lost Cat," at Baruch College.

Mary Gaitskill, the fiction writer known for her edgy and audacious characters, will be the keynote speaker for the 2018 Kentucky Women Writers Conference, running Sept. 13-16. She is the author of three novels, three story collections and an essay collection. Gaitskill's keynote lecture is titled, "Why People Still Read," and it will take place 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, on the University of Kentucky campus, followed by a book signing. The keynote event is free and open to the public, thanks to its sponsorship by UK Libraries.

“Mary Gaitskill’s fiction is fearless in its depictions of strength and weakness,” conference director

By Laura Wright

Wonder Women: Rachel Maggard, Daimen Stolz and Lydia Hager, with their mentor Warren Alilain, helped confirm the presence of a breathing "ghost network" that might help restore breathing function to paraplegics. Photo by Hilary Brown, UKPR

According to a paper recently published in Cell Reports, labs from Case Western Reserve and the University of Kentucky's Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC) were able to demonstrate the existence of a parallel neural network that could potentially restore diaphragm function after spinal cord injury.

This ghost network operates entirely separate from the brain, which has long been considered the only organ capable of directing respiratory function, and appears able to instruct the diaphragm to contract when properly activated. 

While practical solutions