by: Gail Hairston

(Feb. 3, 2015) — University of Kentucky students have a rare opportunity now to get in on the ground floor of a historical and innovative three-year project to record and preserve Kentucky’s Jewish heritage and history for generations to come.

The Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence Scholars program for undergraduates is made possible by a unique partnership between UK’s interdisciplinary program in Jewish Studies and the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence (JHFE).  The JHFE Scholars receive a multi-year scholarship to complete a minor in Jewish Studies at UK. They also have a unique opportunity for research with UK faculty. Of the five scholarships originally created, two

by: Whitney Hale

(Feb. 3, 2015) — As the sesquicentennial of the Civil War draws to a close this year, University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities will examine the war's impact on history and culture in the years that followed as part of the 2015 Bale Boone Symposium on the "Legacies of the American Civil War" Feb. 4, 10 and 12.

"Legacies of the American Civil War" will bring together national recognized historians and cultural scholars in an exploration of  the war’s impact on American life not simply in the past, but also in the present and future. All the events featured below are free and open to the public.

The 2015 Bale Boone Symposium will open with a keynote lecture presented by

by: Lydia Whitman

(Feb. 2, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science's Committee on Social Theory will host its 2015 lecture series, “Transnational Lives,” throughout the spring semester. This well-established series, organized around a different topic each year, gives the public access to lectures by four international scholars visiting the university campus to address a particular aspect of social theoretical thought from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. All lectures will be held on Fridays at 2 p.m. and are free to the public.

Committee director Marion Rust said these are among “the most exciting intellectual opportunities available to the UK community.”

by: Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(Feb. 2, 2015) — Last week, the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in downtown Lexington held the third annual induction of the Kentucky Writer’s Hall of Fame. The writers recognized in this class include alumni and two former faculty members of the University of Kentucky, as well as the subject of a recent book by University Press of Kentucky.

Created in 2013, the Kentucky Writer's Hall of Fame recognizes Kentucky writers whose work reflects the character and culture of our Commonwealth, and educates Kentuckians about the state’s rich literary heritage.

This year’s inductees have been described as "eloquent, inspirational and

by: Jenny Wells

(Jan. 30, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence will give students an opportunity to learn about unique educational programs this week. Open to first-year students with a 3.5 GPA or above, this information session will help students learn more about the Chellgren Student Fellows Program, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Chellgren Student Outreach Team.

The session will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, in Room 200 of the Funkhouser building. Free pizza will be provided.

by: Gail Hairston

(Feb. 2, 2015) — Today, the University of Kentucky Martin Luther King Center continues its tradition of sponsoring a month of events in recognition of Black History Month.

February will include such popular events as the Apollo, an opportunity for UK students to present their theatrical talents; a sampling of soul food; a rap battle; and a King Center and Late Night Film Series presentation of “Dear White People” and a conversation with director Justin Simien.

“The Martin Luther King Center is proud to provide the university community with a strong calendar of events to celebrate Black History Month. The events run the gamut – from rap battles to soul food to black Latino history to the ever-popular Apollo. We are especially honored to offer a screening of “Dear White People” followed by a chat with the film’s director Justin

by: Whitney Hale

(Feb. 2, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Special Collections and Research Center (SCRC) is presenting a new exhibition on LGBTQ members of the African-American community in the Commonwealth. "A Pictorial History of African American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer Persons in Kentucky," the 2015 Black History Month Exhibit, brings visibility to a history that has not been well represented within most special collections and archives. This exhibition is free and open to the public.

The exhibition's display of images comes from photo collections at UK SCRC and from generous loans by individuals and organizations in the general public. The earliest image is the text of the more than century old Kentucky Court of Appeals case, 

by: Yan Wang

(Jan. 29, 2015) — Nine multi-disciplinary student teams gathered on Saturday, Jan. 24, in the  University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy to compete in the first Global Health Case Competition.

This competition, hosted by the Global Health Initiative, aims to provide advance research and educational programs for students to improve the health of people throughout the world.

Each student team collaborated and presented strategies that they believed would contribute to reducing the health and socio-economic burdens of tobacco in Gujarat, India.

Dr. Perry Pugno, one of the four judges, said this competition helps students realize the importance of collaborative teamwork to solving health issues.

“The reality, in the future, is that health issues are going to become more and more important to the

by: Patsy Carruthers, Lee Bessette, Kathi Kern

(Jan. 28, 2015) — An opening reception is set for Jan. 30 to celebrate the Faculty Media Depot and its services for University of Kentucky faculty. UK Analytics and Technologies’ Academic Technology Group (ATG) and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) are bringing together technology and pedagogy in the depot, nestled away in the Science Library, located in the M.

by: Gail Haiston

(Jan. 28, 2015) — Today, a unique group of University of Kentucky professors and Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Joel Pett are leading a discussion of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

The public forum, organized by faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Program of French and Francophone Studies, is slated at 3-4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the east end of the Student Center, Room 211.

The discussion will focus on the recent deadly attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Parisian kosher market, as well as provide context for the social and political debates that continue to emerge in the wake of the attacks.

Pett, political cartoonist for the Lexington Herald Leader since1984, is a

By Sarah Schuetze

Despite differences in subject matter and methods, students in disciplines like biology and English have some common ground: they are part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Recently, this common ground connected two University of Kentucky alumni who graduated over 30 years apart.

Bob Burke graduated from UK with a degree in sociology in 1970 and Casey Robinson with a degree in Mathematical Economics in 2014. Their shared ties to A&S led to a valuable opportunity for Robinson, made possible by Burke. On a sunny day last spring, Robinson and Burke met for lunch

by: Shane Tedder, Whitney Harder, Mariah Rhodes

(Jan. 27, 2015) — "Green Talks," a new weekly talk show on WRFL 88.1, is focusing on student-funded sustainability efforts at the University of Kentucky. With efforts ranging from bottle filling stations and outdoor recycling bins to keynote speakers and funding assistance for research, travel and symposia, there is a lot to talk about. Listen to the show from 4-4:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

Funding for these initiatives comes from a mandatory student fee called the Environmental Stewardship Fee, which was initiated in 2009. Each full-time UK student pays $3.25 per semester into the fund, which generates approximately

by Sarah Schuetze

Sitting at the front of the room at a seminar table crowded with more students than anyone imagined, professor Francie Chassen-Lopez said, “I always say I have one foot on either side of the border.”

Chassen-Lopez is one of the four instructors teaching Social Theory 600, a graduate seminar called “Transnational Lives.” The professors include Ana Liberato, Cristina Alcalde, and Steven Alvarez—each representing a different discipline and approach to the course. “What makes this so exciting,” Alcalde said, “is we’re all coming at this from different perspectives.”

In many ways,

by Gail Hairston

(Jan. 27, 2015) ‒ From Reverence to Resistance, a series of lectures about Appalachians on film, begins today with “Genre and Jessica Lynch” at 2 p.m. today in William T. Young Library Auditorium.

Stacy Takacs, author of “Terrorism TV,” will discuss how Hollywood can “spin” a war. Her lecture will answer the question “Was West Virginia soldier Jessica Lynch really a female Rambo, and did the military make her a damsel in distress who needed to be saved from Iraqis?”

The next lecture, Hillbilly Horror, is slated Feb. 24, presented by Emily Satterwhite, author of “Dear Appalachia.” The lecture will focus on Appalachian slasher films like “Wrong Turn,” a series of six movies about deformed cannibals hunting in West Virginia.

The last lecture in the series, Goodbye Gauley Mountain, takes place March 24, and welcomes filmmakers Beth

By Whitney Harder

(Jan. 26, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Department of Mathematics, within the College of Arts and Sciences, is proud to announce the appointment of Benjamin Braun to the Wimberly and Betty Royster Research Professorship, and Uwe Nagel to the Ralph E. and Norma L. Edwards Research Professorship. 

The Royster and Edwards professorships serve to recognize the Department of Mathematics' most active researchers and to support their research. Both positions are three-year terms and include a stipend to support salary or research expenses.

Recommendations for the professorships

by: Carl Nathe

(Jan. 23, 2015) — George C. Wright, who began his career in higher education as a faculty member in the history department at the University of Kentucky, has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. Wright's term runs until the fall of 2019.

The Board of Directors oversees six NCAA committees that focus on essential topics including academic performance, infractions, and legislation. It consists of presidents, athletic directors, senior woman administrators, faculty representatives and student-athletes.

Wright, who recently began his second decade as president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, is a

 by: Jay Blanton and Whitney Hale

(Jan. 22, 2015) — Former U.S. Senator Wendell H. Ford not only left an indelible mark on the Commonwealth, but on his university — the University of Kentucky.

For decades, he was intimately involved with the Martin School for Public Policy and Administration, and a public policy research center in UK Libraries bears his name.

UK Libraries also is home to his correspondence, papers and oral histories that document his long public service career as a legislator, lieutenant governor, governor and senator.

The following are quotes from prominent UK

by: Kathy Johnson

(Jan. 23, 2015) — WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  Sitting in for Godell this week is WUKY News Director Alan Lytle.  His guest is Mallory Powell, communications director for the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science and curator for the new Rooted in Our Communities-UK In Appalachia website.

To listen to the podcast interview from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, visit http://wuky.org/post/uk-

by: Whitney Hale

(Jan. 22, 2015) — Nathan Moore, a University of Kentucky English senior from Louisville, Kentucky, has been selected to present the 21st annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the UK Athletics Auditorium at William T. Young Library. Moore's free public lecture focuses on intersections of African American literature, history and cultural memory.

The Breathitt Lectureship was named for an outstanding UK alumnus who showed an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities, Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. The lectureship is awarded to an