By Katy Bennett, Chelsea Melchor

Obamacare is a highly debated issue seen in the news and on the floor of Congress that leaves many Americans scratching their head in confusion on just what this controversial bill is about. Come hear the two opposing cases about Obamacare 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Worsham Theater. This event is free and sponsored in collaboration by the Student Activities Board and the Student Government Association.

"Obamacare: You May Love It, You May Hate It, But Do You Know Why?"will present two speakers of opposing views to the new health care law. Stephen Voss will present the case for Obamacare and Davida Isaacs will present the case against it, ultimately addressing the main question, "Is the individual mandate constitutional or not

By Krystal Delfino

As Americans, we have been born privileged. Many people fail to appreciate this, and they take for granted the little things that make everyday life so comfortable. MaryBeth Chrostowsky is a PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky who never fully comprehended the extent of her advantages until she spent three years in the Peace Corps.

“As a child in the United States, when I went to school I had a chair, desk, books… The kids I saw in Chad had nothing. Their desire for education was so great they would walk to distant villages in 100 degrees to attend school where there was nothing but stones to sit on.”

We live in a global community, and it’s important to care for our neighbors. MaryBeth’s experience in Peace Corps Africa helped her realize that she took for granted the many privileges she had by virtue of living in a rich

By Gail Hurston

University of Kentucky Diversity Education & Community Building (DE&CB) students with the assistance of faculty and staff members have organized a full month of activities for the 2012 Black History Month Collaborative.

“As Black History Month chair for the first time,” said UK student Brittany Clayborne, “I'd like to say that I'm honored to be hosting such a position within the Black Student Union. I'm learning every day, and enjoyed it because of the hardworking students and faculty around me that have done all they could to make this a strong month. I'm excited for these programs because not only am I helping others learn more about their heritage, I'm learning about myself. I feel like everyone on campus should be eager to participate as a result of the time and

By Sarah Geegan

Two University of Kentucky faculty members will travel to India from Jan. 29-Feb. 3 as part of a delegation formed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), to foster ties in higher education between India and the U.S.

Asia Center Director Keiko Tanaka, and Srimati Basu, associate professor of Gender and Women's studies, and will join high level administrators from 10 other U.S. colleges and universities on a study tour to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. They will meet with their counterparts at diverse Indian institutions to learn more about the nation's higher education system

By Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky won the 2012 Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education for the Discover Germany-Discover USA program.

Issued by the Institute of International Education (IIE), the Andrew Heiskell Award honors initiatives in international higher education among IIE's association of more than 1,100 member institutions. The awards showcase the most innovative models for international partnership programs, study abroad and internationalizing the campus, with emphasis on programs that remove institutional barriers and broaden the base of international teaching and learning on campus.

IIE will honor seven different initiatives on nine campuses at its seventh annual Best

By Guy Spriggs

In January 2012, UK anthropology professor was appointed editor of the Anthropology of Work Review (AWR). AWR is the journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Work, a section of the American Anthropology Association.

“[AWR] is a journal that looks at the variety of work and all of its forms,” Lyon explained. “It looks at labor and work around the world and across time from an anthropological point of view.”

The role of AWR editor seems tailor-made for Lyon, who specializes in economic anthropology with a focus on the intersections of culture and economy.

“The way I like to think about it – and the way I tell my students to think about it – is basically the study of how people make a living and how they make that living meaningful,” she explained. “I really work within a political economy framework.”

Lyon won’t take

By Whitney Hale

Leave your stereotypes of Appalachia at the door as the University of Kentucky Department of Art challenges preconceived notions of the region through an evening of poetry and music at "StereoType: Unexpected Appalachian Stories."

The reading, featuring poets Theo Edmonds, Paulette Hansel, Hope Johnson, Dale Marie Prenatt, Eric Scott Sutherland and Frank X Walker, will begin 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Tuska Center for Contemporary Art. The event is free and open to the public.

Through a focus on social justice issues as well as multiple themes of family, race, gender, sexuality, identity and place, "StereoType" will challenge the stereotypical

By Sarah Geegan

Author and communication researcher Mary L. Gray will discuss how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth construct spaces for fashioning their emerging sexual identities, in the first lecture of this semester's "Place Matters" series, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, on Friday, Jan. 27. 

The lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m., in the Center Theatre at the UK Student Center, with a reception to follow at the UK Appalachian Center.

After Gray's lecture

Chemistry professor Allan Butterfield is featured on "UK At The Half" with Carl Nathe during the UK men's basketball game vs. Georgia. Professor Butterfield is the UK Alumni Assocation Endowed Professor of biological chemistry. His research focuses on biological chemistry and how it impacts the brain and brain functions. Click on the play button to listen to the full podcast.

By Kathy Johnson

WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  Today's program highlights Frank X Walker, associate professor in the Department of English and recently recognized by Oxford American Magazine as one of the most creative teachers in the South.

To listen to the podcast interview with Walker, from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, click here.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each Friday on WUKY 91.3, UK's NPR station.

spring festival-dragon year

Yiwen Chen

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Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is just around the corner (Jan.23), and it always reminds me of the childhood I spent with my grandparents in Wenzhou, China. I still vividly remember those experiences. Weeks before New Year, Grandma would start cleaning the house. Grandpa would get the red lanterns out from the attic and hang them in front of our house. He would put red paper cuttings of the word 福fu (meaning blessing or good fortune) upside down on our doors, signaling that it will come in our house.  Most importantly, school would be out for over a month (that was the best part!). I remember going to school from 7:45 to 5 or 6

by Jonathon Spalding

LEXINGTON, Ky.— Jacqueline Couti, UK professor of French and Italian Studies/Gender and Women Studies, has organized an event that will include renowned scholars Nick Nesbitt, Valérie Loichot and Myriam Chancy in discussing the current research in the field of French Caribbean Studies. Sponsored by the UK College of Arts & Sciences, this event will take a closer look at the Caribbean beyond its stereotypes. 

“Many people often associate the Caribbean with sun, sea and sex in mind,” said Couti, “simplistic and stereotypical views prevent us from seeing histories of survival, of self-determination and resilience against all odds.” 

The two-day symposium kicks off on Feb. 2rd from 4:45-6:30 p.m. in the Niles Art Gallery and is titled, “Narrating the Caribbean: Food for Thought and Food for Soul”.

Loichot will join Couti in

By Jenny Wells

The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence has named three new Chellgren Endowed Professors.

The professors are:

Chellgren Endowed Professors maintain an active research program in their discipline; teach courses

By Whitney Hale

Ainsley Wagoner, a University of Kentucky architecture senior from Lexington, will present the 18th annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. Wagoner’s lecture, which focuses on the role memory plays in haptic architecture, is free and open to the public.

 

The Breathitt Lectureship was designed to honor an outstanding UK alumnus with an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities, Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. The lectureship is awarded to an

By Sarah Geegan

Gerald Janecek, recently retired professor of Russian and Eastern Studies, won the Outstanding Contribution to the Profession Award for 2011 from AATSEEL, the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages.

A member of AATSEEL since 1972, Janecek also received the award for outstanding contribution in 2007. His work reflected the association's goals to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages.

Janecek served as editor for AATSEEL's quarterly publication, The Slavic and East European Journal since 2001. Under his leadership, the journal persisted as the most highly respected philologically-oriented

By Gail Hairston, Amy Jones, Kody Kiser

Six University of Kentucky professors were honored last night by the UK Alumni Association for the excellence they demonstrate in the classroom.

Click here for a transcription of the video above.

This year’s recipients of the 2012 Great Teacher Awards are:

Cheyenne Hohman sat down with Lina Crocker to find out more about The Center for English as a Second Language. Professor Crocker is the senior lecturer at the Center and describes what the Center does, who it's for, and describes the variety of students it instructs.

Steven Yates is an Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor who works in the departments of both Chemistry and Physics and Astronomy.

In this interview, Yates discusses his recent collaboration with the iThemba Laboratory, a nuclear particle accelerator facility in Cape Town, South Africa.

This podcast was produced by Stephen Gordinier.

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/Steven%20Yates%20-%20Final.m…

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Affrilachian Poets Ricardo Nazario y Colón, Bianca Spriggs and Keith Wilson pause after spending time with Macon State students. Photo by Glen Stone.

Frank X Walker, noted author, poet, and Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky, shares the history of the term "Affrilachia," his thoughts on identity and place, and ways in which Affrilachian poetry continues to reach individuals all over the region.

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/Exploring%20Affrilachia_%20F…

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By Sarah Geegan

In the second semester of his senior year, University of Kentucky undergraduate Jeremy Puckett is attempting an accomplishment normally undertaken by professors — publishing a book.

Though his book is fiction, Puckett said it reveals a real perspective on the experience of growing up in rural Kentucky. He describes his novel, "Black Bottom Hollow," a horror story set in the Kentucky backwoods, as a way to portray southerners as heroic. 

"There are a lot of stories where Appalachians are the villains," Puckett said. "But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a novel in the horror or fantasy genres that treated them as heroes."

The novel depicts an 8-year-old boy brought back to life by his family after dying in car accident. With black magic,