News

A&S Students Observe Voting Process for National Research Project

By Gail Hairston

Emily Boulieu's honors class observed Fayette County polling locations as part of a national research project.

For most of the University of Kentucky students observing Lexington’s polling places on Election Day, it was their first experience engaged in the nation’s electoral process. They were taking part in a nationwide review of the voting process, led by Associate Professor of Comparative Politics Emily Beaulieu.

Some students came away with indelible memories.

Eric Bingham noted a young immigrant, obviously voting for her first time with her eyes brimming with tears and pride. “To see the joy she had and the pride she took in voting, made me very proud of my country,” he said.

Those standing in line, waiting, also caught Bingham’s attention. Teenagers voting

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UK Air Force ROTC Cadets to Run 29 Miles for POWs, MIAs

By Samantha Ponder

Air Force ROTC cadets of the 290th Cadet Wing at the University of Kentucky will run from Lexington to Frankfort — 29 miles — this Saturday, Nov. 12, for the annual POW/MIA Run to honor the sacrifices of the nation's prisoners of war and those still missing in action.  

The group of runners also includes Air Force ROTC faculty and cadets of the University of Louisville and Team Red White and Blue. Runners will depart from Barker Hall on the UK campus at 6 a.m. and finish at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Frankfort.  The route will take runners on Old Frankfort Pike, where community volunteer organizations, such as JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, Boy Scouts of America and more, will provide water stations along the way.   "The POW/MIA Run is not just a run to remember, it's a run so that we never forget the torture, the pain
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Students Create Get-Out-The-Vote Ads in Election Course

Throughout the Fall 2016 semester, A&S Dean Mark Kornbluh, Dr. Kathi Kern, and Dr. Ashley Sorrell have co-taught a UK Core course, UKC 180: America Through the Lens of the 2016 Election. One of the themes of the class has been the importance of voter participation. Working in caucuses of six, the students produced their own get-out-the-vote advertisements. The whole class voted on the top spots and those students have given us permission to share their work. 

This video was voted the top by the class.

 

The runner-up videos were also excellent: https://goo.gl/TB5FmO, https://goo.gl/xyAg09, https://youtu.be/sxhRr06E6QU, https://goo.gl/R0DHI3, and https://goo.gl

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Day of Decision Approaches; What Will Tomorrow Bring? A&S Professors Discuss Election 2016

By Gail Hairston

One would have to be isolated to the point of sequestered to escape the tumultuous presidential campaign between Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump.   Tomorrow, finally, the nation chooses.   Before the results are recorded for posterity, three University of Kentucky political scientists and one historian agreed to comment upon the 2016 battle for the White House. Many Americans believe this campaign has been unlike any that has come before. Is this merely our limited perception of political history in America?   The experts agree. It is real.   As points of comparison, Associate Professor of Political Science Stephen Voss remembered the 1860 presidential election, which displayed “some of the same fictionalization” and the 1968
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Ethnomusicologist to Lecture on Diverse Realms of Indian Dance

By Caroline Kelsey

As part of the Year of South Asia, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will host guest speaker Anna Morcom, professor of ethnomusicology at Royal Holloway University of London, for a lecture related to her book, “Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance: Cultures of Exclusion,” which was awarded the 2014 Alan Merriam Prize. The free public talk will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, in the Niles Gallery of Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.   “Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance: Cultures of Exclusion,” looks at the evolution of the arts in India from the 1930s when no
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Crocker, Odom, Condon receive grant for Expanding Your Horizons workshop

Ellen Crocker (forestry), Susan Odom (chemistry), and Bradford Condon (plant pathology) received a grant from KY NSF EPSCoR for Education and Outreach Activities, which will fund an Expanding Your Horizons conference at the University of Kentucky. This STEM conference for middle school girls will feature interactive activities led by UK undergraduate and graduate students and will include college preparation sessions for accompanying parents. The conference will be held in the Jacobs Science Building on April 29, 2017. For more information, contact Dr. Crocker.

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Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Honored for International Outreach on Water Issues

By Jenny Wells, Rebecca Freeman

Alan Fryar, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES), received the 2016 International Association of Hydrogeologists, U.S. National Chapter International Service Award at the recent national meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado.   Fryar studies water quality, particularly water in the ground used for drinking water. Groundwater is the largest source of unfrozen fresh water on Earth, but access to sufficient amounts of clean water is a challenge in developing countries. The International Service Award honored Fryar's 15 years of working on this problem with students and scientists in Africa and Asia, including developing a program to train graduate students from these regions.   “Alan is not only an
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Diaz to Direct International Studies Program

By Gail Hairston

University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Kornbluh recently announced that Associate Professor Mónica Díaz will serve as director of the International Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest interdisciplinary major in the college.  

“It is wonderful that Dr. Diaz has agreed to lead the International Studies Program. I know the International Studies majors will benefit greatly from her leadership and that faculty will enjoy working with her to strengthen International Studies at UK,” said Sue Roberts, associate provost for internationalization. “Dr. Diaz is an excellent choice for this important role. She is an interdisciplinary thinker, and a skilled leader who is sure to take International Studies in exciting new directions.” 

Díaz has a joint
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Empowering Victims Through Research

By Jenny Wells

    “If we're going to remedy a problem, we need to know all the different facets of it.”    That’s how Claire Renzetti, the Judi Conway Patton Endowed Chair in the University of Kentucky Center for Research on Violence Against Women, and professor and chair of UK Department of Sociology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, approaches her research.   “I've just always focused on people who are on the margins,” Renzetti said. “So I always felt like in order to fully understand a project, you need to study groups that are understudied, or that maybe don't have a common experience because one size doesn't fit all.”   Renzetti’s research focuses on violence against women,
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No Differences Noted Over Time for Children of Gay, Lesbian Adoptive Parents

By Gail Hairston

As more and more lesbian and gay adults adopt children, controversies continue regarding comparative parenting skills and the impact on the children.   For nearly a decade, University of Kentucky Assistant Professor of Psychology Rachel H. Farr has studied different aspects of family life among heterosexual, gay and lesbian parents and their adopted children. Her newest findings were published by the Developmental Psychology journal last week online.   Farr’s most recent research results published in the journal Developmental Psychology provides further support that children adopted by lesbian and gay parents are well-adjusted, not only in early childhood, but across time into middle childhood. Her study focused on a longitudinal follow-up of
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UK Dedicates Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building

By Jenny Wells

Today, members of the University of Kentucky community, the Board of Trustees, and public officials formally dedicated the new Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building, commemorating an unprecedented partnership in higher education between the university, UK Athletics, and community donors.     The 240,000 square-foot, $112 million facility, now considered the epicenter of the university’s scientific community, was made possible with funding of $65 million from UK Athletics and $10 million from The Don Jacobs Sr. Charitable Foundation.   “With each passing day, the University of Kentucky is a campus transformed. Nowhere is that transformation – and the profound sense of partnership – more evident than in the heart of our campus
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Jacobs Science Building Makes Active-Learning a Reality

By Jenny Wells

On Oct. 20, University of Kentucky officials formally dedicated the new Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building, but the state-of-the-art facility has already begun making an impact on students and faculty since it opened this August.   The Jacobs Science Building (JSB) is the epicenter of the university’s scientific community, offering 21st century science education with 21st century laboratories and instrumentation. Every science student on campus, and the vast majority of all undergraduates at UK, will at one point experience the building’s active-learning laboratories and classrooms.   Allison Soult, a lecturer of chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, says the design of the classrooms makes large lecture courses much more personal.   “Having two rows of desks per tier with movable
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Pakistan First Stop on Tour of South Asia Kitchens

By Gail Hairston

No matter where we call home, no matter what language we speak, all of humanity loves to eat good food.   Of course, “good” is defined by each culture. One land might adore skull-blasting spicy dishes, while its neighbor enjoys a more lightly seasoned diet. Learning to appreciate the different foods of foreign lands can be fun, and learning how to cook that food can be exciting.   For the seventh academic year, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences has celebrated other regions of the globe in its Passport to the World program. Through seminars and classes, events and lectures, the College of Arts and Sciences has introduced the UK campus to South Africa, China, Russia, Mexico, the Middle East and Europe. This year, South Asia is the center of attention in a series of events and
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Biology Celebrates Thomas Hunt Morgan's Birthday With Panel Discussion

by Jenny Wells, Samantha Ponder

This Wednesday, Oct. 19, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology will celebrate Thomas Hunt Morgan's 150th birthday with a panel discussion titled "Frontiers in Genetics & Genomics."   The panel will explore the famous biologist's (and UK alumnus') pioneering work in genetics, his Nobel Prize, and what he might be working on if he were alive today (such as assembling genomes, gene editing and gene drives, gene therapy in medicine, bioethics and big unanswered questions).   The celebration will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., in the Farish Theater in the Lexington Public Library on the corner of Main and Limestone. The event is open to the public and admission is free.   Born in Lexington
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Fernheimer Named Zantker Professor

By Gail Hairston

Janice Fernheimer recently added another title to her long list of accomplishments for the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Fernheimer, director of UK’s Jewish Studies Program, was recently awarded the Zantker Charitable Foundation Professorship in Jewish Studies.   “We are delighted to support a faculty member whose work embodies a diverse range of study and commitment to Jewish studies,” said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Dr. Fernheimer is most deserving of this professorship and her passion and enthusiasm is evident in the great strides she has made as director of the Jewish Studies Program.”    With her academic background and interests, the Zantker Charitable Foundation
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Race, Policing Examined by Experts

By Gail Hairston

A one-day symposium, titled "Black and Blue: Critical Issues in Race and Policing in the U.S.,” is slated 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at the University of Kentucky Helen G. King Alumni House ballroom. The event is hosted by the UK Center for Equality and Social Justice with support from Qualitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research and the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology.   The symposium will examine the critical and complex issues about race and policing in the United States from multiple scholarly perspectives.   Keith Payne, a social psychologist of the University of North Carolina, is an expert on implicit racism and shooter bias. Justin Nix, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Louisville, conducts research on police fairness and what shapes beliefs in police legitimacy. Anita Jones
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Behind the Blue: Poet Frank X Walker Reflects on Work as Writer, Professor

By Kody Kiser

 

“Affrilachia” is the word coined by poet Frank X Walker to signify the importance of the African-American presence in Appalachia, and he's a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. Walker says he has "accepted the responsibility of challenging the notion of a homogeneous all-white literary landscape in this region.”

A native of Danville, Kentucky, Walker is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, currently serves as associate professor in the UK Department of English, and was the 2013-14 poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was founder and executive Director of the Bluegrass Black Arts Consortium, former program director of the UK's Martin Luther King Center and a Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship recipient. He has lectured, conducted workshops, read poetry and exhibited at more than 300 national conferences and
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2 A&S Students, Confucius Institute Recognized at National Level

By Samantha Almedia

Two University of Kentucky students received nationwide recognition at Confucius Institute U.S. Center’s inaugural National Honor Gala held Sept. 24.

David Cole and Rachel Lietzow, both members of the UK Honors Program, were acknowledged among eight individuals from across the nation with a People to People Exchange Award for creating cross-cultural connections and initiatives between China and the United States.

"Never have I found myself surrounded by people who I couldn't verbally understand, but I wholeheartedly felt a connection toward," said Cole, honoree and UK senior majoring in English. A native of Monticello, Kentucky, Cole participated

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Authors Debate: Is Utopia Flawed or Flawless

By Gail Hairston

In Akash Kapur’s treatise “The Return of the Utopians,” published in the Oct. 3 issue of The New Yorker magazine, he made liberal reference to University of Kentucky Associate Professor of English Erik Reece’s new book “Utopia Drive.”   In “Utopia Drive,” Reece examined the history of a handful of America’s 19th-century utopian settlements and towns in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, New York and Massachusetts, analyzing their histories to find lessons for the present.   “One thing we can say about the seductive visionaries who led the utopian movement in America,” Reece wrote, “is that they did not lead the most self-examined lives.”   Kapur’s article is an examination of the more frightening
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Sociology Faculty Win Numerous National and International Awards

Three UK Sociology faculty members were recognized for their achievements at the 2016 American Sociological Association meeting in Seattle, Wash. Dr. Claire Renzetti, Chair of the Sociology Department, was awarded the Peterson-Krivo Mentoring Award from the Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance and the Section on the Sociology of Law. The award was established to recognize the sustained and innovative work of a distinguished faculty member in the mentorship of undergraduate students, graduate students, and junior scholars in our field. The award committee recognized Dr. Renzetti’s as “a wonderful mentor and an asset to our profession” and they were “especially impressed to learn of the multi-pronged and multi-level reach” of her work.

Dr. Ed

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