By Jenny Wells

(Jan. 29, 2016) — A group of University of Kentucky Honors students has been selected as a finalist for the second year in a row in the Knight Cities Challenge. Funded by the Knight Foundation, the challenge is a national call for new ideas to make 26 communities around the country more vibrant places to live and work.  

Clay Thornton, an economics and political science sophomore from Lexington, submitted the proposal on behalf of his UK Honors class, "Citizen Kentucky," taught by Associate Professor Buck Ryan. They are now one of 158 finalists out of more than 4,500 submissions from

By Chris Shoals

(Jan. 28, 2016) — Student-athletes from all of Kentucky's fall sports teams combined to earn a total of 81 spots on the Southeastern Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll, Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Wednesday.

A total of 1,002 student-athletes were named to the 2015 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Any student-athlete who participates in a Southeastern Conference championship sport or a student-athlete who participates in a sport listed on his/her institution’s NCAA Sports Sponsorship Form is eligible for nomination to the Academic Honor Roll. The following criteria will be followed: (1) A student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution. (2

By Whitney Hale, Jacob Smith

(Jan. 28, 2016) — The Bluegrass community is invited to ring in the Year of the Monkey this weekend with the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute and the Kentucky Chinese American Association (KYCAA). The Chinese New Year celebration featuring Chinese food, art, crafts, displays and performances will fill the Lexington Opera House on Saturday, Jan. 30.

The Chinese New Year program will begin with a holiday market including festival foods, crafts, traditional costumes, calligraphy, mini-Chinese lectures

By Marc C. Whitt

(Jan. 27, 2016) — Eight academic initiatives at the University of Kentucky have been cumulatively awarded $243,035 by the UK Women & Philanthropy Network, an organization committed to bringing together women who “share the ambition of building a better UK” through philanthropy, announced Paula Pope, director of special projects in the UK Office of Philanthropy.

“The selected proposals for 2015 were excellent as the membership found them to demonstrate creativity, innovation and a commitment to student success,” Pope said. “2015 marked a record year for the Women & Philanthropy Network as it awarded nearly $244,000 for academic grants. We are most grateful to this organization’s leaders and members for their commitment to UK’s students and their

By Zada Komara

(Jan. 25, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Appalachian Studies Program, and the Graduate Appalachian Research Community are now accepting abstracts for the 2016 UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase. 

The symposium features diverse undergraduate and graduate student research, performances, art, and other projects from across the Appalachian region. Work must be original, produced within the past three years, and related to Appalachia. This year’s symposium theme is "Difference and Affinity: Representing Appalachia,"

By Blair Hoover, Austin Hughes

(Jan. 21, 2016) — University of Kentucky Education Abroad (UK EA) is proud to host its Spring Expo from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4 in The Hub of the William T. Young Library. This event is open to all students and faculty who are interested in learning more about education abroad at the UK.

The Spring Expo will offer students the chance to explore all facets of UK EA, including study, research, intern, service and teach abroad. This will allow students to easily identify programs that will help them meet their academic or professional goals. In addition to these informational resources, students will be able to enjoy free food and prizes.

“The Education Abroad Expo showcases a variety of international opportunities available to UK students, from faculty-directed programs to internships abroad,” said Miko

By Dara Vance

Kenneth Adams is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Kentucky, he will spend 27 months as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia.   He is not sure what his living situation will be, he has no set daily routine, and his access to electricity and the internet will be intermittent at best – but Kenny says he is prepared for the experience. 

Kenny will be working in the Peace Corps organization, Rural Aquaculture Promotion (RAP) that focuses on tilapia farming.  Adams grew up on a dairy farm in Grayson County, Kentucky, but is unfamiliar with aquaculture.  He will most likely be working as a representative of the Zambian government to assist farmers with everything from applying for funding to maintaining existing tilapia farms. “I will get three

In January 2016, Dr. Theodore M. Way will have been teaching at the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) at the University of Kentucky for four years. Before working at CESL, he worked as a Refugee Resettlement Case Manager for Africa and the Middle East for the International Rescue Committee in Oakland and in San Francisco, California. Driven by the ongoing crisis in Syria and by the recent tragedy in Paris, France (among others), Dr. Way wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Lexington Herald Leader which was published on December 6, 2016. To read the full article, "Refugees Have Suffered Enough", please click here<http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article48051810.html>.

Dr. Way has taught English as a Second Language (ESL) not only here at the University of Kentucky, but in

By Weston Loyd, Whitney Harder

(Jan. 19, 2016) — Catherine Linnen, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Biology, has been awarded a three-year, $468,527 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The grant will fund her project, "Comparative Genomics of Specialization: The Genetic Basis of Interspecific Variation in Pine Use in Neodiprion Sawflies."

"The purpose of the research is to increase the understanding of how insects come to prefer or avoid different plant species," Linnen explained. "To a large extent, an insect's willingness to feed on a new host plant is determined by its perception of and response to chemical compounds found in

By Whitney Hale

(Jan. 19, 2016) — Claire K. Oldfather, a University of Kentucky classics and folklore and mythology senior from Madison, Alabama, has been selected to present the 22nd annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, in the UK Athletics Auditorium at William T. Young Library. Oldfather's free public lecture focuses on the evolution of the Pandora motif and how woman has gone from being characterized as wondrous to a witch.

The Breathitt Lectureship was named for an outstanding UK

By Gail Hairston

(Jan. 15, 2016) — A team of faculty from across campus have developed an initial proposal to create a University of Kentucky Center for Equality and Social Justice. 

Inspired and led by psychology Associate Professor Chrisitia Spears Brown with Robert E. Harding Jr. Professor of Law Melynda J. Price, the goal of the center is to create a space on campus to explore issues of equality and social justice from multiple perspectives, disciplines and research traditions. 

The genesis of the center comes at a time when institutions across the country are debating issues of equality, diversity and inclusion.

At UK, those conversations are taking place

Dr. Alan J. DeYoung, professor in the College of Arts & Sciences Department of Sociology and professor of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation in the College of Education, has been selected by the US Department of State and the International University for the Humanities and Development (IUHD) in Turkmenistan to serve as Fulbright Specialist in the spring 2016 semester. This project is coordinated by the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Dr. DeYoung will work with local university staff on the continued development of their specialization in sociology by reviewing their new curriculum and giving lectures to students of that department as a visiting speaker. 

IUHD is a new educational institution, which started offering its 14 different majors with English as the medium of instruction this academic year. DeYoung will also work with the teaching staff of

 American Archaeology, a national magazine, recently highlighted the work on Anthropology graduate student, Stuart Nealis. Nealis is a student of Dr. George Crothers, Director of State Archaeology and the William S. Webb Museum.  

Within the article, Nealis' research on the newly renamed Town Square Bank Mound, a large Woodland-period mound in Northern Kentucky, is mentioned. To read more about Nealis' research on the mound, view the full article from American Archaeology  here.

By Sara-Elizabeth Bush

(Jan. 13, 2016) — Six University of Kentucky educators were recently named recipients of the UK Alumni Association 2016 Great Teacher Award. Of those six, two are from the College of Arts & Sciences. 

The recipients are:

By Whitney Harder

(Jan. 13, 2016) — The University of Kentucky has earned a STARS Silver Rating in recognition of its sustainability efforts from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, measures sustainability performance within academics, engagement, operations, and planning and administration. Rating more than 700 institutions on six continents, STARS is the world's most widely recognized standard for higher education sustainability.

"Earning a silver rating from STARS is very exciting for our campus, and the 

By Whitney Hale

(Jan. 13, 2016) — The University of Kentucky's Confucius Institute brings together two worlds of style at "East Meets West: Fashion, Dance and Music." The fashion and performing arts program will begin 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Haggin Auditorium of Transylvania University's Mitchell Fine Arts Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Directed by Shuling Fister, "East Meets West" hopes to introduce Western audiences to Chinese history and culture through the artistry of Chinese fashion. Fashion designer Qi Zhou, 

By Charles Wright, Whitney Harder

(Jan. 11, 2015) — University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry researchers Edith Glazer, Sean Parkin and students Erin Wachter and Diego Moyá recently published a study showing that specialized compounds containing the metal ruthenium may be able to visualize or damage specific DNA structures relevant for cancer.

Published in "Chemistry - A European Journal," the work was named a "Hot Paper" for its importance in a rapidly evolving field of high interest, and was highlighted with the back cover.

The ends of chromosomes and some genes associated with cancer have regions where DNA can form

By Whitney Hale

(Jan. 11, 2016) — Since her reign at the top of the New York Times bestseller list in 1995 for "The Liars' Club," writer Mary Karr has been credited with launching a memoir revolution. Karr will give insight into her art as the keynote speaker of the 2016 Kentucky Women Writers Conference, running Sept. 16-17. Karr's keynote address, beginning 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, at the University of Kentucky, is made possible by ongoing generous support from UK Libraries. The event is

By Gail Hairston

(Jan. 5, 2016) — PEN’s Literary Awards Committee has chosen Manuel Gonzales, assistant professor of English at the University of Kentucky, as a judge for the 2016 PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize. The PEN/Fusion Emerging Writers Prize is an annual award that recognizes a promising young writer of an unpublished work of nonfiction that addresses a global and/or multicultural issue.

This prize is awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of 35, who has had at least one prior publication (articles, essays, op-eds) in a national magazine or journal. The manuscript submission must be an original, previously unpublished work of

By Whitney Harder

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 22, 2015) — University of Kentucky Army ROTC's Ross Kok reached two milestones last Friday as he earned his degree and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army.

Before commencement, 2nd Lt. Kok's family, friends, superiors and fellow cadets gathered at Buell Armory for his Commissioning Ceremony. Maj. Gen. Peggy C. Combs, commanding general, U.S. Army Cadet Command, was also in attendance.  

Kok's father, Brig. Gen. Troy Kok, officiated the ceremony.

"Thirty-one years ago, yes I sat in that seat… And my father, who looked a little younger at that time, was in about the same seat where he is, and he got up and he pinned my 2nd Lt. bars," Brig. Gen. Kok said as he would soon do the same with his own son.

2nd Lt.