5/3/2017
By Jenny Wells
The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved 16 University Research Professorships for the 2017-18 year.
The purpose of the University Research Professorship program is to recognize and publicize research accomplishments of scholars across the full range of disciplines at UK. The award amount is $10,000 for one year, to be used to further the research, scholarship and creative endeavors of the awardee.
“It is truly gratifying to recognize these distinguished experts who have made significant contributions in so many different fields of research at the University of Kentucky,” said Lisa Cassis, UK’s vice president for research. “The University Research Professorship Awards honor 16 members of our faculty who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship and creative work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and
4/27/2017
By Jennifer T. Allen
Professor of History Francie Chassen-Lopez will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens (Greece) on May 9, 2017. This is the highest honorary title awarded by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and signifies the impact of Chassen-Lopez’s work in the community of history and Latin American studies.
“This honor demonstrates that Professor Chassen-Lopez’s research has had a profound impact on the understanding of Mexican history beyond both the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking worlds,” said Karen Petrone, chair of the history department. “The honorary degree is a testament to Professor Chassen-Lopez’s international renown and her status as a truly global scholar and researcher.”
“I am deeply grateful and
4/6/2017
By Connie Sapienza
Front row (l to r): Alyssa Mertka, Meg Coppala, Hadeel Abdallah and Susie Smith. Middle row (l to r): Meghana Kudrimoti and Michael Regard. Back row (l to r); Beau Revlett, Ben Jones, Eric Poore and Nate Cortas. Not pictured: Sophia Decker and Amaris Wade
The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 12 exceptional undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years. Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues, and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.
Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program;
4/4/2017
By Jennifer Allen and Gail Hairston
Karen Petrone in the Department of History is the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ 2017-18 A&S Distinguished Professor.
“Since joining the faculty of the college in 1994, Petrone has established a record of outstanding teaching, scholarship and service that is recognized by her colleagues both here at UK and in the discipline of history,” said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
In 1998, within four years of her arrival at UK, Petrone was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Teaching. She has taught a wide variety of courses ranging from freshman survey offerings in European history to advanced graduate seminars in Russian history. She was very active in the college’s former Gender and Women’s Studies Program (now department) and was a leader in developing UK’s Working
4/4/2017
By Gail Hairston
The third event for the College of Arts and Sciences Civic Life seminar series will be hosted by Professor of Sociology Carlos de la Torre and Professor of History Tracy Campbell. The event will be noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, in the UK Athletics Auditorium of the William T. Young Library. It is free and open to the public.
This week’s topic is “Populist Moments and the Future of Democracy Under Trump."
Donald Trump’s presidency is bringing American populism from the margins to the center of power. He uses populist rhetoric and strategies to confront “the establishment,” promising to end the neoliberal multicultural consensus that linked globalization and the cultural recognition of different identity groups such as women, Muslims, African Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and the LGBTQ communities.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines
3/27/2017
By Gail Hairston
UK Mock Trial Team: (males L-R) Nick Nash, Cody McGlothlin, John Wilson; (females L-R) Anne Klette, Rachel Hampton, Hannah West, Lauren Williams and Kassie Satterly.
For the first time in the program's 10-year history, the University of Kentucky Mock Trial Team has earned a spot to compete in the American Mock Trial Association's (AMTA) National Championship Tournament, hosted this year by University of California, Los Angeles.
Since its inception in 2007, the UK Mock Trial Team has represented the university at mock trial competitions across the country. There are over 600 undergraduate teams in the United States, and this year, UK’s group is one of only 48 teams to earn a coveted spot at the NCT, putting UK among the top 8 percent of teams nationwide.
To
3/2/2017
By Loretta Stafford
University of Kentucky's Derek Gaiser, a secondary social studies education and history junior from Ludlow, Kentucky, has been awarded an English-Speaking Union (ESU) Scholarship presented by the English-Speaking Union Kentucky Branch. The scholarship will cover Gaiser's expenses for summer study at Oxford University.
The Kentucky Branch of the English-Speaking Union awards a limited number of scholarships to qualified Kentucky college students for courses offered at institutions in the United Kingdom. Scholarship awards include tuition, lodging and two meals daily for three-week courses
2/14/2017
By Lori Minter
A record number of students made the University of Kentucky Dean's List for the fall 2016 semester. The 7,408 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance. That's an increase of more than 200 over the previous record reached in fall 2015 when the number of students on the UK Dean's List surpassed 7,000 for the first time. Last semester's Dean's List includes over 700 more students than the spring 2016 semester's list.
To make a Dean’s List in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes. Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the Dean’s List.
The full Dean's List can be accessed by visiting www.uky.edu/PR/News/
2/3/2017
By Gail Hairston
"UK at the Half" interview with UK history Professor Gerald Smith about the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia.
Now celebrated in several nations around the world, Black History Month began humbly when noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other African American leaders urged the nation to recognize a “Negro History Week” in February 1926. Fifty years later, President Gerald Ford officially designated February as Black History Month, defining it as an annual celebration of the achievements of African Americans and their roles in U.S. history. At the time, he urged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Decades later, University of Kentucky’s history professor and Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar in
11/7/2016
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/wcsiDc.
11/7/2016
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 election “which had some
10/20/2016
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 chairs makes small
10/18/2016
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 activities
10/18/2016
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 Professorship in Jewish
9/20/2016
By Gail Hairston
The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will hold its Hall of Fame Ceremony Oct. 7 to induct four new members — Karl “Kip” Cornett, a 1977 alumnus and founder of Cornett; Sally Mason, a 1972 alumna and former president of the University of Iowa; Robert Ireland, an emeriti faculty of history; and Judith Lesnaw, an emeriti faculty of biology.
The college’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony and reception will be held at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, in the UK Academic Science Building, located at 680 Rose St.
Cornett was born in Hazard, Kentucky, and graduated from UK in 1977. Seven years later, he founded Cornett, an advertising firm that has become one of the leading agencies in the region.
During his years at the university, Cornett was president of Theta Chi Fraternity, vice president of the Student Center Board, vice president of the
8/30/2016
By Jay Blanton, Kody Kiser
Tracy Campbell views history as a way to explore the paradoxes of humanity and the human condition.
“We’re human beings. We are complex. We are not perfect,” said Campbell, a University of Kentucky professor of history. “Why do we like Shakespeare? Because it’s not devils versus angels. It’s about how the two can usually be in the same head … and that’s a lot more interesting, but it’s also a lot more human … the paradox of American history is what I really enjoy trying to understand.”
Campbell discusses the exploration of those paradoxes in his work at UK and in how he teaches students in this week’s edition of “Behind the Blue,” the podcast produced by UK Public Relations and Marketing that explores the people and events that make UK the university for Kentucky.
Campbell — a native Kentuckian and UK graduate — has been
8/25/2016
The Trunzo Scholars Program began this summer and allowed seven College of Arts & Sciences students to participate in education abroad or professional internship opportunities. Established by Robert N. (Political Science ’78) and Anne Trunzo of Brookfield, Wisconsin, the Trunzo Scholars Program was designed to help political science and pre-law students expand their academic and professional horizons through education abroad and internship opportunities. The first class of Trunzo Scholars includes students who spent the summer interning in areas of politics, government, law, or public policy and in education abroad programs based in South Africa, Morocco and Spain, England and Peru. The comments and photos below provide a flavor of the students’ adventures and the life-changing impact of these intensive, high-impact learning opportunities.
“The most rewarding aspect of my
8/12/2016
By Gail Hairston
University of Kentucky Professor of History Jeremy Popkin was recently awarded a prestigious Public Scholar program award of $50,400 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The grant will fund Popkin’s research and writing, leading to the publication of his manuscript on the French Revolution, “Free and Equal: The Story of the French Revolution.” The NEH Public Scholar program is meant to support scholars in the humanities who are writing books that will bring the best of current research to a broad general audience.
This book will "give readers new perspectives about the French Revolution by incorporating, among other things, my own research on the role of the media during the revolution and the importance of the revolutionaries' struggles about slavery in the French colonies," Popkin said.
"The project is an opportunity for me
