by Sarah Geegan & Breanna Shelton
The College of Arts and Sciences is kicking off its fourth year in its Passport to the World Initiative: "¡Viva México!" will be a year-long celebration of art, culture and history of Mexico and what makes it unique. Join in the kickoff from noon-2 p.m.today, Tuesday, Sept. 17, on the Student Center patio for free food, free T-shirts, music and games.
History Professor Francie Chassen-Lopez, and anthropology Professor Chris Pool are
video courtesy of UK Public Relations and Marketing
article by Jenny Wells
Planning and hosting a national conference is no easy task, but for the UK community, collaboration makes it all possible. The University of Kentucky will host the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research, or NCUR, next semester, which will bring nearly 4,000 additional students from across the country to the UK campus. And as students, faculty and staff can attest -- it is something worth bragging about.
NCUR will take place April 3-5, 2014, all throughout UK's campus. The conference will give undergraduates a unique opportunity to present their research and creative endeavors, while meeting other like-minded students from all across the country. They not only promote their individual work,
By Jacob Most
University of Kentucky Wildcats from all eight of UK’s spring sports teams combined to earn a total of 71 spots on the Southeastern Conference Spring Sports Academic Honor Roll, Commissioner Mike Slive announced this week.
UK’s honorees included 16 women’s track and field team members, 14 from baseball, nine from softball, seven women’s tennis players, eight men’s track and field team members, six each from men’s golf and men’s tennis and five women’s golfers.
A total of 1,247 student-athletes from around the league earned spots on the honor roll, which is based on grades from the 2012 summer, 2012 fall and 2013 spring terms. In order to make the SEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or his/her entire collegiate career, be at least a sophomore in academic standing,
by Whitney Hale
Fifteen graduates of the University of Kentucky will head back to the classroom this fall as part of a new class of corps members in Teach for America. The UK group is among thousands of new teachers chosen this year for the national program, which is known for selecting outstanding college graduates to commit to teach for two years in disadvantaged urban and rural public schools.
Teach for America places its recruits in the nation's highest-need elementary and secondary schools in many of the country's lowest income communities, both rural and urban, in an effort to close the achievement gap between economically advantaged and disadvantaged children.
Currently, around 10,400 first- and second-year corps members instruct more than 750,000 pre-K through 12th
By Sarah Geegan
Per University of Kentucky tradition, a student speaker will represent his or her class at both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 5. The speakers for the 146th UK Commencement Ceremonies are Mercedes Rosado and Luke Glaser.
Mercedes Rosado, from Marquette, Mich., is graduating with a degree in kinesiology from the College of Education. A pilot candidate in Air Force ROTC, she will be commissioned after graduation and begin pilot training in February at Columbus Air Force base in Mississippi. She will deliver the Commencement address at the 1 p.m. ceremony.
Rosado joined the Air Force ROTC program at UK partly because of her father'
Dr. Susan Larson will offer a new course to satisfy the UKCore requirement "Community Culture and Citizenship in the USA."
The new course, called US Latino Culture and Politics, will touch on the history, cultures and impact of the growing Latino communites in the United States, with a particular focus on the Latino populations here in Kentucky. No knowledge of Spanish is required for this course.
By Guy Spriggs
According to Spanish and topical studies major Sammi Meador, it can be hard to use words like environmentalism and sustainability when talking about her personal and academic interests.
“These are hot topics right now,” Meador said, “and a lot of people think these are just wishy-washy terms.”
As she explains, however, sustainability is about far more than buzz words and empty gestures. Environmental studies is also about people.
“People think it’s a liberal white kid thing, that the goal is to be a hippie and to save the animals and all that. But there’s a human side to it. Sustainability really includes every aspect of human society,” she said.
“I’m coming from a place of privilege that affords me the time and resources to ponder these ethical questions,” Meador continued. “I don’t
In this A&S podcast, Luke Glaser, a double major in Spanish and English at UK, talks about why he chose to pursue a position with Teach for America and what he hopes to accomplish with his service.
https://www.as.uky.edu/podcasts/teach-america-luke-glaser
By Sarah Geegan
UK alumna Lauren Cook did it in Switzerland; UK junior Hannah Simms did it in China; they studied abroad. Widely seen as a life-changing experience, education abroad has been perceived as one with added financial burden. However, Education Abroad at UK is seeking to dispel the myth that money is necessarily an obstacle; rather, they want students to know money does not have to be a barrier.
Education Abroad at UK strives to make education abroad programs more affordable and accessible for all UK students. In 2011-2012, Education Abroad at UK awarded $231,750 in total scholarships. The 2011-2012 year also represented a 42 percent increase from the number of students who received scholarships in 2010-2011 and a 41 percent increase in total funding.
"One of the significant
Dr. Alice Driver, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma México and a recent graduate of UK's Hispanic Studies department, has added to her impressive list of accomplishments a photo credit in the November issue of National Geographic's Spanish Language edition. The photo was taken at La Lagunilla Market in Mexico City and appears in the section "Your Shot" of the issue "¿Cuba libre?"
Dr. Driver will also exibit 5 of her photographs taken in Ciudad Juárez as part of the Photography Exhibit on Feminicide for the International Day for the Eliminatiion of Violence Against Women on November 26, 2012 in Vienna, Austria. The exhibit was organized by the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS).
Dr. Drive completed her PhD at the University of Kentucky in 2011. Her dissertation was entitled “Cultural Production and Ephemeral Art: Feminicide
by Gail Hairston
Latino and Hispanic students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to come together to build relationships and network with each other at the next event of the University of Kentucky 2012 Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month (H/LHM) Celebration. Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month is observed Sept. 15-Oct. 15.
The celebration is a collaboration between UK students, staff, faculty and the community with the consolidated and supported efforts cultivated by Latin American Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Fine Arts.
The entire community is invited to the next event, a Latino/Hispanic Student and Faculty Mixer, sponsored by the H/LHM Core Planning Team. The free event is slated from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at the UK Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center, 133 Student Center. For more information, contact Kairise Conwell, assistant
By Sarah Geegan
UK student Katelyn McNamara is extending her hard work, compassion and activeness across the country and globe. The topical studies in neuroscience and Hispanic studies double major and UK Honors Program student recently received the 2012 National Alternative Breaks Active Citizen of the Year Award, recognizing her as the exemplification of serving and valuing the community.
Break Away: Alternative Break Connection, Inc., is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to "train, assist and connect campuses and communities in promoting quality alternative break programs that inspire lifelong active citizenship." With a network of more than
To see a little of what Dr. Francisco Salgado-Robles' students were doing in Seville this summer, take a look at some of the adventures of sophomore Spanish major Nicole Sands, who blogged from Spain about her experiences with the the May session service learning course created by Dr. Salgado-Robles.
By Sarah Geegan
"Every time I take a trip, I find myself missing home. The people. The culture. The weather," says JR Leach, a triple-major in political science, history and Hispanic studies, who is currently studying in Granada, Spain.
But he is not referring to Lexington.
"I've travelled internationally before and for extended periods of time, and I've always remembered and missed what most people would consider my home in America," Leach said. "But Granada is where all cards are off. Granada has become my home."
Studying through the International Study Abroad program (ISA) throughout the spring 2012 semester, Leach, a student in the Honors
The College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce that the recipients of the 2012-13 A&S Outstanding Teaching Awards are Drs. Christia Brown (psychology), Brenna Byrd (MCLLC), Yanira Paz (Hispanic Studies), and Bradley Plaster (physics & astronomy).
Dr. Christia Brown has been in the psychology department since 2007 and is affiliated with the Children at Risk Research Cluster, Gender and Women’s Studies, and the UK Center for Poverty Research. She exemplifies teaching excellence. She creates an innovative learning environment in every classroom she enters, whether through engagement activities in her large lecture courses or debates in her smaller seminars. One of her students stated, “This is the best class and professor I have ever had at UK.” Outside the classroom she is a
Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, a guest writer at this year's Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, won the prestigious Premio de la Crítica for his novel El día de mañana. He received the good news while attending the 65th annual KFLC conference in Lexington. Read the full article on ABC.es here (note: the article is in Spanish).
photo by José Antonio Melendo
By Sarah Geegan
The University of Kentucky will host the 65th annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (KFLC), an internationally esteemed colloquium for scholars of language, literature and culture, beginning Thursday, April 19, across the UK campus.
The event will unite scholars from across the world, as the largest U.S. conference dedicated to all aspects of the study of language and its peoples, from technology to teaching, from film to literature, from linguistics to cultural studies. With keynote speakers, discussion panels, research presentations and exhibits, the conference will address issues pertaining to language through multiple platforms.
Doug Slaymaker, executive director of the KFLC and associate professor of
By Whitney Hale, Lea Mann
The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 10 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 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. 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; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession are given equal consideration.
UK's 10 new Gaines
By Kathy Johnson
University of Kentucky educators and others will be honored with teaching and public service awards today in UK's second annual Founders Day Award Ceremony at 4 p.m. in Worsham Theater in the UK Student Center. Members of the campus and local communities are invited. A reception will follow in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center.
The university was created by legislative act on Feb. 22, 1865. While Founders Day has been celebrated in various ways over those years, the Founders Day Award Ceremony was established last year to recognize outstanding teaching, research and public service among faculty.
The Provost's Awards for teaching and service, the Sullivan Medallions for community service, the Sturgill Award for contributions to graduate education, and the Kirwan Prize for outstanding research will be presented in today's
By Whitney Hale
The University of Kentucky's Latin American Studies Program, College of Communications and Information Studies and Libraries are coming together to offer a screening of "Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Search for Identity," a documentary on a period during Argentina's Dirty War when people were tortured and babies were kidnapped and given to military supporters. The free public screening will be presented at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at Worsham Theater.
"Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo" is a documentary film that was a labor of love for
