El Departamento de Arts & Sciences se enorgullece de anunciar que la profesora Ana Rueda ha sido nombrada Profesora Distinguida del 2014-2015 en el área de Arts & Sciences. La Dr. Rueda recibió su título de Doctorado en la Universidad de Vanderbilt en 1985, y luego fue profesora en al Universidad de Missouri-Columbia. Ana Rueda comenzó su carrera en UK en el 2002.

La carrera de la Dr. Rueda ha sido una amalgama de investigación, instrucción y servicio, lo cual contribuyó a su nominación a este premio. Reconocida internacionalmente por su trabajo en el área de Literatura Española, la Dr. Rueda ha conducido investigaciones tanto en teoría de cuentos, teoría epistolar y literatura de guerra, como en estudios interdisciplinarios en música, historia cultural y literatura por mujeres. Rueda ha publicado 6 libros y alrededor de

By Mark Lawrence Kornbluh

The College of Arts & Sciences is very pleased to announce that Professor Ana Rueda has been named the 2014-15 Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor. Dr. Rueda received her PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1985. After teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia for many years, she came to the University of Kentucky in 2002.

Professor Rueda's distinguished career realizes an ideal balance between research, teaching, and service, which is a hallmark of this Award. An internationally recognized scholar of modern Spanish literature, her research has widely ranged from short story theory, epistolary, and war literature to interdisciplinary studies in music, women's writing, and cultural history. She has published six books and almost fifty book

LOOFO - Official Trailer 2 from TheNortonBrothers on Vimeo.

by Whitney Hale, Whitney Harder

(April 21, 2014)  "LOOFO," a film directed and produced by two University of Kentucky seniors, fraternal twin brothers Ben and Zak Norton, will premiere at 8:30 pm. Tuesday, April 22, at the Kentucky Theatre. A campus premiere, sponsored by the Late Night Film Series, will follow a week later at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the 

The University of Kentucky has been presenting the Sullivan Award to students, faculty, and staff since 1927. This award recognizes individuals who evince a sense of love and helpfulness for other communities, at home and abroad.  

This year’s UK recipient is graduating senior Andrew Ritzel. A Biology and Spanish major, Ritzel is being recognized for his involvement and leadership with UK’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Program and for creating a formal partnership between UK and Shoulder-to-Shoulder Global.

Ritzel’s involvement started when he was a first-year student here at UK. “Coming into college, the Alternative Spring Break Program was something I had heard about at other universities. I was really interested in the program, so I went to one of the information sessions at the beginning of the school year. I learned that UK’s ASB program was launching a

The Department of Hispanic Studies is proud to welcome two new faculty members, both of whom will be joining us in the Fall off 2014.  We look forward to their unique contributions in both teaching and research in our undergraduate and graduate programs at UK.. 

Associate Professor MÓNICA DÍAZ specializes in Colonial Latin American Studies. Her research focuses on native culture and women's cultural history and literature, particularly of eighteenth-century Mexico. Her book Indigenous Writings from the Convent: Negotiating Ethnic Autonomy in Colonial Mexico (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2010) examines the existence of the only three convents opened exclusively for indigenous women in colonial Mexico. Currently, she is developing a project on legal documentation

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 16, 2014) —  The piece, an exploration of people, place and promise, will be celebrated with a presentation, "Nation of Nations: Awakening to a New World," and reception at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the UK Libraries Athletics Auditorium. The event and reception are free and open to the public.

"Nation of Nations" includes a series of 10 works embodying the spirit of many different peoples and creeds: Incan, Kenyan, Mexican, Moroccan, Cherokee, Hindu, Hebrew, Creole, Arab and Russian. On each one, the phrase, “Have Mercy on Us,” is written in a different language: Cherokee, Chinese, English, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Swahili, Latin, Russian and Haitian Creole.  In addition, the titles of the 10 paintings echo the anthems, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful."

"Nation of Nations" was

by Buck Ryan

(April 14, 2014) ― A local business owner with 30 years of public service focusing on social justice issues and homelessness, the founder of a service-dog training program to assist people with disabilities, and a student leader who expanded alternative spring break service trips globally are the recipients of the University of Kentucky's 2014 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Medallions for outstanding humanitarian service.

They will receive their medallions this evening at UK's annual Honors and Recognition  Awards Program in the Student Center Grand Ballroom. A 6 p.m. reception will be followed by the formal program beginning at 7 p.m.

The citizen recipient of the Sullivan Award this year is Debra Hensley, owner of the Hensley Agency of State Farm Insurance Companies in Lexington. She has worked in insurance and financial services since

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 8, 2014) — A "¡Viva México!" event at the University of Kentucky will celebrate Latin American residents of Appalachia on Saturday evening, with a concert by the Latin-Appalachian roots band Appalatin, followed by the debut of a community-based theatrical performance titled "Las Voces de los Apalaches."

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in the Worsham Theater at the UK Student Center. The staged reading of "Las Voces de los Apalaches" starts at 8:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by UK's Appalachian Center and College of Arts and Sciences.

Appalatin plays roots music bridging Latin American and Appalachian folk traditions. The six-member band uses all-acoustic instrumentation,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2014) — Tearing down the walls of diversity is a task that requires one to think outside of the box. 'Boxes and Walls' is hosted by CATalyst, which has teamed up with six other organizations to build a multicultural museum for students to explore.

The exhibits are designed to personalize the struggle of tearing down these walls of oppression and to educate attendees on the impact of this persecution over time.

Keeping with this year's theme, "Oppression through Time," participating organizations are building their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.

Alexis Asamoah, president of the African Student Association, says that she hopes their exhibit will take attendees back in time.

“We would like students to understand the effects of colonization through an interactive

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2014) ­― As part of the year-long Viva Mexico program, University of Kentucky Libraries and the UK College of Arts and Sciences will host a speaker on “Mexico on the Digital Frontier: Creating Access in Archives and Libraries.” Linda Arnold, professor emerita of history at Virginia Tech University, will speak on the topic at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library on UK’s campus. A reception will follow in the Little Library foyer.

Arnold spent 29 years at Virginia Tech, where she developed and taught more than a dozen undergraduate writing-intensive courses, and directed nearly 30 undergraduate independent studies.  She was a pioneer in digital history who,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 27, 2014) – As part of "¡Viva Mexico!," University of Kentucky Libraries presents "Alebrijes of Oaxaca, Mexico: an Exhibition of Mexican Folk Art from the State of Oaxaca." Showcasing more than 30 Oaxaca alebrijes on loan from UK faculty members' personal collections, the free public exhibit is on display through April 25, in the atrium of the William T. Young Library.

Whimsical carvings depicting animals, people, objects and imaginary creatures, alebrijes are known for their paintings of intense colors and intricate patterns. Carved from the twisting branches of the copal wood, the figures are sanded and painted with a base coat of paint. The final painting is done meticulously with detailed designs and

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 21, 2014) — The axolotl may look like a creature from a science fiction movie, but researchers at the University of Kentucky say these strange little salamanders have a lot to teach us.

On Monday, Feb. 24, the university will host a daylong symposium, titled "How Mexican Axolotls Promote Science, Conservation, and Creativity," sponsored by the UK College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, and Department of Hispanic Studies.

The axolotl (rhymes with "tax a bottle") is unusual in that it does not undergo a metamorphosis between its juvenile form and adulthood, as do most salamanders, a trait known as paedomorphism, the retention of juvenile traits by adults.

"Axolotls are the most famous paedomorphic

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 29, 2014) — College & Research Libraries News, published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), currently is featuring a familiar image as its January 2014 issue cover photo — an Aztec tribute poster from "A Glimpse into Ancient Mexico: Writings of the Aztecs, Mixtec and Maya" exhibit at the University of Kentucky's William T. Young Library.

The exhibit at Young Library is one of many events presented by UK Libraries as part of UK College of Arts & Sciences "Passport to the World: ¡Viva México!,"

by Derrick Meads

(Jan. 15, 2014) — Although it is Viva México in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World initiative, very few students choose to study there.

To open opportunities for international study in Mexico, a delegation of faculty from UK, Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) and Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) visited Oaxaca, Mexico to review Sol Education Abroad (an affiliate education abroad partner of UK). Led by UK Education Abroad, the faculty members also assessed health and safety concerns and engaged with faculty at Oaxaca’s academic

by Ceci Amador

When December arrives, it brings new—and stronger—waves of Christmas-themed everything. Yet, there are some that have a harder time getting in that wonderful Christmas spirit: I am talking about myself. Don´t get me wrong, I love Christmas, but having grown up in another country (Guatemala), my Christmas preparations and traditions have been pretty different since I came to the University of Kentucky. I have realized I don´t get into the Christmas spirit until I finally make it back home. This isn´t a bad thing, I knew what I was getting into when I applied for college in the US, and it’s not like holiday activities are lacking here. On the contrary, there are several, they´re just different from what I am used to.

In a college town, by the time December rolls in, everyone wants to be done with school, go home, have a nice winter break, and enjoy

“Death is not meant to be feared, it is meant to be celebrated.”

This is what Rosalinda Rodriguez was taught as a little girl growing up in Mexico. This has been a prevailing philosophy in Mexico for many centuries now, and it is still the main reason for the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos.

Rosalinda Rodriguez was born and raised in the city of Jalapa in Veracruz, Mexico. After graduating high school, Rosalinda moved to Mexico City in order to continue her studies in Hotel and Restaurant Management and International Relations. After completing her studies there, she decided to move to the United States, believing that this country would offer her more opportunities in her desired field of work. Now, Rosalinda has been living in Lexington for twelve years; she is married and has two children. Although Rosalinda does not go back to Mexico as often as she would

Video courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 14, 2013) — The University of Kentucky is celebrating its commitment to international education with various events Nov.18-22, joining institutions across the country to celebrate the benefits of international education and worldwide exchange.

International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment. 

International education is growing steadily on campus. The number of international undergraduates has increased by 6 percent over last fall's enrollment.  English as a second language (ESL) undergraduate students have

video courtesy of UK Public Relations & Marketing

article by Jenny Wells

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2013) — In addition to research presentations, the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) will offer numerous volunteer opportunities for the entire campus community when the University of Kentucky hosts the conference April 3-5, 2014. From helping direct traffic, to managing technology, to just helping students find where they need to go, there will be a variety of positions available to students, faculty and staff.

Students will have even more flexibility to get involved, as the University Senate has given permission for faculty to redirect their classes April 3 and 4 so students can attend conference events and presentations. 

"

by Grace Liddle & Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2013) – University of Kentucky Libraries is adding another stamp to its passport in support of the UK College of Arts and Sciences Passport to the World program with exhibitions and programs in celebration of ¡Viva Mexico!

The exhibits and events at UK Libraries include: