By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 13, 2026) — It’s the familiar March Madness frenzy: bracket predictions, buzzer-beater highlights and, of course, the quirks of fandom.

Basketball fans have long found ways to feel like they can influence the outcome of a game — even from the couch.

We embrace traditions that range from lucky attire to sitting in the same spot.

While some might chalk these behaviors up to coincidence, one researcher at the University of Kentucky suggests there’s more at play.

Jenny Rice, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, believes superstitions offer a

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 9, 2026) — Every March, millions of Americans fill out brackets convinced they’re making smart, data-driven picks.

But when the upsets roll in — and our favorite teams advance further on our sheets than the stats suggest they should — it raises a bigger question: are we choosing with our heads, or with our identities?

In the Q&A below, Caroline Brooks, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, unpacks the hidden biases behind our bracket decisions, from in-group favoritism to the powerful pull of belonging.

The result: A closer look at how

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2026) — Forty-eight University of Kentucky students will present their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research on April 13-15 in Richmond, Virginia.

The conference is one of the largest events in the United States for undergraduate students to share their academic work with peers, faculty and professionals.

Students will present their research, showcase their work and engage with scholars. The conference features oral presentations, poster sessions and discussions, providing opportunities for academic and professional growth while highlighting undergraduate accomplishments.

The UK students taking part in NCUR this year include: 

By Tom Musgrave 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2026) — When she was a child, Jaesylin Stephens, a senior biology major in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, saw nature documentaries on Madagascar. She never imagined that she would one day visit the east African county.

“I never dreamed I’d get to see it with my own eyes,” Stephens said. “I’ll never forget finding bamboo lemurs on my first day in the field. I couldn’t believe I was just a few feet below such a unique, rare and endangered

By Ariel Arthur 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2026) — The University of Kentucky’s Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky Program has named its seventh cohort.

Founded in 2019, the program trains undergraduate students from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and communities to conduct impactful research to improve health disparities early in their college experience.

Students interested in the joining the program go through a rigorous application process. Accepted students complete a semester-long health disparities research course.

SPARK has supported 27 students since its inception. Through a donation from

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2026) — A University of Kentucky history professor is lending his expertise to “Field Generals: History of the Black Quarterback,” a new four-part docuseries streaming on Peacock that explores the history of Black quarterbacks in professional football.

Derrick White, Ph.D., professor of history and African American and Africana Studies at the UK College of Arts and Sciences, appears in the series as a contributing historian.

The series, produced by NBC Sports and executive produced

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 24, 2026) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 112 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is a sign that your work matters to the research community, and we congratulate these

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) – The University of Kentucky’s Creative Writing Division in the Department of English will host award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller as part of the Spring 2026 Visiting Writers Series.

The reading will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in the John Jacob Niles Gallery at the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Miller is the author of 11 books that range across several genres. His 2014 poetry collection, "The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion," won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. His 2017 novel, "Augustown," has won the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Prix Les Afriques, and the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde. He was the 2019 Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at

By Ariel Arthur 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 9, 2026) —  The University of Kentucky’s Center for Health, Engagement and Transformation (CHET) awarded pilot funding to three doctoral students to support research projects focused on improving the health of a population of high need.

CHET’s 2025 Doctoral Student Pilot Grants were awarded to Zachary Siegel, Abigail Moore and Thilini Samadhi Weeraratne.

Since 2023, CHET has funded doctoral student pilot grants to support projects and develop job market competitiveness for emerging health disparity researchers. Students in any college whose research focuses on reducing health disparities are eligible for 12-month awards of $5,000-$10,000.

By Meredith Weber 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) — Six educators were honored Feb. 17 as the 2026 Great Teacher Award recipients. They are: 

The two College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are:

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Blazer Dining Hall on the University of Kentucky campus might not strike one as a prime location for romance, but it worked great for Stephanie Carpenter, Ph.D., and Christopher Collins. 

The couple, now engaged, began their journey together in the hall in 2010 they were undergrads in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences.  

“When we first met, I had come from a dance rehearsal,” said Carpenter, who was a chemistry major from Nicholasville. “I was part of the University of Kentucky Dance Ensemble. I was between rehearsals, and I went to Blazer Dining Hall to get some breakfast. While I'm there, there's this girl from my high school, and she says, ‘Hey Stephanie, do you know this guy? He lives in your dorm, and he's from New York

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 10, 2026) — For Jennifer Cramer, Ph.D., language has been more than a subject of study; it is a lens through which people understand identity, community and belonging. As a professor of linguistics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, Cramer has spent her career helping students see language not as a set of rules, but as a living, social practice shaped by culture and place.

That philosophy guided her work as a Chellgren Endowed Professor, an experience she describes as both affirming and transformative.

“Being named a Chellgren Endowed Professor was quite the honor,” Cramer said. “I had seen

By Allison Perry 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 6, 2026) — In a new essay, a University of Kentucky historian examines how confronting past choices in scholarship can redirect a scholar’s path and cultivate insight. The essay appeared in a September 2025 special issue of the American Historical Review titled “Mistakes I Have Made.”

Claire D. Clark, Ph.D., is a tenured Chellgren Endowed Associate Professor of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine. She also holds a joint appointment in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. A historian of medicine, she seeks to understand how the lessons learned from medicine’s past can be pragmatically applied to situations we face today.

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A University of Kentucky doctoral student dug deeply into the Tapichalaca reserve in Ecuador and uncovered a magnolia tree variety that’s different enough from other types to be called its own species: Magnolia tapichalacaensis.  

The tree’s big flowers attracted the attention of Edison Rea-Sancho, a doctoral student in biology in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences. He recently co-wrote a paper for the journal Phytotaxa. 

“Plants are awesome," Rea-Sancho said. “I am from Ecuador, and I grew up surrounded by plants. Being in the tropical rain forest made me curious about plants and trees. Among

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 29, 2026) — Applications are now open for awards and funding opportunities offered by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies program. These opportunities are open to any student participating in work and research in the Appalachian region.

Graduate students are eligible to apply for the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia, and both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply for the Eller & Billings Student Research Award. These awards support student research in/

By Ryan Girves

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 26, 2026) — Brandon Erby, Ph.D., assistant professor in writing, rhetoric and digital studies in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, will present this year’s Gaines Lecture for Outstanding Research in the Humanities.

Erby’s lecture, titled “Digitizing Prison Dreams: Incarcerated Podcasters and their Views on Freedom,” will highlight research from his award-winning, peer-reviewed article, “Imagining Freedom: Cultural Rhetorics, Digital Literacies and Podcasting in Prison.”

By Sara Spinks, Veena McCoole and Jenny Wells-Hosley

OXFORD, England (Jan. 20, 2026) — Large language models like ChatGPT increasingly shape how people see the world, yet their responses can mirror long-standing biases in the data they ingest.

New research from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford and the University of Kentucky finds that ChatGPT systematically favors wealthier, Western regions in response to questions ranging from “Where are people more beautiful?” to “Which country is safer?”

The study, “The Silicon Gaze: A typology of biases and inequality in LLMs through the lens of place,”

By Jenny Wells-Hosley 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 16, 2026) — As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the University of Kentucky Department of History is launching a public event series designed to deepen understanding of the American Revolution and its enduring legacy.

The “Celebrating 1776” series will feature lectures, conversations, film screenings and new courses for students through 2026, drawing on the department’s nationally recognized scholars in American history and serving as a resource for the UK campus and the broader Kentucky community.

The series kicks off 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, with a public conversation featuring Joseph Ellis, one of the

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, KY. -- A new book edited by University of Kentucky faculty offers hope, in a variety of ways, to the people of a post-coal and deindustrialized Appalachia. 

“Toward Just Transitions: Visions for Regenerative Communities in Appalachia,” published by the University Press of Kentucky, tackles such issues as food, health, race and philanthropy in a series of essays. 

“The Just Transition movement has to do with the decline of coal mining and other sorts of natural resource-producing, energy-producing and exporting industries," said Shaunna Scott, Ph.D., emerita associate professor of sociology in UK's College of Arts and Sciences co-editor of the

By Francis Von Mann 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 9, 2026) — University of Kentucky professor Andy Doolen has published a new biography examining the life, ideas and assassination of early American figure John Dunn Hunter.

Andy Doolen, professor of English and American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of “Traitor: The Life and Assassination of John Dunn Hunter, American Radical,” published Dec. 2, 2025, by Johns Hopkins University Press.

John Dunn Hunter was many things: a frontier hero, a writer, a celebrity at home and abroad, and, ultimately,