Banner Photo: Jacob Welch (center), lifetime member of the Delta of Kentucky chapter at the University of Kentucky, received the XXXIX National Lambda Alpha Scholarship Award honored by a check for $5000, a Charles R. Jenkins Certificate of Distinguished Achievement Award and a plaque. Jacob’s chapter faculty sponsor is George M. Crothers, Ph. D. (right). Also pictured Scott Huston, Ph.D (left).

This story originally appeared in the Lambda Alpha Annual Newsletter (Number 29)

In the fall of 2014, I will begin doctoral studies in anthropology at Yale University. This ambition to further advance my education in archaeology was forged while completing my baccalaureate degree at the University of Kentucky. It was during this time that I was awarded the opportunity to spend two summers carrying out archaeological investigations for the Uci-Cansahcab

By Guy Spriggs

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures (MCLLC) is changing how we think of language studies. Since the recent merger of separate language units into a single entity, the 44-member department has set its sights on becoming a more cohesive intellectual community with a unified teaching and research mission. A brand new core curriculum, for all students regardless of their specific language focus, is the cornerstone of the project. 

A major component of this new curriculum is MCL 200 – Reading the World – an innovative team-taught course exposing students to texts from a variety of different cultural traditions and historical periods.

“The course is a new kind of introduction

By Whitney Harder

(March 25, 2015) — On Monday, March 16, construction began on a new 30-kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) array at the Ralph G. Anderson Building on the University of Kentucky campus.

The installation is located on the southwest-facing roof of the building and is visible from the engineering courtyard, F. Paul Anderson Tower, Oliver H. Raymond Civil Engineering Building, and the Advanced Science & Technology Commercialization Center (ASTeCC). The $91,000 installation was jointly funded through a

By Katie Pratt

(March 25, 2015) — This summer, military families can have a great bonding experience at one of three Kentucky camps aimed at strengthening family ties in a fun-filled atmosphere.

The camps are part of two grants that the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service received from the U.S. Department of Defense and Kentucky’s System to Enhance Early Development. This year’s camp offerings are:

·         The “MAMMOTH” Military Family Adventure- June 12-14; Mammoth Cave Hotel in Mammoth Cave

·         Robinson Forest Military Family Early Childhood Adventure- June 26-28; UK’s Robinson Forest in Jackson

·         Live Your

By Jenny Wells

(March 25, 2015) — Keeping with UK tradition, an undergraduate student will be selected to speak at each of two undergraduate Commencement ceremonies, which will take place at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, May 9, in Rupp Arena.

Students interested in speaking must submit their applications by 4 p.m. Friday, March 27.

A Commencement Speaker Selection Committee will determine which students will have the honor of addressing their fellow graduates. Applications are available online at www.uky.edu/Commencement/speakers.html.

To be considered, applicants must be receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky at the May 9 Commencement Ceremony. Additionally, the applicants must have contributed to UK through campus or

By Gail Hairston

(March 24, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences 2014-2015 Distinguished Professor Lecture Series presentation is slated at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

This year’s distinguished professor, Professor Ana Rueda of Hispanic Studies, presents “Orchestrating War: Dissonances of Modernity in Burlesque Musical Pieces on the 1860 War of Africa.”

The Spanish-Moroccan War, known in Spain as the War of Africa, was a colonial military operation that resulted in the surrender of the city of Teto, the beginnings — and also the death throes — of Spanish colonialism on Moroccan territory in modern times. Spain’s military intervention in Morocco inspired

By Clark Bellar

(March 24, 2015) — University of Kentucky Association of Emeriti Faculty (UKAEF) presented fellowship awards to three UK graduate students at a ceremony Feb. 10. Each award includes a stipend of $2,500.

Since 1996, 59 fellowships have been awarded totaling $84,500. Three or four fellowships are presented annually to full-time graduate students. These awards are made possible through donations from UKAEF members as well as from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund.

This year's UKAEF Fellowship awards are named in honor of Jean Pival, 25-year faculty member in the

By Shane Tedder

(March 24, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Office of Sustainability has partnered with the Student Sustainability Council and the Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment (TFISE) to launch a rejuvenated student sustainability internship program. The partnership is offering six paid internships for undergraduate students in any degree program for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Applications are due by April 24.

Three internships will be mentored by the Office of Sustainability and three will be mentored by working groups of the TFISE. All interns will be expected to work up to 10 hours per week and will be paid $10 per

By Gail Hairston

(March 24, 2015) — University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Year of the Middle East has scheduled three events this week. They are:

“The Arab Spring: The Youth Revolts of the Arab World Aren't Over” with Juan Cole

Tuesday, March 24, 7 p.m.

UK Athletics Association Auditorium, William T. Young Library

The youth revolts of 2011 and after in the Arab world have permanently changed the face of the region. While most observers have mainly interpreted them through the lens of high politics, this lecture argues that the big story here is the rise of a new generation of young Arabs, the Millennials, who have innovated in grassroots organization (including, but not limited to new ways of using social media for politics). It is too soon to know how the political struggles that they initiated will end, but

By Gail Hairston

(March 24, 2015) — Filmmakers Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle visit the University of Kentucky today, Tuesday, March 24, to screen and discuss their film “Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story.”

In a news release about the film, Stephens stated, “MTR (mountaintop renewal) must be stopped in order to ensure a future that includes clean air and water, as well as social justice. Our activist strategy is to switch the metaphor from ‘Earth as mother’ to ‘Earth as lover’ to garner more love and empathy for the mountains. It will take time, but we’ll get there.”

The free event is slated at 2 p.m. today, in the auditorium of William T. Young Library. It is co-sponsored by UK College of Arts and Sciences, American Studies Department,

By Kathy Johnson

(March 20, 2015) — As the 45th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, the newly formed Bluegrass Earth coalition is inviting the public to celebrate sustainability in Lexington throughout March and April.

Bluegrass Earth was initiated by WUKY’s General Manager Tom Godell to bring together environmental groups in Central Kentucky. WUKY is the University of Kentucky's NPR station.

“Having long been a strong advocate of sustainability issues, I saw a need for environmental groups to come together under one umbrella so that they could share resources and have a greater impact with their outreach, education and events,” Godell said.

Bluegrass Earth is promoting multiple events to celebrate environmental sustainability around Earth Day, which is April 22. The first event is the launch

 By Kathy Johnson

(March 20, 2015) — WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  Today he talks to Molly Davis, director of The Arboretum, about the upcoming 2015 Party for the Planet.  The complete schedule of Party for the Planet events is available at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/calendar_events.php.

To listen to the podcast interview from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, visit http://wuky.org/post/party-planet.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each Friday on WUKY 91.3, UK's NPR station.

By Whitney Harder

(March 20, 2015) — Adib Bagh, assistant professor in the departments of mathematics and economics at the University of Kentucky, was recently quoted in a March 16 Wall Street Journal article examining office bracket pools for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.  

Bagh teaches Introduction to Game Theory at UK and applied his expertise to NCAA tournament brackets, saying, “If you really believe that everyone else is following the same rule of thumb…then you have an incentive to deviate from that rule of thumb.”

Even as a game theorist, knowing he could win

By Guy Spriggs

Concussions and brain injury have become topics of social concern in response to controversies involving sports – namely the National Football League. But Tanea Reed, who earned her doctorate from the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has been researching therapeutic interventions in traumatic brain injury since long before concussions became matters of public concern.

While Reed’s research predates popular interest in issues related to traumatic brain injury, she says her interest in this field is a direct result of her time spent working on her doctorate at UK – specifically

By Mike Lynch

(March 19, 2015) — As the anniversary of the most fatal landslide in the history of the continental United States approaches, we are reminded of the importance of evaluating geologic hazards and communicating that information to communities that may be at risk. The Oso landslide occurred March 22, 2014, wiping out a small community near Oso, Washington, and killing 43 people.

"This tragic event can be used to increase awareness, improve communication, and formulate better policy for people living in high hazard areas," said Matt Crawford of the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, landslides occur in all 50 states, causing $

By Lydia Whitman

(March 12, 2015)   The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 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; students in all disciplines and with any intended

By Gail Hairston

(March 11, 2015) — Excerpts from Doug Slaymaker’s translation of Furukawa Hideo’s latest book “Horses, Horses, in the Innocence of Light” will be published on the online journal Words Without Borders today and Thursday.

The publication is in commemoration of the 3.11 earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disasters four years ago today. The book is the account of how one man, one nation endured an unbearable tragedy. Written in reverse chronology, it begins exactly one month after the magnitude 9 underwater earthquake spawned deadly tsunamis and a nuclear power plant meltdown. It is the distillation of a witness’s narrative of a disaster that killed nearly 16,000, moved the main island of Japan eight feet eastward, and shifted the Earth on its axis as much as 10 inches.

By Whitney Harder

(March 10, 2015) — Showcasing undergraduate research in the chemical sciences from across the Commonwealth and surrounding states, the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry will hold its annual Regional Poster Competition Friday, April 17, in combination with its annual Lyle Dawson Lecture, and is accepting submissions for abstracts for the competition until April 10.

The competition, which does not require a registration fee, provides an opportunity for undergraduates to share their chemistry research, network with other undergraduate researchers in the region, and compete for monetary prizes.

First

By Dorothy Freeman, Clark Bellar

(March 9, 2015) — The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky is hosting "Looking for Light: Chemistry, Art, Story, and Song," the third annual event of the Math, Arts, and Sciences Coalition (M.A.S.C.). This free public event will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the museum in the Singletary Center for the Arts, with a reception to follow.

The event explores the idea of interconnectedness between the arts and sciences and features a collaborative mixed media performance by vocalist and UK doctoral student Shareese Arnold, Lexington-based artist

By Gail Hairston and Doug Slaymaker

(March 6, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Japan Studies Program presents the documentary 『ほんとうの歌』 ("True Songs") March 11. The event coincides with the fourth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake/tsunami/nuclear power plant meltdown in Northern Japan.

The documentary will be screened with free admission at 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Kentucky Theatre on Main Street, downtown Lexington. 

“True Songs” follows the performances of a dramatic reading of the late Kenji Miyazawa’s “Milky Way Railroad” by several of Japan’s outstanding artists. These include the novelist