By Kathy Johnson, Gail Bennett

(March 2, 2015) — Today, Monday, March 2, WUKY will broadcast a recording of the induction ceremony of the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame and comments by renowned writer Wendell Berry, the first living writer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  On January 28, Berry was honored as well as gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005), University of Kentucky Professor Guy Davenport (1927-2005), Affrilachian poet Effie Waller Smith (1879-1960), New York Review of Books co-founder Elizabeth Hardwick (1916-2007) and Western Kentucky University Professor Jim Wayne Miller (1936 -1996).

The recording of the event will air at 7 p.m. today on WUKY 91.3, the University

By Whitney Harder

(March 2, 2015) — Three University of Kentucky Army ROTC alumni and community leaders were honored last week with induction into the UK Army ROTC Wall of Fame. Inductees included  Lt. Col. (retired) Keith Jackson, Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services chief; attorney Pierce Hamblin; and Maj. (retired) Marty Pinkston.  

At the UK Army ROTC annual Mentorship Breakfast Thursday, Feb. 26, cadets, UK Army ROTC leadership and guests gathered to praise the men for their contributions in the United States Army and to the UK community. Inductees also shared their experiences as soldiers and UK Army ROTC cadets, and offered words of wisdom to current cadets.  

"They served during their military career with confidence, commitment and

By Clark Bellar

(March 2, 2015) — On March 3, the Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky and the Department of English will host a talk by Eugenia Zuroski Jenkins, titled "How Chinese Things Became Oriental." The presentation will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday, in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

Following the presentation, there will be a Q&A session as well as refreshments.

Jenkins is an associate

By Whitney Harder

(March 2, 2015) — Many agree that an environment can shape the learner, and in a field like mathematics, an environment that fosters active learning and engaged teaching with no appointment necessary may be the key to success for some students. That environment has been on the University of Kentucky campus in some capacity for many years, but was recently upgraded for present-day students in math courses; encouraging them to take a seat, or move around with mobile workspaces; raise their hand for a tutor, or work on their own; open their laptops, or write on one of many chalkboards.

With new renovations completed over the winter break, the UK Mathskeller is ready to unveil those and other features at an open house from 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, (

By Whitney Harder

(March 2, 2015) — Featuring world-renowned scientists, the University of Kentucky’s 2015 Naff Symposium will host three prize-winning chemistry experts Friday, March 6, at the William T. Young Library's UK Athletics Auditorium. A poster session will be held in conjunction with the symposium in Room B108C at William T. Young Library.

Presented by the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, the chemistry and molecular biology symposium is interdisciplinary in nature, and is attended by students and faculty in the chemistry, biochemistry, biology, pharmacy, engineering, agriculture and medical fields from UK, as well as other colleges and universities in Kentucky and surrounding states.

The symposium was established in honor of

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 27, 2015) — Thirty-five students from Lafayette, Scott County, Atherton and Eastern high schools visit the University of Kentucky campus on Saturday to immerse themselves in the Japanese culture and to compete in the Kentucky Japan Bowl®.

The Japan Bowl is a franchised quiz competition for high school students studying Japanese. The competition challenges the students’ knowledge of the Japanese language and culture.

“We are hoping that students will enjoy this event and get motivated to study Japanese even more,” said Atsushi Hasegawa, assistant professor of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

Hosted by UK Japan Studies, the Kentucky Japan Bowl is the regional version of the national

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 26, 2015) — The Center for Women and Families (CWF) will honor five Women of Distinction tonight at the center's 28th Annual Celebration of Service and Survival at Churchill Downs in Louisville. One of those outstanding women is Carol Jordan, executive director of the University of Kentucky Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women.

“The Center for Women and Families has been recognizing outstanding women in the community through the Women of Distinction Award since 1988,” said CWF’s CEO Marta Miranda. “An individual honored as a Woman of Distinction has given a lifetime of professional and/or volunteer services that has left an indelible mark on the Kentuckiana community.”

“Women of Distinction have made significant contributions to education, health care, civil rights, the arts, human services,

By Whitney Harder

(Feb. 26, 2015) — While the many new facilities being constructed on the University of Kentucky campus are utilizing cutting edge green building techniques, some of these advances can also be used to illuminate the charm of existing buildings. This is the case with Breckinridge Hall, an 85-year old building that recently received a complete overhaul of its lighting system.

Britney Thompson, the energy engineer for the UK Campus Physical Plant Division and project lead for the Breckinridge Hall lighting upgrade, believes it is the first building on UK’s campus to get a full LED retrofit. This upgrade in Breckinridge Hall will drastically reduce energy use, improve the quality

By Whitney Harder

(Feb. 26, 2015) — Melissa Keinath, a graduate student in the University of Kentucky Department of Biology, has been awarded a Genome 10K fellowship to attend the 2015 Genome 10K Conference and present her research poster, "Characterization of a Large Vertebrate Genome Using Shotgun and Laser Capture Chromosome Sequencing." The conference will take place March 1-5 in Santa Cruz, California.

A relatively exclusive event, the Genome 10K Conference will explore critical topics essential for assembling a "genomic zoo" of some 10,000 vertebrate species. The zoo will help understand how complex animal life evolved through changes in DNA and create a resource for worldwide conservation efforts.

Working with Department of Biology Professor

By Yan Wang

(Feb. 26, 2015) — Students from the African Students Association (ASA) at the University of Kentucky recently gathered in the Student Center to participate in a photography project to raise awareness of stereotypes about Africa.

“We organize this event to help the UK community become aware that Africa is not a continent of just poverty,” said Bill Kofi Aboagye, president of UK African Students Association.

About 20 to 30 students participated in the event. Students were holding signs with quotes like "Africa is not a country," "I do not speak African," and "Africa is not filled with diseases."

Aboagye said a lot of students at UK have little knowledge about Africa.

“Many times when you run into people who do not have a lot of information about

By Mariah Rhodes

(Feb. 26, 2015) — A symposium this week at the University of Kentucky will explore the experience of Jewish Refugees in China, who fled east to escape Nazi persecution before and during World War II. "Taking in Strangers: Comparing Asian and Jewish Moral Traditions" will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, in the UK Athletics Auditorium in William T. Young Library. The symposium is free and open to the public.

In conjunction with the traveling exhibition, "Jewish Refugees in Shanghai (1933-1941)," which is on display through March 4, in Young Library, the UK Confucius Institute and UK Libraries have teamed up with UK's

By Whitney Harder

(Feb. 24, 2015) – Ingrid Daubechies, the first female full professor of mathematics at Princeton and first woman president of the International Mathematical Union, will deliver the 2015 van Winter Memorial Lecture in Mathematical Physics at the University of Kentucky Thursday, Feb. 26.

Her lecture, "The Master's Hand: Can Image Analysis Detect the Hand of the Master?" will take place from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in Room 155 of the Chemistry-Physics Building.

Daubechies, the James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics at Duke University, will describe wavelets, a mathematical tool used for the analysis and compression of images (including for digital cinema). She will also explain

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 16, 2015) — The Lexington NAACP continues to make history by co-sponsoring events at the University of Kentucky Martin Luther King Center.

The civil rights organization is supporting the center’s January and February Soup & Substance programs, a monthly public discussion group that typically debates a current event.

On Jan. 15, the Lexington NAACP co-sponsored the successful Martin Luther King Jr. Silent March and Vigil. On Feb. 19, the event will focus on cultural segregation, the second part of a Soup & Substance discussion held in November. The continuation of the discussion was not initially planned, but was scheduled because “attendees overwhelmingly asked us to continue, and the Lexington NAACP generously offered to sponsor,” said

By Yan Wang

(Feb. 23, 2015) — A panel discussion about Cuba and U.S. relations will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the UK Athletics Association Auditorium in Young Library.

“We have such an incredible variety of perspectives and areas of expertise across the UK community, and the shift in US-Cuba relations is an ideal opportunity to let faculty, staff and students benefit from that expertise,” said Susan Carvalho, associate provost for internationalization, interim associate provost and dean of the graduate school and moderator of the panel discussion. “I know that the discussion will be enlightening for all of us, as we re-examine our own views, as well as broaden our understanding of alternative viewpoints.”

The panel discussion will focus on Cuba and U.S. relations and the U.S. Cuba embargo. Panelists include:

By Amy Jones-Timoney, Kelli Elam, Kodi Kiser, Whitney Harder

(Feb. 23, 2014) — Basketball players weren't the only ones in the spotlight at Rupp Arena this weekend.  

On Saturday, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association presented its 2015 Great Teacher Awards to six recipients at a recognition dinner.  The award-winners were then recognized on the court of Rupp Arena during the Kentucky vs. Auburn men’s basketball game.

The recipients are:

•  Sameer Desai, College of Medicine, Emergency Medicine

•  Pearl James, College of Arts and Sciences, English

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 19, 2015) ‒ The University of Kentucky Muslim Student Association, an organization with a sustained 43-year history on campus, was honored last week at a reception hosted by President Eli Capilouto at Maxwell House, the university president’s official campus home.

“The idea behind the reception was to make a statement to the Muslim students and faculty at UK that they are welcome here and also to make a statement to the UK community that UK's commitment to diversity includes Muslims,” said the student organization’s faculty adviser Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

In December, UK President Eli Capilouto contacted Bagby, an expert on the American Muslim community,

By Sarah Schuetze

Traveling on the winding roads through the mountains of West Virginia, six people quickly realize that the mountains and the mountain folk are their worst nightmare. This is the premise for the film Wrong Turn, which is an example of “hillbilly horror” and a derogatory portrayal of Appalachia in popular culture.

Images of Appalachia and Appalachians in popular media range from idyllic to horrifying, and this semester, students in Professor Carol Mason’s course, Gender, Film, and Appalachia will examine this range of representation. The class is offered for credit through both the American Studies Program and the

By Whitney Harder

(Feb. 13, 2015) — In any given program and semester, college students are leaving the classroom, and often times campus, to get a glimpse of the professional world or their future career by interning. What isn't as common are high school students going to a college campus every day to get that same experience, but for STEAM students interning at the University of Kentucky, that's just what they did.

"Most high schools give you one perspective of how the real world is, but in an internship like this, you get to really experience it," said Gaby Carreno, a sophomore at the STEAM Academy who has been interning with the Hive, the UK College of Arts and

By Whitney Hale

(Feb. 12, 2015) — An exhibition and symposium at the University of Kentucky will explore the experience of Jewish refugees in China. The traveling exhibit, "Jewish Refugees in Shanghai (1933-1941)," which is on display through March 4 in William T. Young Library, chronicles the story of thousands of European Jews who fled to China to escape Nazi persecution before and during World War II.  An opening reception for this free public exhibition will be held noon today (Thursday), Feb. 12, at The Hub in Young Library.

"It's a great opportunity for us to be able to host this historically significant exhibit," said Jeremy Popkin, the William T. Bryan Chair of History and faculty member of UK's Jewish

UK’s annual Cultural Diversity Festival, which celebrates the diversity of thought, experiences, and culture of our campus community, will take place from February 16 through March 13.

The Cultural Diversity Festival is now accepting event submissions from student organizations, campus units, departments and colleges. 

Submitting your event as part of the CDF will include it on the CDF calendar and promotional efforts throughout the month-long celebration. If your organization is interested in being a part of the festival, complete the event submission form.

"Groups and organizations across campus have events and programs every day that reflect the diversity we embrace on our campus.  This month