by Jenny Wells, Samantha Ponder
This Wednesday, Oct. 19, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology will celebrate Thomas Hunt Morgan's 150th birthday with a panel discussion titled "Frontiers in Genetics & Genomics." The panel will explore the famous biologist's (and UK alumnus') pioneering work in genetics, his Nobel Prize, and what he might be working on if he were alive today (such as assembling genomes, gene editing and gene drives, gene therapy in medicine, bioethics and big unanswered questions). The celebration will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., in the Farish Theater in the Lexington Public Library on the corner of Main and Limestone. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Born in LexingtonNews
By Gail Hairston
Janice Fernheimer recently added another title to her long list of accomplishments for the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Fernheimer, director of UK’s Jewish Studies Program, was recently awarded the Zantker Charitable Foundation Professorship in Jewish Studies. “We are delighted to support a faculty member whose work embodies a diverse range of study and commitment to Jewish studies,” said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Dr. Fernheimer is most deserving of this professorship and her passion and enthusiasm is evident in the great strides she has made as director of the Jewish Studies Program.” With her academic background and interests, the Zantker Charitable FoundationBy Gail Hairston
A one-day symposium, titled "Black and Blue: Critical Issues in Race and Policing in the U.S.,” is slated 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at the University of Kentucky Helen G. King Alumni House ballroom. The event is hosted by the UK Center for Equality and Social Justice with support from Qualitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research and the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology. The symposium will examine the critical and complex issues about race and policing in the United States from multiple scholarly perspectives. Keith Payne, a social psychologist of the University of North Carolina, is an expert on implicit racism and shooter bias. Justin Nix, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Louisville, conducts research on police fairness and what shapes beliefs in police legitimacy. Anita JonesBy Kody Kiser
“Affrilachia” is the word coined by poet Frank X Walker to signify the importance of the African-American presence in Appalachia, and he's a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. Walker says he has "accepted the responsibility of challenging the notion of a homogeneous all-white literary landscape in this region.”
A native of Danville, Kentucky, Walker is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, currently serves as associate professor in the UK Department of English, and was the 2013-14 poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was founder and executive Director of the Bluegrass Black Arts Consortium, former program director of the UK's Martin Luther King Center and a Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship recipient. He has lectured, conducted workshops, read poetry and exhibited at more than 300 national conferences andBy Samantha Almedia
Two University of Kentucky students received nationwide recognition at Confucius Institute U.S. Center’s inaugural National Honor Gala held Sept. 24.
David Cole and Rachel Lietzow, both members of the UK Honors Program, were acknowledged among eight individuals from across the nation with a People to People Exchange Award for creating cross-cultural connections and initiatives between China and the United States.
"Never have I found myself surrounded by people who I couldn't verbally understand, but I wholeheartedly felt a connection toward," said Cole, honoree and UK senior majoring in English. A native of Monticello, Kentucky, Cole participated
By Gail Hairston
In Akash Kapur’s treatise “The Return of the Utopians,” published in the Oct. 3 issue of The New Yorker magazine, he made liberal reference to University of Kentucky Associate Professor of English Erik Reece’s new book “Utopia Drive.” In “Utopia Drive,” Reece examined the history of a handful of America’s 19th-century utopian settlements and towns in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, New York and Massachusetts, analyzing their histories to find lessons for the present. “One thing we can say about the seductive visionaries who led the utopian movement in America,” Reece wrote, “is that they did not lead the most self-examined lives.” Kapur’s article is an examination of the more frightening
Three UK Sociology faculty members were recognized for their achievements at the 2016 American Sociological Association meeting in Seattle, Wash. Dr. Claire Renzetti, Chair of the Sociology Department, was awarded the Peterson-Krivo Mentoring Award from the Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance and the Section on the Sociology of Law. The award was established to recognize the sustained and innovative work of a distinguished faculty member in the mentorship of undergraduate students, graduate students, and junior scholars in our field. The award committee recognized Dr. Renzetti’s as “a wonderful mentor and an asset to our profession” and they were “especially impressed to learn of the multi-pronged and multi-level reach” of her work.
By Victus V. McDaniel II
Brenna Reinhart Byrd, assistant professor of German studies at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded the Kentucky World Language Association (KWLA) Teacher of the Year Award. She will represent Kentucky at the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) in Orlando, Florida. If Byrd is chosen as the conference teacher of the year, she would represent the southern region at the national conference of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference next fall in Nashville. Byrd has over 15 years of education and teaching experience in the German language. She received her bachelor’s degree in German and a minor in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and both her master’s and doctoral degrees in Germanic linguistics from University of California, Los Angeles, before accepting a
By Jennifer T. Allen
Abby Córdova, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, is spending the fall semester as a Central America Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. Each year the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) selects 10-12 distinguished academics and professionals to spend one or two semesters at Harvard working on their own research and writing projects.
Cordova is focusing her work on “Living in a Hotspot: How Gang Activity in Central American Neighborhoods Impacts Political Participation.”
“This research projects explores the pathways through which gang activity in Central American neighborhoods is affecting the consolidation of democracy in the region. I find
By Caroline Kelsey
This weekend, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology is hosting a one-day open house festival called the BioBonanza. The event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the new Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building, located at 680 Rose St. This free public event will showcase interactive displays on research taking place in biology at UK. "As soon as you walk through the doors you'll see all sorts of activities: displays of how a human heart works, butterflies and all sorts of insects, and you can even try to catch some local insects," said Jennifer Simkin, a postdoctoral student in biology who helped organize the event. "The displays will target high school and middle school
By Jennifer T. Allen
An Arts & Sciences math professor is founding editor-in-chief of a math education blog for the American Mathematical Society focused on providing mathematicians with commentary and resources regarding teaching and learning.
“My reason for starting the blog was to provide a source of high-quality information regarding mathematics teaching and learning for members of the American Mathematical Society, given that there are currently many changes taking place in mathematics education at the post-secondary level,” said Ben Braun, Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kentucky.
Launched in June 2014, the blog has received more than 190,000 unique page views and currently has an editorial board of seven mathematicians located across the U.S. The blog focuses on
By Gail Hairston and Lydia Moore
Women Also Know Stuff with Emily Beaulieu, University of Kentucky associate professor of political science, as well as other initiators were awarded the 2016 Mansbridge Award. Dedicated to promoting the work of women political scientists, Women Also Know Stuff was honored for holding the public accountable for gender equality and inclusion in the political science profession and beyond. This year’s theme of the Jane Mansbridge Awards Committee of the National Women’s Caucus for Political Science honors those who work for public accountability for gender equality and inclusion in the profession andBy Jenny Wells
This weekend, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology will kick off its monthlong celebration of Thomas Hunt Morgan's 150th birthday with two screenings of "The Fly Room," a film based on Morgan's research lab. Alexis Gambis — writer, director and producer of the film — will give opening remarks. The first screening will take place 6-8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan House (210 North Broadway) and the second screening will be held from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, at the Kentucky Theatre (214 E. Main). The event is free and open to the public. These two screenings are part of the monthlong celebration of UK Biology's most famous alumnus and Lexington’s sole Nobel Laureate, Thomas Hunt Morgan. Born in
By Amy Jones-Timoney
While the critics know Hannah Pittard as a talented author, students at the University of Kentucky know her as their teacher.
Pittard, the author of three published novels and one forthcoming, “Atlanta, 1962” (2017), most recently attracted a substantial amount of media attention for "Listen to Me." The UK College of Arts and Sciences assistant professor of English was mentioned in BuzzFeed,
By Dave Melanson
Since the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research's (CAER) earliest of days, the center's investigators have focused on natural products. It is a new class of organic materials, however, that has resulted in a recent round of research funding that will accelerate the plastic electronics revolution. CAER researchers John Anthony and Chad Risko, both faculty members in the UK College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Chemistry, have received four new federal grants totaling nearly $1.4 million to further their exploration of organic materials that show great promise for a wide array of commercial electronics applications. Anthony and Risko received nearly $540,000 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Designing Materials to Revolutionize and
By Gail Hairston
The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will hold its Hall of Fame Ceremony Oct. 7 to induct four new members — Karl “Kip” Cornett, a 1977 alumnus and founder of Cornett; Sally Mason, a 1972 alumna and former president of the University of Iowa; Robert Ireland, an emeriti faculty of history; and Judith Lesnaw, an emeriti faculty of biology. The college’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony and reception will be held at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, in the UK Academic Science Building, located at 680 Rose St. Cornett was born in Hazard, Kentucky, and graduated from UK in 1977. Seven years later, he founded Cornett, an advertising firm that has become one of the leading agencies in the region. During his years at the university, Cornett was president of Theta Chi Fraternity, vice president of the StudentBy Bryant Welbourne
Two University of Kentucky students are among 28 students from Southeastern Conference universities who will study abroad during the 2016-17 academic year, the result of a contribution to the league by Dr Pepper. In 2015, the SEC corporate sponsor allocated $100,000 to the conference to provide study abroad opportunities for SEC students who excel in the classroom, demonstrate financial need and represent nontraditional study abroad participants. Shazia Olivares, a sophomore poltical science major from Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Jevincio Tooson, a dietetics major from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, are the UK recipients of the awards. Olivares plans to study in Spain and Tooson will study in Italy. “We are enthused to expand upon the SEC’s commitment to education by giving deserving students a chance to study abroad through the SECU
On October 1, 2016, the University of Kentucky Department of Biology is hosting BioBonanza, a one-day open house festival.
BioBonanza will be held at the new Academic Science Building at 680 Rose Street on Saturday, October 1 from noon to 4 pm. Free parking is available in the parking garage on Hilltop Avenue, next to the Academic Science Building.
This free event will showcase interactive displays on research taking place in biology at UK. “As soon as you walk through the doors you’ll see all sorts of activities: displays of how a human heart works, butterflies and all sorts of insects, and you can even try to catch some local insects,” said Jennifer Simkin, a postdoc in biology who helped organize the event. “The displays will target high school and middle school students, but we’re going to have activities for people of all ages, so we welcome families.
By Gail Hairston
With the notable exception of the southeast, craft beers have flooded most regions of the country in the past decade. Microbreweries, craft brews and brewpubs, large and small, have challenged the way Americans drink and think about beer. Once regarded as a product created exclusively by traditionalists and hobbyists for self-consumption, craft beer has become one of the fastest-growing segments of alcoholic beverage sales in the United States. According to the Brewers Association, which calls itself “a passionate voice for craft brewers,” craft beer provides over 108,000 jobs, and many of the breweries and brewpubs have, in turn, helped revitalize city neighborhoods, generated new jobs in related industries, and played a key role in expanding digital and social media usage.
It’s been 21 years since Robin Cooper started working in the department of biology in the University of Kentucky College of Arts & sciences. It’s been 130 years since Thomas Hunt Morgan, Kentucky’s first Nobel Laureate, graduated from what is now called UK. What do they have in common? They used the same research organisms: fruit flies and crayfish.
“Thomas Hunt Morgan went on for graduate work and he was awarded the Nobel Prize, working with Drosophila [fruit flies] as a model organism. A lot of people don’t realize though, some of his first work was actually on regeneration in crustaceans,” Cooper said. “The power of genetics allows us to work with the Drosophila and do things really you can’t do with any other organism. Because of rapid development, you can manipulate genes really quickly and test out many different aspects from behavior to how the neuro circuits are