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 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 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

· "The Silent Woman," the strange, true tale of a painter who lived with an effigy of an ex-lover and coaxes his scullery maid to play along, by Lydia Blaisdell of Austin, Texas;

· "Sisters/Sistahz," the story of identical twin African-American "sisters/sistahz" who must come to terms with their starkly differing views on black womanhood in America, by 

by: Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(Feb. 2, 2015) — Last week, the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in downtown Lexington held the third annual induction of the Kentucky Writer’s Hall of Fame. The writers recognized in this class include alumni and two former faculty members of the University of Kentucky, as well as the subject of a recent book by University Press of Kentucky.

Created in 2013, the Kentucky Writer's Hall of Fame recognizes Kentucky writers whose work reflects the character and culture of our Commonwealth, and educates Kentuckians about the state’s rich literary heritage.

This year’s inductees have been described as "eloquent, inspirational and

by Sarah Schuetze

Sitting at the front of the room at a seminar table crowded with more students than anyone imagined, professor Francie Chassen-Lopez said, “I always say I have one foot on either side of the border.”

Chassen-Lopez is one of the four instructors teaching Social Theory 600, a graduate seminar called “Transnational Lives.” The professors include Ana Liberato, Cristina Alcalde, and Steven Alvarez—each representing a different discipline and approach to the course. “What makes this so exciting,” Alcalde said, “is we’re all coming at this from different perspectives.”

In many ways,

by Gail Hairston

(Jan. 27, 2015) ‒ From Reverence to Resistance, a series of lectures about Appalachians on film, begins today with “Genre and Jessica Lynch” at 2 p.m. today in William T. Young Library Auditorium.

Stacy Takacs, author of “Terrorism TV,” will discuss how Hollywood can “spin” a war. Her lecture will answer the question “Was West Virginia soldier Jessica Lynch really a female Rambo, and did the military make her a damsel in distress who needed to be saved from Iraqis?”

The next lecture, Hillbilly Horror, is slated Feb. 24, presented by Emily Satterwhite, author of “Dear Appalachia.” The lecture will focus on Appalachian slasher films like “Wrong Turn,” a series of six movies about deformed cannibals hunting in West Virginia.

The last lecture in the series, Goodbye Gauley Mountain, takes place March 24, and welcomes filmmakers Beth

by: Whitney Hale

(Jan. 22, 2015) — Nathan Moore, a University of Kentucky English senior from Louisville, Kentucky, has been selected to present the 21st annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the UK Athletics Auditorium at William T. Young Library. Moore's free public lecture focuses on intersections of African American literature, history and cultural memory.

The Breathitt Lectureship was named for an outstanding UK alumnus who showed an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities, Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. The lectureship is awarded to an

by: Whitney Hale

(Jan. 22, 2015) — A friendship with novelist and new University of Kentucky faculty member Hannah Pittard led to Ann Beattie becoming keynote speaker for the 2015 Kentucky Women Writers Conference. The conference, which runs Sept. 11-12, will follow the publication of Beattie’s next book, "The State We’re In: Maine Stories," in August.

"Ann Beattie is a living legend whom we’ve always wanted to bring to the conference. Professor Pittard’s arrival in Lexington and her experience as Beattie’s student at the University of Virginia made this the perfect year to host Ann,” Conference

by: Whitney Harder

(Jan. 21, 2015) — Six University of Kentucky educators were recently named recipients of the UK Alumni Association 2015 Great Teacher Award.

The recipients are:

by Jenny Wells

(Dec. 17, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Office for Undergraduate Research has presented 17 students with the Oswald Research and Creativity Program awards.

"There is so much high quality research being done by UK undergraduate students," said Diane Snow, director of the Office for Undergraduate Research. "We're very grateful for funding through the Oswald Awards to be able to recognize and reward these exceptional individuals!"

Established in 1964 by then-UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Program encourages research and creative activities by undergraduate students at UK. The objectives of the program are to stimulate creative work by undergraduate students and to recognize individuals who

by Whitney Hale

(Dec. 3, 2014) — Two University of Kentucky students were recently named finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship. Luke Glaser, a 2013 English and Hispanic studies graduate from Louisville, Kentucky, and Grace Trimble, a political science senior and UK Women's Tennis Team member from Winchester, Kentucky, interviewed for the prestigious scholarship that funds graduate study at the

by Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(Nov. 12, 2014) — Now in its 33rd year, the Kentucky Book Fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Frankfort Convention Center. This year’s fair will feature around 200 authors showcasing their most recent books including several authors from the University of Kentucky and University Press of Kentucky (UPK).

Sponsored by The State Journal, and co-sponsored by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, 

By Guy Spriggs

For many high school students, summer is little more than a break from school, offering the chance to relax, travel, or maybe even work at a summer job.

For the talented participants in the Whitney M. Young Scholars Program, the summer of 2014 offered the opportunity to spend two weeks gaining invaluable college experience on UK’s campus as part of a special collaboration between the UK’s Office of Institutional Diversity and the Lincoln Foundation, a Louisville-based institution dedicated to educational enrichment.

Started in 1990 – since becoming the hallmark of the Lincoln Foundation’s educational efforts – the Whitney M. Young Scholars

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 10, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame induction and festivities are slated Friday, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the UK Singletary Center for the Arts.

Honorees include:

2014 ALUMNI INDUCTEES

Her Honor Ethelee Davidson Baxter was born in Jackson, Kentucky, in 1939 and was raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Baxter graduated from Lafayette High School in 1957 and was inducted into the first class of the Lafayette High School Hall of Fame in 1989. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English, speech and drama. While at UK, she was a Wildcat cheerleader, president of the Blue Marlins synchronized swimming team, and a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta

Professor emerita Jane Gentry Vance passed away on Thursday afternoon after a year-long battle with cancer. This is terribly sad news to everyone who knew her or was taught by her, especially her colleagues in the English Department and the Honors Program, where she taught for forty years before retiring in 2013. While this is a dismaying day, it’s also worthwhile to pause and celebrate Jane, and to remember fondly her warmth, her wry humor, her graciousness, and her many accomplishments as a poet and faculty member. 

Jane graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hollins College in 1963, joined the University of Kentucky in 1972, published two books of poetry, a chapbook, and over 100 other poems, and taught creative writing to thousands of students. Always a favorite of her students, Jane won the Alumni Association’s Great Teacher Award. For her poetry, the

By Sarah Schuetze

When Virginia Conn was growing up in LaGrange, Ky., the opening of the town’s first Chinese restaurant warranted a school field trip for lunch. At that time, LaGrange was still growing, and it didn’t offer Conn much exposure to different cultures or people. Through reading, however, Conn’s passion for language and culture began to grow.

This fall, Conn took a new step in pursuing this passion as a graduate student in the Comparative Literature Department at Rutgers University. She hopes her degree will allow her to live and work in different countries, “never settling for too long in any one place,” and it’s that process of adapting that interests Conn.

As an English

One of our English students, Jenny Winstead, was recently awarded one of the top prizes in a photo contest as part of UK’s 1st Annual Water Week.  This was a series of events organized by the TFISE Water Systems working group to engage our community about the critical importance of local, regional and global water supply, water quality and associated issues facing present and future generations..  Contestants were challenged to submit photos that captured the essence of the “celebrate water” theme and conveyed a story or personal connection.  Photos were judged based on several criteria including: 1) connection to Water Week theme; 2) technical quality; 3) interest, 4) creativity, and 5) composition. 

Congratulations Jenny!

Photo Caption: Discovered by early settlers in 1778, Doe Run Creek has given life to herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and

by Gail Hairston 

(Sept. 30, 2014) — More than an “s” has been added since the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science was created in 1908 with only seven faculty members. In fact there was a College of Arts and Science even before the institution was named the University of Kentucky; the institution was called the State University, Lexington, Kentucky (previously Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and State College) until 1916.

In those 106 years, several of today’s largest colleges were birthed from the original College of Arts and Science’s former programs, including today’s College of Education, College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work and College of Fine Arts.

The college grew quickly under the inspiration and commitment of President James Patterson, whose statue now graces the plaza next to