By Erin Holaday Ziegler
University of Kentucky English professor Frank X Walker is not one to sit still. And the new director of both the African American Studies & Research and the Africana Studies Programs doesn't expect his students to either.
"I'd really like to make this a strong travel study program," Walker said of the newly combined African American & Africana studies minor in the College of Arts & Sciences. "And not just
By Rebekah Tilley
“Last summer I was in Budapest briefly locked in a gypsy’s apartment while she tried to extort more money from me, and had a great time…” said Joe Nickell, as if he were describing a weekend at the lake. He is a man with many interests – over 200 “personas” are listed on his personal website including folksinger, stage magician, and séance conductor. His current title is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and investigative columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. However, he identifies himself simply as a writer.
“Writer seemed the one thing that complimented my insatiable curiosity,” said the author, co-author or editor of over 30 books. “The reason through so many interests and activities that I’ve held it all together – I
by Colleen Glenn
Patience is a virtue. Just ask Ginny Carney. An alum of the English Department, Carney is now President of Leech Lake Tribal College in Minnesota. But she didn’t get there overnight.
Carney, who is Cherokee Indian, was raised in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. The oldest of five children, Carney grew up without electricity (no phone or TV), indoor plumbing, or transportation. “As achildgrowing up in an isolated mountain region of East Tennessee, I assumed that everyone shared our worldview,” she recalls.
But all of the time she spent not watching television led Carney to become a voracious reader, and the more she read, the more she soon learned about cultures other than her own.
Disturbed by the disparaging views many authors held of Appalachian people as well as the stereotypical beliefs regarding American Indians, she vowed
Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media professor Adam Banks sits down with Renee Shaw on KET's Connections to talk about digital communications, models of Black leadership, new media platforms, and what this means for minorities facing the Digital Divide. His second book, Digital Griots: African American Rhetoric in a Multimedia Age, develops a specific approach to teaching writing rooted in African-American rhetorical traditions and was published by Southern Illinois University Press's Studies in Writing and Rhetoric series. Watch the full interview here.
by Erin Holaday Ziegler
The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences has chosen the following professors as new department chairs: associate professor Deborah Crooks, Department of Anthropology; associate professor Jeff Clymer, Department of English (to begin spring 2012; associate professor of English Marion Rust will be interim chair of the Department of Anthropology for the fall 2011-2012 year); associate professor Karen Petrone, Department of History; professor David Leep, Department of Mathematics; professor
By Whitney Hale
The Gypsy Poetry Slam, now in its sixth year as part of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, to showcase the works of not only local poets, but also those from across the nation. As part of the event, headlined by noted poet Krista Franklin, the conference will also feature a new award. The Faith A. Smith Poetry Prize, established by Kentucky poet Frank X Walker, will be awarded to the winner of this year's slam to be held 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, at the Downtown Arts Center. The slam is free and open to the public.
Frank X Walker, co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets and
by Erin Holaday Ziegler
A renowned Kentucky writer and University of Kentucky English professor was recently honored in a southern writing magazine for his creativity in the classroom.
The Oxford American: The Southern Magazine of Good Writing named associate professor of English in the College of Arts & Sciences Frank X Walker to its list of "The Most Creative Teachers in the South" for the fall issue.
"People have a monolithic stereotype of Appalachia that is more of a caricature," Walker said in his interview with Oxford American. "They think of Boss Hogg or 'The
By Erin Holaday Ziegler
In honor of her years as the University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences writer-in-residence and her new book, "The Girl in the Blue Beret," A&S Dean Mark Lawrence Kornbluh is hosting a reading and reception for Bobbie Ann Mason from 3:30-5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the The Art Museum in the Singletary Center for the Arts.
Mason will begin the reading at 4 p.m., with a Q&A to follow.
“Bobbie Ann Mason is a true Kentucky treasure. She represents the best of the Commonwealth and stands tall as an exceptional role model for all our students," Kornbluh said. "Her most recent work, 'The Girl in the Blue
story by Guy Spriggs
English professor and writer-in-residence Erik Reece has expressed his views on the coal industry and energy policy in Kentucky in such works as his 2006 book “Lost Mountain.” He also believes the University of Kentucky has an opportunity to effect positive change and become a more energy-responsible institution.
Reece understands the influence of coal in Kentucky, but feels that the effects coal has on Kentucky’s environment and local economies are largely overlooked. “It’s a very cheap source of energy because there’s so much of it, but the problem is that people aren’t factoring in the true cost of coal,” Reece said. “We’re not paying for the externalities in terms of all the dirty
At age seven, Peyton Fouts,’06, wanted to change the world. And he’s been working toward that goal since.
At that young age, he saw a girl on TV carrying one brother and dragging another (who was dead) by the hand in the sand. “She had been orphaned by AIDS and my heart broke. I knew I wanted to change their circumstances and I just kept seeing people around the world who needed help.”
Fouts, a Lexington, Ky., native, grew up in a family of six children. The son of a teacher (mother) and lawyer (father), he has an older sister and four younger brothers.
When Fouts graduated high school from Lexington Christian Academy in 2003, he enrolled at the University of Kentucky, earning two degrees in just three years at age 19.
While at the University of Kentucky, Fouts decided to plow through his coursework to graduate early. “I was at UK for three years
Adam Banks, an Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Media in the Department of English continues his efforts to strengthen the Black community in Lexington. Currently, he's involved with the King Mixtape Project taking place at St. Paul AME Church. Read the full story from The Key Newsjournal.
A delegation of six Iraqi professors from the University of Kufa arrived on campus April 2. They are part of the Iraq University Linkages Program, which pairs Iraqi schools with U.S. institutions that can assist with curricular development.
In 2010, the University of Kentucky was one of five U.S. schools selected to receive a 3-year grant for curriculum development in Iraq. UK was paired with the University of Kufa, which is located in Najaf province in southern Iraq.
Other U.S. schools participating in this initiative are Ball State, the University of Cincinnati, Georgia State and Oklahoma State. Each school is partnered with an Iraqi university by the U.S. Department of State, based upon the specific needs of the Iraqi institution. The goals will be
Writing is a way for life for Nikky Finney, a UK English professor and Affrilachian poet. In the March 17 issue of Ace Weekly, Bianca Spriggs writes about Finney. An accomplished writer and professor, Finney has written four books, worked as a professor in the English department for a number of years, and has traveled all over as a presenter and Affrilachian poet.
Head Off and Split, her latest collection of poems and fourth book, is already garnering recognition and a place on the Poetry Foundation's Contemporary Best Sellers list.
You can tell a lot about a girl from the type of barbecue she prefers. So, do the connections between ketchup, mustard or vinegar, collards or corn — carry cultural weight beyond the calories? University of Texas American studies Professor Elizabeth Engelhardt would most likely say yes.
Engelhardt will present the third of the University of Kentucky's Place Matters series, titled "Gathering Wild Greens: Foodways Lessons from Appalachia’s Global Past" at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, March 24 in the John Jacob Niles Gallery. UK English professors Erik Reece and Randall Roorda will participate as discussants in Engelhardt's lecture.
"I want to talk about how our myths of Southern food can get in the way of understanding a much more complicated story of food and culture
A new exhibition of poster art from World War I at the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky examines the use of the art form as a propaganda tool in wartime, while also providing a glimpse into life on the home front during that time. "World War I and the Art of Persuasion," on view through May 8, features rarely exhibited American, French and German war posters drawn from UK Special Collections Library and three private collections. This exhibition is free and open to the public.
The iconic image of Uncle Sam telling Americans "I Want You" is among the most recognizable posters included in the exhibition. Like many, it conveys a simple message with few words and strong graphics. Others, particularly the French posters, offer complex and beautiful imagery. Leading American
by Saraya Brewer
photos by Lee Thomas
Leave it to a graduate student in film studies to hammer out aspects of horror from one of America’s most beloved family Christmas classics. “It’s Christmas film noir,” said Colleen Glenn about "It’s a Wonderful Life." “It’s an extremely dark film.” "It’s a Wonderful Life" is just one of the handful of Jimmy Stewart films that Glenn, a University of Kentucky English Ph.D. candidate with a specialty in film studies, has watched (and re-watched, analyzed, paused, rewound, and watched again) for her dissertation, in which Stewart and other great actors of the mid 20th century –– including Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, and John Wayne –– will each get their own chapter.
“I grew up watching old classic movies on PBS with my family, so I really have my parents to thank for my original interest in film,” Glenn
by Rebekah Tilley
photos by Richie Wireman
For many of us, our freshman year of college is the first transitional step into experiencing the world. As a freshly minted high school graduate, doctoral student Leah Bayens instead spent that first year in the woods reading.
“There is something about that experience that forged in me what was already a deep-seated understanding of the importance of those kinds of rural communities, the importance of not developing everything into suburban enclaves,” explained the Louisville native. “It was a foundational experience for me because of that. It was also my first real foray into understanding farm culture.”
Since that time Bayens has grafted herself into the land, the culture and the nature that surrounds it all. It permeates her graduate research, how she lives her life, and who she is at her core.
Anyone who has ever had doubts about majoring in English – with questions about job prospects or a well-defined career path – should talk to Andrew Crown-Weber.
He was in the same boat when he came to UK, unsure as to where an English degree would lead him – the answer has been, just about anywhere and everywhere.
The Danville native always knew he enjoyed language. Growing up in a house that emphasized reading books over watching cable television, his connection with words has been firmly entrenched. Add in his wide-eyed enthusiasm for knowledge and his varied academic interests, and Crown-Weber found an A&S education to be the perfect launch pad for travel, learning and adventure.
Early on he landed in Jonathan Allison’s class on James Joyce and William Butler Yeats, which led to an opportunity
Frank X Walker - co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, widely published writer, founder of a journal of Affrilachian culture, and recipient of numerous writing and teaching awards - will join the faculty of the University of Kentucky in January 2010. Walker has accepted a position in the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of English, where he will teach in the Creative Writing Program as an associate professor. As he returns to his alma mater, Walker will also bring with him Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture, which he founded in 2007.
“The college is thrilled Frank will be joining the English department and bringing with him expertise in Affrilachia,” said
Katherine Osborne knew UK’s Department of English was the right graduate program for her the moment she met then-DGS Ellen Rosenman during a campus tour.
"She talked about her work, but she was more interested in me,” said Osborne, a Frankfort, Ky., native and graduate of Hanover College in Indiana. “I could tell she was interested in graduate students. That was evident from the get-go. She just completely turned me on to the program.”
Now in her fifth year at UK, Osborne’s interest in 19th-century British literature has flourished under Rosenman’s mentoring. Osborne credits two of Rosenman’s courses—one on George Eliot and the other on material objects in the Victorian age—as the impetus for development of her own dissertation
