Every first Friday of the month, UK College of Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Working Group hosts a networking forum for faculty, students, staff, and members of the community, including sustainability advocates, growers, business owners, market managers, chefs, etc. (see http://www2.ca.uky.edu/safs/ for more information). It is our hope that through our speakers, we’ll be able to start some lively discussions and maybe get some project ideas flying. Download the flier.

For this month’s First Friday on November 4, we have invited a panel of 3 A&S faculty members to talk about: “Does Culture Matter in Sustainable Agriculture?” 

First Friday: November 4

7:30 am - 9:30am

E.S. Good Barn

A Panel Discussion: Does Culture Matter in Sustainable Agriculture?

Jeff Rice, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, UK Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media

Ann Kingsolver, Ph.D.

Director, UK Appalachian Center

Doug Slaymaker, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Japanese, UK Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

In recent years, "cultural sustainability" has been increasingly emphasized in the literature of sustainable agriculture as the fourth leg of sustainability (three legs are economic, ecological, and social sustainability). Books and documentary films which emphasize the need for localizing food economy and making agriculture more sustainable have become very popular. One can argue the idea of "sustainability " has become part of the lexicon that reflects and shapes our lifeworld and everyday practices. Through a lively debate on the question of “culture”, we hope to inquire the notion of "cultural sustainability" and explore opportunities for collaboration among faculty in Ag and A&S colleges.

A breakfast of locally-produced foods will be served starting at 7:30 a.m. There is no charge for the breakfast, but donations will be accepted gladly to help offset the costs a bit. The program will begin at 8:15 and last until 9:30 a.m. If you need to leave before 9:30, please come anyway.

Come meet Gurney Norman, a beloved Kentucky writer and professor in English.  Bring your lunch and your questions.  Hear him talk about his life as a writer and a teacher. 

Come learn about Sigma Tau Delta (English Honors Society)--what it is, whether or not you are eligible to join, and what you stand to gain by joining.  Meet current officers and faculty sponsors.  Meet other members, join, and get involved.

This Thursday at 6:00pm in room 249 in the Student Center (by the Credit Union), the Student Activities Board will be hosting the fourth installment of the James Baker Hall Writer Series. Come explore careers in writing through a panel discussion with Buck Ryan, Laura Ungar, Marc Jennings, and Rob Theakston! The evening will also include free refreshments.

For more information, please see the Facebook page or contact Shannon Ruhl at culturalarts@uksab.org.

About the panel:

Buck Ryan, director of the Citizen Kentucky Project at the University of Kentucky’s Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, is a tenured associate professor of journalism at UK’s School of Journalism and Telecommunications. He won the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2003 after serving eight years as director of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. Ryan is the creator of the Maestro Concept, an innovative approach to story planning, writing and newsroom organization for newspapers, which debuted in a video and report to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1993, and has since reached audiences worldwide. Ryan has written three books Writing Baby, Editing Dog & You: A Friendly Place to Begin Improving Your Writing, The Editor’s Toolbox, A Reference Guide for Beginners and Professionals, an editing textbook with co-author Michael O’Donnell; and Wordwise, a language skills guide, also with O’Donnell. Ryan has produced four Kentucky Educational Television programs, including “Citizen Kentucky/Citizen China: Hope for a New Century,” “Beyond O.J.: A Public Journalism Forum on Domestic Violence,” “More Than Free Speech,” and “Citizen Kentucky: Democracy and the Media” which won a national Telly Award in 2002 for public affairs programming. Ryan also has more than 12 years of newspaper experience, working for the Niagara Falls Gazette, the Buffalo Evening News, and the Chicago Tribune.



Laura Ungar is the medical writer at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, a position she has held since 2004. She was born and raised in Connecticut and has been a journalist for 21 years, previously working as a reporter at The Hartford (Conn.) Courant and The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal. She has written major projects on cervical cancer in India, Kentucky's poor health, the prescription drug abuse crisis and cancer in Delaware, and has won more than 20 national, regional and local awards for her work -- as well the international Croly award for the India project. She also freelances, and has been published in The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.



Marc Jennings grew up in New York and Louisville, Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, he has worked in publishing for Prentice-Hall and F&W Publications, the publisher of Writer’s Digest books; for three advertising/marketing companies; and in public relations for the American Heart Association. He has written ads, collateral materials and press releases; TV and radio spots, which he also produced, cast and directed; book jacket copy; Web content; and newspaper and magazine articles. Writing assignments have taken him to explore the history of a house as old as the Constitution, behind the scenes at the Kentucky Speedway, and to the Gulf Coast for the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina. Jennings is now a freelance writer and editor in Oldham County, Kentucky.



Prior to his current job as Assistant Director for Events and Marketing at the UK Student Center, Rob Theakston was an Associate Editor for All Music Guide (allmusic.com) for seven years. His work has been published in URB, XLR8R, Big Idea Magazine, several other places with acronyms, and Detroit Free Press. He currently is a Senior Resident Advisor at the William C. Calcutt Foundation for Mapping and Metaphor Research and the 2009 recipient of the Joseph A. Talia Award.