LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 8, 2014) — A "¡Viva México!" event at the University of Kentucky will celebrate Latin American residents of Appalachia on Saturday evening, with a concert by the Latin-Appalachian roots band Appalatin, followed by the debut of a community-based theatrical performance titled "Las Voces de los Apalaches."

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in the Worsham Theater at the UK Student Center. The staged reading of "Las Voces de los Apalaches" starts at 8:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by UK's Appalachian Center and College of Arts and Sciences.

Appalatin plays roots music bridging Latin American and Appalachian folk traditions. The six-member band uses all-acoustic instrumentation,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 4, 2014) — Alex Brooks, a book conservator and faculty member at theGaines Center for the Humanities at the University of Kentucky, has been selected as an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 30 seminars and institutes supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

The NEH is a federal agency that, each summer, supports enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities and cultural institutions, so that faculty can work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.

Brooks is one of 16 educators who will participate in a seminar titled "Tudor

Video By Chanel Friday, UK Public Relations and Marketing Intern. 

by Kody Kiser, Amy Jones-Timoney, Chanel Friday

(April 3, 2014) — A popular on–campus resource for students is celebrating a major birthday. 

UK’s Writing Center, located in The Hub @ WT’s, turned 30 years old during the 2013-14 academic year.  Over the last three decades, graduate and undergraduate peer consultants have assisted thousands of students, faculty and staff in creating essays, reports, slide show presentations and videos at no charge. 

UK marked the milestone with a special reception Wednesday, March 5, 2014. The program began with speakers who shared the Writing Center’s history and

by Gail Hairston

(April 2, 2014) - The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees greatly enhanced the education of its liberal arts students yesterday with two programs that will greatly impact their communication skills – a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing curriculum within the Department of English and a new Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies.

With realistic aspirations to be among the nation’s best programs by 2020, the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of English will offer its students a full-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing this fall. Modeled after some of the finest graduate-level creative writing programs in the nation, UK’s curriculum will be taught by a faculty of prominent award-

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2014) — Tearing down the walls of diversity is a task that requires one to think outside of the box. 'Boxes and Walls' is hosted by CATalyst, which has teamed up with six other organizations to build a multicultural museum for students to explore.

The exhibits are designed to personalize the struggle of tearing down these walls of oppression and to educate attendees on the impact of this persecution over time.

Keeping with this year's theme, "Oppression through Time," participating organizations are building their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.

Alexis Asamoah, president of the African Student Association, says that she hopes their exhibit will take attendees back in time.

“We would like students to understand the effects of colonization through an interactive

by Gail Hairston, Rob Theakston 

(March 25, 3014) -- The University of Kentucky Late Night Film Series hosts award-winning filmmaker, author and community activist dream hampton, who will be presenting an exclusive director's cut of her current documentary "Transparent" at 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, at the University of Kentucky Worsham Theater. Admission is free.

"Transparent" is the story of Shelly Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman living in Detroit who was brutally murdered. "Transparent" follows Hilliard's family and friends as they struggle to search for closure and tell the story of her life. The project is in its final phases and the Late Night Film Series will present a rough cut followed by a question and answer session with hampton, who prefers her name appear in lower case letters. A reception at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2014) ­― As part of the year-long Viva Mexico program, University of Kentucky Libraries and the UK College of Arts and Sciences will host a speaker on “Mexico on the Digital Frontier: Creating Access in Archives and Libraries.” Linda Arnold, professor emerita of history at Virginia Tech University, will speak on the topic at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library on UK’s campus. A reception will follow in the Little Library foyer.

Arnold spent 29 years at Virginia Tech, where she developed and taught more than a dozen undergraduate writing-intensive courses, and directed nearly 30 undergraduate independent studies.  She was a pioneer in digital history who,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 18, 2014) — The quickly approaching deadline for submission of original manuscripts to the 2014 Dantzler fiction and Farquhar poetry contests is 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26. The event is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English. 

The contest is for University of Kentucky undergraduate students only. The winning prize in each category is $250. Fiction entries are limited to 3,000 words. Poetry entries are limited to five poems or three manuscript pages.

The Department of English has presented the Dantzler and Farquhar awards annually since 1953. Many of the winners have gone on to have successful literary careers.

Paper manuscripts should be submitted to Professor Gurney Norman, Department of English, University of Kentucky,

by Whitney Harder

(March 7, 2014) – Two University of Kentucky women who profoundly contribute to issues that affect women at the university and across the Commonwealth received the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award yesterday during a luncehon ceremony at the UK Student Center. Meg Marquis, staff, and Elisia Cohen, faculty, received the 2014 Holmes Award.

The award recognizes one female faculty member and one female staff member who promote growth and well-being of women at the university and across Kentucky. Created by the UK Women’s Forum, the Sarah Bennett Holmes Awards have been among the most esteemed recognitions bestowed at UK and brings recognition for efforts that might otherwise go unnoticed.  

Meg Marquis, director of Student Services for the 

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 6, 2014) — The University of Kentucky’s King Library Press is sponsoring a lecture and workshop with Kathleen Walkup, director of the nation's first master's program for book art and creative writing, focusing on the work of mid-century women printers. The UK Special Collections Library will host, "Because Nobody Stopped Us: Women Printers at Mid-Century," for its 2014 Spring Book Arts Weekend beginning 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

4Walkup is a

by Whitney Harder

(Feb. 28, 2014) – Nominations for the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award are in and a total of 26 women will be acknowledged at the Holmes Award Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Frank Harris Grand Ballroom of the UK Student Center. Two of the 26 women who profoundly contribute to issues that affect women at the University of Kentucky and across the Commonwealth will be chosen as the 2014 award recipients.

Created by the UK Women’s Forum, the Sarah Bennett Holmes Awards have been among the most esteemed recognitions bestowed at UK. The award recognizes one female faculty member and one female staff member who promote

On January 23, seven writers were inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. One inductee, James Baker Hall, was a previous member of our English department and was much beloved and well respected as a poet. Other inductees included Rebecca Caudill, Thomas D. Clark, Janice Holt Giles, Etheridge Knight, Thomas Merton, and Jesse Stuart.

Read more here.

by Derrick Meads

(Jan. 15, 2014) — Although it is Viva México in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World initiative, very few students choose to study there.

To open opportunities for international study in Mexico, a delegation of faculty from UK, Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) and Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) visited Oaxaca, Mexico to review Sol Education Abroad (an affiliate education abroad partner of UK). Led by UK Education Abroad, the faculty members also assessed health and safety concerns and engaged with faculty at Oaxaca’s academic

by Keith Hautala

(Jan. 15, 2014) — A one-day symposium at the University of Kentucky will showcase the role of professional writing in the rise of the craft beer industry.

"Craft Writing: Beer, The Digital, and Craft Culture," presented by the Division of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in the Center Theater of the UK Student Center. The symposium will include presentations by prominent, well-regarded brewers and professional writers from the craft beer industry.

The keynote speaker will be Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster, editor of "The Oxford Companion to Beer," author of "The Brewmaster’s Table," and a regular contributor to "All About Beer."

Craft beer, comprising smaller breweries with annual production of less than six

video courtesy of UK Public Relations & Marketing

article by Jenny Wells

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2013) — In addition to research presentations, the 2014 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) will offer numerous volunteer opportunities for the entire campus community when the University of Kentucky hosts the conference April 3-5, 2014. From helping direct traffic, to managing technology, to just helping students find where they need to go, there will be a variety of positions available to students, faculty and staff.

Students will have even more flexibility to get involved, as the University Senate has given permission for faculty to redirect their classes April 3 and 4 so students can attend conference events and presentations. 

"

by Nathan Owen

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2013) — The University of Kentucky’s Appalachian Center, in collaboration with the Appalachian Media Institute, will provide a glimpse into Appalachia through a showcase of young filmmakers’ documentaries.

The event takes place at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, in Room 106 of the Whitehall Classroom Building. Representatives from AMI’s Summer Documentary Institute will screen three self-produced documentaries, each around 10 minutes long.

by Cheyenne Hohman

Publishing audio and video to support and feature academic content is fairly commonplace in universities and colleges these days, but higher learning institutions haven’t always shared so freely. Many have eased their attitudes on intellectual property in recent years, recognizing that sharing information may be more important than hoarding it. Some have gone so far as to add Creative Commons licenses to their work, so that they can be used for educational, collaborative or derivative purposes.

A decade ago, web technologies didn’t support fast, high-quality audio or video, and the term “podcast” wasn’t in the vernacular just yet.  As technology has developed and technological infrastructure has continued to grow, the potential for posting and sharing media files has grown along with it. In the

by Keith Hautala

A one-hour documentary exploring the history of one of Lexington's most diverse neighborhoods will have a special advance screening at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the University of Kentucky's William T. Young Library auditorium.

"Davis Bottom: Rare History, Valuable Lives" reveals the fascinating history of a working-class neighborhood established in Lexington after the Civil War. Davis Bottom is one of about a dozen ethnic enclaves settled primarily by African-American families who migrated to Lexington from the 1860s to the 1890s in search of jobs, security and opportunity. 

The documentary is part of the Kentucky Archaeology and Heritage Series, produced by Voyageur Media Group, Inc. for the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and the Kentucky Heritage Council. The series is distributed by Kentucky Educational Television (KET) to

by Sarah Geegan & Grace Liddle

 The College of Arts and Sciences is offering 13 courses that begin in the middle of the fall 2013 semester. For students who may have recently dropped a class or hope to pick up some extra credit hours, these courses provide flexibility after the regular registration period.

Course topics range from the science of what we eat, archaeology and history of ancient Mexico, an introductory course on the city of Lexington, and a study on the culture and economics of local and global food systems.

The "Global Food & Local Agriculture" course explores questions associated with why people eat what they do and what that implies about society. To answer these questions, the class