A Centennial Celebration for Geek Week 2008
It will be raining brains as the College of Arts and Sciences kicks off the fourth annual Geek Week, to be held Feb. 18–22. At noon Feb. 18, come to the Main Building Plaza for a chance to win an iPod shuffle by catching one of the specially marked rubber brains to be dropped from the Main Building in a "brainstorm." Everyone can also enjoy musical entertainment by Paws and Listen, hang out with the UK Wildcat Mascot, grab some refreshments and pick up their free Geek Week T-shirts.
The rest of the week promises more fun and valuable opportunities to learn about the union between the arts and sciences, research by fellow A&S students and career options for A&S majors. A blood drive sponsored by the A&S ambassadors will also give the campus community a chance to provide service, and even more prizes will be given out at select events.
Throughout the week, academic presentations will highlight topics ranging from archaeological research by UK undergraduates to Islamic revivalism; and from self-hate, self-love and violence to teaching in the Bahamas and Nepal.
A keynote address will be delivered at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 in room 209 of the Main Building by UK professor and author Gurney Norman. His talk, "Radical Autobiography: a Reading," will present autobiographical stories and anecdotes that touch on themes including space, place, time, memory, communities of memory and the under arching forces that reconcile oral traditions with postmodernism. A sneak peek of the video portion of his autobiography in progress will also be shown. Attendees can win signed copies of Norman's book, "Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes," as well as pick up Geek Week T-shirts.
Career events during the week will include a workshop designed to answer the question "What can you do with an A&S major?" and an exciting speed-networking career fair. Fair attendees will receive T-shirts, refreshments, free CDs on résumé writing and be registered to win door prizes. Students can also attend open houses for the newInternational Studies Major and UK Army ROTC.
Just for fun, the A&S Ambassadors will present a special contest Feb. 20, "So UK Think You Can Dance!" in the Recital Hall of the UK Singletary Center for the Arts. Bring your best dance moves and you could win an iPod.
Kids are encouraged to come on campus for the final events of the week – "Reading Bones," a presentation by the biology department sure to be a hit with anyone who is fascinated by the forensic anthropology featured on shows like CSI; and the "Chemical Reaction Attraction," slated to feature all manner of explosions, spontaneous combustion and other cool chemistry tricks.
Throughout the week T-shirts with this year's logo and slogan, "100 Years and Still Kickin' – College of Arts and Sciences Centennial Palooza" will be available at selected events.
Click here for the full schedule of events.
--Allison Elliott UK Public Relations