By Whitney Harder

(Oct. 28, 2015) — Home to laboratories, aviaries, research fields and ponds, the University of Kentucky Ecological Research and Education Center (EREC) is also now home to larger than life-size art that illustrates the beauty of the science studied there.

Painted by Italian muralist Hitnes and a group of community members and UK students, the mural merges art and science to reflect birds Hitnes observed while he retraced the journey of John James Audubon.

"Like all of the best public art, the EREC mural has both beautiful and challenging elements, here in the engaging style of Hitnes and his master class," said Philip Crowley, director of the EREC. "Because we study

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 28, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women (OPSVAW) in the College of Arts and Sciences announced today that the application window for its Women’s Empowerment Scholarship is now open.

“We are excited to open the application period for the 2016/2017 academic year,” said Carol Jordan, the executive director of the OPSVAW. “We know that education can set a woman who has suffered abuse during her lifetime on a path to nonviolence and recovery, and there is perhaps no institution better positioned to advancing that recovery than the University of Kentucky. The education that UK can offer fulfills dreams and puts a woman’s full potential within her reach.”

The OPSVAW created the Women’s Empowerment

By Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(Oct. 26, 2015) — University Press of Kentucky (UPK) co-editors Gerald Smith, Karen Cotton McDaniel and John Hardin have been selected to receive the 2015 Kentucky Archives Month Certificate for Merit for Writing/Publication for their editorship of The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia.

This Kentucky Archives Month Certificate for Merit for Writing/Publication is presented by the Kentucky State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) in order to recognize individuals who made a

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 26, 2015) — Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford, was recently awarded a President’s Medal from the British Academy for “transforming the understanding of a period or subject of study” for his book “Vivid Faces: the Irish revolutionary generation 1890-1923.”

Focusing on the central event of the Easter Rising of 1916 and the motivations which drove the people behind it, Foster will lecture on the history of the Irish Revolution of 1912-1922, “Making a Revolution in Ireland: Some Centenary Thoughts” at 4 p.m. today at the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

His lecture will also consider the agendas, elisions and implications of commemorating events in history that are at once inspirational and divisive. He will raise issues such as the changing historical interpretations of

By Whitney Harder

(Oct. 23, 2015) — Recognizing the accomplishments of staff across the University of Kentucky, 57 UK staff members were honored with Outstanding Staff Awards (OSA) Wednesday at Spindletop Hall. This was the sixth year for the event sponsored by the Office of the President and UK Staff Senate.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto, representatives of the Board of Trustees, colleagues and other campus leaders were in attendance to celebrate the awardees. Entertainment included performances by students from the UK Department of Theatre and Dance and a jazz ensemble from the 

By Allison Elliott-Shannon

(Oct. 22, 2015) — Open Access is a consistent theme in university libraries across the world, as researchers seek to share and collaborate in new ways. “Open for Collaboration” is the theme of Open Access Week 2015, a global event taking place Oct. 19–25. As scholars, research institutions and funding agencies acknowledge the benefits of open access, they have made an increasing number of scholarly content freely available online for people to reuse and build upon for innovation. 

An advocate for open access, University of Kentucky Libraries has forged collaborative partnerships with various campus units to

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 22,  2015) — A new assessment of the lasting impact of Hernán Cortés and the Spanish Empire’s conquest of the Aztec Empire will be discussed at “New Perspectives on Spanish Conquest and Empire: From the 16th to the 21st Centuries.” The event begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in the Great Hall of the Margaret King Library at the University of Kentucky.

The event also kicks off the King Library’s November exhibition of singular photographs of Steve Raymer and event presenter Kathleen Myers. As the name suggests, the exhibition, “In the Shadow of Cortés: From Veracruz to Mexico City,” is a modern pictorial tour of the route Cortés marched from the sea to doomed Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire.

By Whitney Hale

(Oct. 22, 2015) — A new play by Lydia Blaisdell will have its world premiere in the Bluegrass Nov. 5–7, in four performances at Lexington's Downtown Arts Center. Produced and directed by Eric Seale, "The Silent Woman" is the winner of the biennial Prize for Women Playwrights from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference.

"'The Silent Woman' is a deeply assured work, funny and strange and beautiful in turns. It will make a thrilling production," said

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 20, 2015) — Gerald Smith, University of Kentucky professor of history, the UK Martin Luther King Center scholar-in residence and the Theodore A. Hallam Professor (2015-2017) received the Campbellsville University Racial Reconciliation Award on Oct. 14.

The Campbellsville University Racial Reconciliation Award is given to those who have shown outstanding characteristics of servant leadership in bringing people together past racial matters and across lines of ethnicity, and who have been significant bridge builders for the community, according to John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president at Campbellsville University.

Smith, pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Lexington, was the

By Whitney Hale

(Oct. 20, 2015) — The University of Kentucky's Gaines Center for the Humanities and the Department of Gender and Women's Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences are teaming up with the Office of LGBTQ* Resources, the Martin Luther King Center, the African American and Africana Studies Program and Black Student Union to present three events

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 19, 2015) — University of Kentucky students and faculty are well represented during “Celebrating Isaac Murphy Week,” Oct. 19-24, a city-sponsored schedule of events honoring the legendary 19th century African-American jockey. Murphy’s career spanned from the mid-1870s through the mid-1890s; he rode in 11 Kentucky Derbies, winning three of them. By his account, he won 44 percent of his 1,412 races, a victory rate never equaled in 120 years.  

UK English and African American and Africana Studies professor and former Kentucky poet laureate, Frank X Walker’s poetry brought to life Murphy’s story in “I Dedicate This Ride.” Excerpts

By Whitney Harder

(Oct. 19, 2015) — Capturing the attention of little minds and chem-enthusiasts across Lexington, the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry will once again host its Chemistry Demonstration Show at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 23. The show will take place in Room 139 of the UK Chemistry-Physics Building, 505 Rose Street.

Chemistry students, faculty and staff will conduct interactive and exciting demonstrations that showcase chemistry. The event celebrates National Chemistry Week and Mole Day, which commemorates Avogadro's Number (6.02 x 1023), a basic measuring unit in chemistry. The theme for this year is "

By Tasha Ramsey

Populism, a political discourse that promises to empower and include the poor and the excluded, is one of the most important political forces in Latin America, Europe, and the U.S. According to Dr. Carlos de la Torre, a sociology professor in the College of Arts & Sciences, populism is “a Manichaean political rhetoric that aims to rupture the existing institutional system to include the excluded.”

Carlos de la Torre received his Ph.D. in sociology at the New School for Social Research, New York, in 1993. He has been a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Fulbright Foundation. Since 1989 he has published on the relationship between populism, authoritarianism and democratization.

Dr. de la Torre released his new book titled, “De Velasco a Correa, insurrecciones, populismo, y elecciones

By Tiera Carlock

(Oct. 14, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute will present a lecture on the historical development and manifestations of [the notion of] "yinyang" and its origins in Chinese thought and culture by Robin R. Wang as a part of its Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series. The free public lecture, titled "Yinyang: The Way of Ways," is from 2:30-4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, in the Patterson Office Tower 18th Floor, West-End Lobby, with a reception to follow.

Wang, philosophy professor and director of the 

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 14, 2015) — The University of Kentucky’s Department of Geography celebrates its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series and Award Friday, Oct. 16. The premiere honoree is professor of geography and development Vincent del Casino Jr., University of Arizona’s vice provost of Digital Learning and Student Engagement and associate vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

Del Casino will deliver the department’s premiere Distinguished Alumni Lecture at 3 p.m. Friday in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. A generous gift earlier this year formed the Harrison and Eva Lewis Bailey Alumni Lecture Series in Geography Endowment Fund.

By Weston Loyd

(Oct. 14, 2015) — The University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences, College of Fine Arts and The Education Abroad Network (TEAN) have teamed up to create "Bluegrass Down Under," an innovative, 12-week education abroad experience in Sydney and Cairns, Australia, which will allow students to select courses that best fit their degree requirements.

Mack Maynard, an advisor in UK Education Abroad, said, "'Bluegrass Down Under' is an innovative

By Dara Vance

At the American Sociological Association (ASA) 2015 annual meeting in Chicago, Ill., in August, Sociology Associate Professor Carrie Oser received the “Senior Scholar Award” from the Alcohol, Drugs, & Tobacco section. This award is given annually to one scholar for their outstanding scientific contributions to the sociological examination of alcohol, drugs, and/or tobacco.  Oser, who is the youngest scholar to ever receive the award, was selected from an international field of scholars. 

Carrie Oser has been a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at UK since 2006. Her research interests include addiction health services, health disparities, HIV risk behaviors/interventions, as well as drug use among rural, minority, and criminal justice populations. 

As part of her commitment to innovation in education, she

By Kathryn Mason

(Oct. 13, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Women's Forum 2015 conference takes on the theme "Memoirs of a UK woman… write your own" featuring Kirsten Turner, chief of staff and assistant dean in the UK College of Arts and Sciences. The conference will begin with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Hilary J. Boone Center and end with giveaways at 3 p.m.  The registration deadline is Oct. 16.

Turner will present the conference keynote address at 9 a.m. In her position in the College of Arts and Sciences, she is responsible for the organizational and administrative areas of the college. Turner

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 12, 2015) — The continent of Europe has a fascinating past, but it is also a vital part of the contemporary world and will undoubtedly play a considerable role in shaping the future. This year, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World program will focus on the Year of Europe.

Passport to the World enables the college to embark on yearlong explorations of the culture and history of a particular region or country. The current series promotes understanding of the problems and prospects of the European continent and Europe’s relationship to the United States and other parts of the world. Past programs have focused on South Africa, China, Russia's Realms,