Video by UK Public Relations and Marketing

by Keith Hautala

(Jan. 22, 2014) — More than 5,000 individuals have signed up to take a free college-preparatory chemistry course online through the University of Kentucky.

The "Advanced Chemistry" course, beginning Jan. 27, will be the university’s first to use Coursera, a leading platform for MOOCs (massive open online courses). The non-credit course is designed to prepare incoming and current students for college-level chemistry classes, and to provide supplemental material for students already enrolled in chemistry classes for credit.

The 10-week course is made up of five two-part units, with each part intended to be completed in a week. Each

by Gail Hairston

(Jan. 17, 2014) — Students, faculty and staff affiliated with the University of Kentucky’s Martin Luther King Center wanted to highlight Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy this January.  Their brainstorming brought them around full circle to an old favorite — the campus vigil.

“The vigil stands as a way to remember Dr. King’s message and convey how important it is to keep his message alive,” said interim center director Kahlil Baker. “Dr. King strived to eradicate social injustice, violence and racism, and we want to celebrate that.”

For this year’s commemoration, on Jan. 19, the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the students, faculty and staff affiliated with the King Center have organized a vigil and march that will take participants on a

by Keith Hautala

(Jan. 17, 2014) — Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

Walker, founder of the Affrilachian Poets and an associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky, is being recognized for his most recent book of poetry, "Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers."

The book, revolving around the civil rights leader's 1963 murder in Mississippi, was published last year, the 50th anniversary of the killing. Walker crafted the poems in the voices of individuals central to the event: Evers' widow, Myrlie

by Jenny Wells

(Jan. 16, 2014) — Next week, University of Kentucky students will have an opportunity to learn how to gain global skills and make a difference in the lives of others.

An information session about joining the Peace Corps will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in Room 408 of the Stuckert Career Center.

Represenatives from the Peace Corps will discuss the personal and professional rewards of international outreach and service work, along with career advantages and higher education benefits that come with Peace Corps service.

Walk-ins are welcome, but attendees may also pre-register at www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/learn/meet/events/7598/

About Peace Corps

More than 8,000 volunteers of all

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 Alicia Gregory

(Jan. 15, 2014) — A memorial celebration is planned in honor of Marybeth McAlister, longtime communications manager at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), who died of complications of influenza and pneumonia Jan. 8, 2014.  She was 53.

The memorial will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Spindletop Administration Building on the UK CAER campus, 2624 Research Park Drive, off Ironworks Pike.  A fund has been established for a memorial bench in McAlister's name at The Arboretum. Contributions to the Marybeth McAlister Donation Fund may be made at any Central Bank branch or mailed to Central Bank and Trust Co., P.O. Box 1360, Lexington, KY 40588-1360.

 In December 2012, McAlister had a cord blood stem cell transplant

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

By Guy Spriggs

On January 27, 2014, the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies (GWS) will host “What You Can Do With a GWS Major,” a virtual panel of GWS degree-holders demonstrating the wide range of futures made possible by a degree in GWS. The event will be held from 2-4pm at Hardymon Theatre in the Marksbury Building (329 Rose Street).

The goal of the event is to show students the applicability of the interdisciplinary training that is the cornerstone of the GWS Department at UK.

“GWS is deeply interdisciplinary, and we have historically been that way as a field,” explained Karen Tice, chair of GWS at UK. “Students come from a lot of various backgrounds and have a lot of different career aspirations. Across fields – from English to biology – coursework

A team of students and staff from the University of Kentucky Department of Statistics worked at the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet to design the Kentucky Electricity Portfolio Model, which is being used by leadership in Frankfort to evaluate energy and environmental policy. The model responds to highly variable factors such as weather, fuel prices, and federal environmental policy, to identify the optimal electricity portfolio and forecast electricity prices, demand, emissions, fuel consumption, employment, and economic growth. The following report discusses the results of early model output and some of the potential economic implications of changing Kentucky's electricity generating portfolio.

View the EEC Model Report (pdf) here.

by Keith Hautala

(Jan. 7, 2014) — The Denver Museum of Nature and Science will repatriate 30 memorial statues to Kenya, thanks in part to the work of Monica L. Udvardy, a University of Kentucky associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. 

A New York Times story from Jan. 3 cites Udvardy as an expert on Kenyan culture. She has studied and tracked the wooden statues, called vigango, for more than three decades. Udvardy says the vigango are consecrated artifacts believed by Kenyans to be endowed with divine powers, and that they should never have been removed.  

Udvardy first consulted with the museum in 2008. The full article may be read online at here.

By Brian Connors Manke

(January 3, 2014) - Many of us have had big holiday meals over the last few weeks, often times bringing a dish to share to the host’s house, but if you are ever invited to Sydney Dobson’s table you should probably arrive empty-handed.

“Since I was around 14 I’ve cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I don’t want anyone else to cook – if I’m hosting dinner, you’re getting my food,” the Hodgenville native and UK junior said.

And when people do ask what they can bring, her response is about as frank as you can get.

“You don’t cook as well as I do. Maybe you can bring the broccoli casserole, because I don’t like it.”

So, how did she become the master of the kitchen at such a young age?



“I was tired of having scrambled burgers and peas,” she began to explain.

“My mother was a nurse and worked in

by Gail Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 24, 2013) — It was more than four decades ago that the University of Kentucky first sponsored a celebration honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement he inspired.

“Each year the MLK events remind us to treasure our civil rights and the diversity that makes us stronger, makes us more competitive and enriches our culture,” said Lexington Mayor Jim Gray.

It was a modest affair back then, with most activities taking place on campus and most of the attendees affiliated with the university. The scope quickly grew beyond the campus boundaries, however, with downtown events and

by Jake Most

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 24, 2013) — Seven Kentucky Wildcats – Khristina Blajkevitch, Caitlin Ciokajlo, Ashley Frazier, Jonathan Keltner, Shelby Kennard, Megan Moir and Chelsea Oswald – have been recognized with the 1A Faculty Athletics Representatives organization’s Academic Excellence Awards.

Individuals had to maintain a minimum 3.8 cumulative GPA and have competed for at least two years of intercollegiate athletics in a sport sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division 1A) conference to qualify for the awards.

Joe Fink, UK’s Faculty Athletics Representative and Professor of Pharmacy, noted that this national recognition is significant for several reasons.

“In addition to recognizing academic excellence as indicated by achieving an outstanding GPA, the award emphasizes the skill these outstanding

by Kathy Johnson

(Dec. 17, 2013) ― The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today accepted nearly $6.5 million in gifts and pledges to UK.

The pledges include:

   Gifts include:

by Whitney Hale

(Dec. 18, 2013) — The University of Kentucky invites nominations and applications for the job position of director of the Gaines Center for the Humanities and John R. Gaines Endowed Chair in the Humanities.

Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK's campus. Devoted to cultivating an appreciation of the humanities in its students and faculty, the center embraces varied paths of knowledge, and particularly strives to integrate creative work with traditional academic learning.

The center is also designed to provide a link, intellectual as well as

by Keith Hautala

(Dec. 17, 2013) — An essay by Lisa Zunshine, a University of Kentucky professor of English, appears in the Dec. 13 edition of The Chronicle Review, published by the Chronicle of Higher Education.  

The essay, titled "Why Fiction Does it Better," argues that works of fiction — which operate on varying levels of sociocognitive complexity — help to drive the development of both a rich vocabulary and "theory of mind," and are essential reading for preparing young minds for college. 

A scholar of 18th-century British literature, Zunshine is Bush-Holbrook Professor of English at UK, where she teaches courses in Restoration and 18th century British literature and culture. She is the author or editor of 11 books, including, most recently, "Getting Inside Your Head: What Cognitive Science Can Tell Us about Popular Culture,"

by Whitney Hale

(Dec. 16, 2013) — Huajing Maske, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky, has received a 2013 Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award. The honor recognizes UK's director as one of the top 15 leaders of 430 Confucius Institutes worldwide.

Maske received the international award at the opening ceremony of the eighth Confucius Institute Conference 

by Keith Hautala

(Dec. 16, 2013) — Katharine Ott, assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Mathematics, has been chosen by the Association for Women in Mathematics to receive its annual service award for 2013.

The award was created in 2012 to honor volunteers who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to the organization. Recipients are chosen based on contributions made over the past seven years. Ott was one of two recipients to be honored this year.

Ott was selected because of her service to the association as a principal investigator on the successful Sonia Kovalevsky Day grant from the National Science Foundation. Sonia Kovalevsky Days, named for a pioneering Russian woman mathematician of the 19th century, consist of a program of workshops, talks, and problem-solving competitions for female high school and

by Jenny Wells

(Dec. 16, 2013) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has honored 18 students with the Oswald Research and Creativity Program awards.  Representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Research, along with director  Diane Snow, presented the winners with certificates at a reception on campus Dec. 5.

Established in 1964 by then-UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Program encourages research and creative activities by undergraduate students at UK. The objectives of the program are to stimulate creative work by undergraduate students and to recognize individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievement.

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