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by Whitney Hale

In celebration of University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences' year-long exploration into the culture and history of  Russia, UK Libraries continues "Reimagining Russia's Realms" throughout the spring semester with new exhibits and programming.

First, UK Libraries is teaming up with UK HealthCare and the UK Arts and Sciences Advisory Board to present "Audiology and Hearing Rehabilitation Services in Russia: Pros and Cons of Personalized Medicine," at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14, in the William T. Young Library Alumni Gallery. The lecture will be presented by 

by Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute (UKCI), established for only two years, was named the 2012 Confucius Institute of the Year in December.

Awarded by the Office of Chinese Language Council International (colloquially known as the Hanban), the honor distinguishes the UKCI among the more than 430 Confucius Institutes in 115 countries; there are approximately 90 Confucius Institutes in the U.S. UKCI director Huajing Maskeand interim Provost Tim Tracy accepted the award at the seventh

 

by Mike Lynch   A new earthquake-monitoring station has been added to the seismic network that is jointly operated by the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) at the University of Kentucky and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the UK College of Arts and Sciences. The station is located behind the Perry County Public Library in Hazard, Ky., in the southeastern part of the state. The station includes both a strong-motion device, detecting stronger seismic activity, and a weak-motion instrument for smaller earth motions.   "This new station will help us to better monitor earthquakes in the area, like the 4.3-magnitude event that happened in Letcher County on Nov. 10, 2012, as well as mine blasts in the coal

 

By Sarah Geegan   The University of Kentucky Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation (CDART) has received a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), funding which will continue the center's long history of developing novel intervention strategies that target high-risk individuals.   CDART is connected to the Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Though they are separate entities, CDART and NIDA have the common mission of understanding the causes and prevention of

By Sarah Geegan

Adam Banks, associate professor in the UK Division of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Media, will serve as chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), a professional organization of teachers of writing as well as scholars in rhetoric, composition and literacy studies.   The CCCC promotes the teaching and study of college composition and communication. It publishes scholarly materials for the exchange of knowledge about composition, composition pedagogy and rhetoric, and supports a variety of research on composition, communication and rhetoric. The CCCC also serves to enhance the conditions for learning and teaching college composition, and promotes professional

by Abby Shields and Casey Jackson

  Schoolwork can get overwhelming for college students, and they need an outlet for fun. For brothers Terren and Skylar Trott, a combination of medical school and research opportunities led them to establish their own extracurricular activity on campus — water polo.   Terren, 26, is a fourth-year medical student at UK, with an interest in pursuing emergency medicine. He completed his bachelor's degree in biological sciences at the University of California at Davis, with a minor in studio art.     "I first was interested in pursuing a doctorate and worked in research labs in undergrad. However, I realized I'd rather be in a field that works with people. Medicine is a good balance of science, research and personally helping

 

By Sarah Geegan   While Memorial Coliseum is usually a place reserved for UK athletes, today students will celebrate a victory of another kind, officially becoming University of Kentucky alumni. UK's third December Commencement ceremonies, taking place in Memorial Coliseum, will honor students who earned their degrees in August or December. Graduate and professional degrees will be conferred at 1:30 p.m. Undergraduate degrees will be conferred at 6 p.m.   Nearly 750 undergraduates and 170 graduate and professional students are expected to participate in Friday's exercises.   UK President Eli Capilouto will deliver remarks at both ceremonies. In addition and keeping with university tradition, a student will also address the crowd at the undergraduate ceremony.   Luis Orta, a graduating senior and student athlete from Caracas, Venezuela will deliver the commencement address.
by Whitney Hale

The United States is home to the largest highway system in the world, but most Americans consider the road as a means to a destination. People often pay little attention until construction detours, accumulating snow, signs touting an outlet mall, traffic or flashing blue lights force them to slow down and take a look.

Roads, however, are products of the places they wind through and have rich histories that modern drivers often ignore. Travelers have not always been able to take them for granted, however, particularly in the mountainous regions of Appalachia in the days before cars.

For generations, the steep hills and dense forests of the Cumberland Gap made wagon passage westward nearly impossible. Determination to reach the fertile hills of Kentucky led to the birth of America’s first highway into the trans-Appalachian west: the Maysville Road.

by Derrick Meads & Whitney Hale

Five University of Kentucky students have been awarded scholarships administered by the Institute of International Education to support their study abroad goals.

Four of the students received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship; a congressionally funded scholarship sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education.

The scholarship supports students who have been traditionally under-represented in study abroad, including but not limited to, students with high financial need, community college students, students in under-represented fields such as the sciences and

Six University of Kentucky professors have recently been named recipients of the UK Alumni Association 2013 Great Teacher Award.

The recipients are:

Karen Badger, associate professor, College of Social Work Dr. Roberta Dwyer, professor, College of Agriculture Samuel Franklin, assistant professor, College of Medicine John Grove, professor, College of Agriculture Armando Prats, professor, College of Arts & Sciences Gerald Smith, associate professor, College of Arts & Sciences

The recipients will be honored at the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Recognition Dinner on Feb. 5, 2013. They will then be honored on center court of Rupp Arena during the South Carolina vs. Kentucky men’s basketball game later that

by Mike Lynch

The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) at the University of Kentucky has chosen a site to drill a 4,800-foot-deep stratigraphic research well in eastern Kentucky. This project is part of the carbon dioxide (CO2) storage research mandated and funded in 2007 by the Kentucky General Assembly in the Energy Independence and Incentives Act, which also funded part of the cost of a research well in Hancock County in 2009. 

KGS has partnered with Hanson Aggregates for access to property at their AA Limestone quarry, in northern Carter County. Hanson Aggregates is a subsidiary of Lehigh Hanson, Inc., which is part of the HeidelbergCement Group, one of the largest building materials manufacturers worldwide.

After a lengthy technical review, the site was chosen based on both its location and geology.

by Whitney Hale

Over the summer a team of faculty and students from University of Kentucky discovered evidence of not just one lost community, but two in northern Italy. Using their archaeological expertise and modern technology, data was collected indicating the existence of a Roman settlement and below that, a possible prehistoric site.

Many years ago, archaeologist and art historian Paolo Visonà, a native of northern Italy and adjunct associate professor of art history in the UK School of Art and Visual Studies at the UK College of Fine Arts, first learned of a possible ancient settlement from a farmer in Valbruna, near the village of Tezze di Arzignano. While

by Carl Nathe

University of Kentucky doctoral candidate and Letcher County native Amanda Fickey is the recipient of a research fellowship from the Central Appalachian Institute in Research and Development (CAIRD).  CAIRD is a nonprofit, public policy organization, which provides long-term educational and economic developmental strategies in order to establish vibrant and sustainable communities that will improve the quality of life for citizens of central Appalachia.  Fickey will serve as a fellow-in-residence for a year-long appointment in 2013.  CAIRD is located in the heart of the Central Appalachian region in Pikeville.

"We are delighted to have a person of Amanda's talent and proven research background helping us in the coming year," said Jason Belcher, CEO of CAIRD.  "Her combination of scholarly achievement and work experience in Appalachia is ideally

by Sarah Geegan

UK Chemistry professor Allan Butterfield was recently announced as the newest Fellow of the Society for Free Radical Biology and Medicine (SFRBM ) at the 19th Annual Meeting of SFRBM in San Diego.

Butterfield is the UK Alumni Association Endowed Professor of Biological Chemistry; director of the UK Center of Membrane Sciences; director of Free Radical Biology in the Cancer Shared Resource Facility of the UK Markey Cancer Center; and a faculty member of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. His election as SFRBM Fellow was

by Jenny Wells & Danica Kubly

The University of Kentucky Office for Undergraduate Research recognized and awarded 19 students this week with the Oswald Research and Creativity Program awards.  Diane Snow, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, and Ben Withers, interim associate provost for Undergraduate Education, were on hand to congratulate the winners and distribute the awards. 

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

By Viki Dekle

Geography and compasses go hand in hand. Sometimes a compass can help you with your physical direction, but in Raven Newberry’s case her degree in geography from the University of Kentucky served as a compass to locate her passion for social justice.

It’s a path that has led Raven, a 2011 honor graduate, to currently pursue a masters degree in Educational Policy at Vanderbilt University. The graduate program is prestigious and competitive and Raven attributes her success to a fantastic undergraduate education at UK.

While at UK, Raven was a Gaines Fellow, a member of the Honors Program, and an Ambassador for the College of Arts and Sciences.

She pursued an interdisciplinary tract

by Whitney Hale & Lea Mann

From old time Kentucky tunes to a band’s unique take on art, the next two concerts in the "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" series are sure to cater to a wide audience. The first concert, featuring the Red State Ramblers, will be presented noon Friday, Nov. 30, in the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center. The final concert will feature Anna Roberts-Gevalt and

by Sarah Geegan

Two University of Kentucky professors were recently recognized for outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication and utilization of mathematics. Serge Ochanine and  Zhongwei Shen were named Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2013, the program's initial year.

The AMS strives to create an enlarged class of mathematicians recognized by their peers as distinguished for their contributions to the profession and to honor excellence. This inaugural class of 1,119 Fellows represents more than 600 institutions.

"The AMS is the world's largest and most influential society dedicated to mathematical

by Sarah Geegan & Lauren Kamas

Esteemed Chinese medicine expert and World Health Organization contributor Li Zhao Guo will present lectures on traditional Chinese medicine or Eastern health practices to the UK and Lexington community this week, as a part of the UK Confucius Institute’s Chinese Medicine Week.

For the past 28 years, Li has been engaged in the study and translation of traditional Chinese medicine. Since 2009, he has worked as a specialist in the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Traditional Medicine Department and for the International Standardization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Terminologies.  Li has also devoted much of his time to the study of traditional Chinese culture, including Yijing Laozi, Zhuangzi and Analects.

Li’s presentation on

This article appears courtesy of the UK Alumni Association.

The education of Renée Saunier Brewer ’03 AG into the sophisticated world of the juice of the grape has taken her all over the globe at a very young age, but each step of the way was paved with more forethought and practicality and less wanderlust than it would first appear. Now settled in Lexington, she is the owner of Wine + Market, a quaint establishment in the downtown area that not only sells wines and other spirits from all over the world, but also creates tasty selections that can be ordered off a café menu that showcases local and international delicacies.

Even choosing where to go for college was a decision made at a very sensible level. “I was born and raised in Lexington and graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar, class of