By Sarah Schuetze

As a graduate student at Michigan State University in 2008, Jim Ridolfo embarked on what he thought was a short-term research project that diverged from his dissertation work. This “secondary” project on Samaritan manuscripts has led to nationally-funded, award-winning research. 

An article that stemmed from his “side project,” “Delivering Textual Diaspora: Building Digital Cultural Repositories as Rhetoric Research,” was published by College English in November 2013

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 15, 2014) — One would be hard pressed to find a resume with accolades, awards and appointments of the quantity and quality equal to Jeremy Popkin’s. He will be adjusting that resume again shortly, as he has been named the William T. Bryan Chair of History.

Popkin has been a faculty member of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of History since 1978. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University, Popkin has served as chair of the history department (1996-2000), director of the Jewish Studies Program (2011-12), as well as the current (2007-) prestigious T. Marshall Hahn Professor.

The Bryan Endowed Chair was established by a nearly $4 million gift from

by Parissa Zargar

(Oct. 15, 2014) — University of Kentucky senior, Jaye "Jaxcy" Odom, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has received the Chickasaw Nation Lifetime Scholarship. This honor is awarded to tribal citizens who are full-time students pursuing a degree from an accredited institution of higher education. Odom has been involved with the Chickasaw Nation through her attendance of tribal meetings and participation in activities to promote pride in Native American culture.

"When I found out that I had been awarded the Chickasaw Lifetime Scholarship, I was elated. It was an indescribable honor to be a recipient of this highly competitive scholarship, and it meant a lot to me that my

by Amy Jones-Timoney, Katy Bennett, Kody Kiser

(Oct. 15, 2014) — When Connor Appelman came to UK as a freshman, he knew he wanted to get involved on campus, but wasn't quite sure where to start. He heard a few guys in his residence hall talking about UK FUSION (For Unity and Service In Our Neighborhoods) and decided to join them. The rest is history.

"I volunteered a lot in high school," Appelman said, "and I knew I wanted to get involved with service somehow at UK right away. FUSION seemed like that first step without a big commitment — just a few hours on the Monday before classes started. I thought it would be a good way to get acclimated with campus and Lexington and meet new people."

Little did Appelman know then that a few hours on that first Monday he was on campus would

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 10, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame induction and festivities are slated Friday, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the UK Singletary Center for the Arts.

Honorees include:

2014 ALUMNI INDUCTEES

Her Honor Ethelee Davidson Baxter was born in Jackson, Kentucky, in 1939 and was raised in Lexington, Kentucky. Baxter graduated from Lafayette High School in 1957 and was inducted into the first class of the Lafayette High School Hall of Fame in 1989. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English, speech and drama. While at UK, she was a Wildcat cheerleader, president of the Blue Marlins synchronized swimming team, and a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

by Whitney Hale

(Oct. 9, 2014) — From some Local Honeys to the beloved Ritchie family, the "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series is sure to pack the Niles Gallery. On Friday, Oct. 10, the old time music trio the Local Honeys will perform. A couple weeks later, on Friday, Oct. 24, the "Singing Family of the Cumberlands" is in the spotlight with an appearance by four of Jean Ritchie's nieces. Both free public concerts will take place at noon at the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

The Local Honeys perform B.F. Shelton's "Darlin' Cora." 

by Jenny Wells

(Oct. 7, 2014) — As the second lecture of the 2014-15 Chellgren Seminar Series, University of Kentucky professor of mathematics Carl Lee will deliver a talk titled "Stillness in Motion: The Essence of Symmetry" at 7 p.m. tonight in the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

"When we think of symmetry usually visual images come to mind (butterflies, crystals, etc.).  But there is symmetry in music, physics, dance, mathematics, art, and many other unexpected places," Lee said in his abstract about the talk. "Its presence, or desired presence, can sometimes be powerful and compelling.  Or simply pleasing.  But underlying the essence of symmetry is that something remains unchanged while something is in motion.  I will share some varied examples to illustrate this fundamental principle.  After the

by Gail Hairston

(Oct. 6, 2014) — University of Kentucky geography Professor Jonathan Phillips was recently awarded one of the leading recognitions in his field of study, the David Linton Award, from the British Society for Geomorphology (BSG).

The 2014 Linton Award recognizes Phillips’ “lifetime of distinguished and influential contributions to fluvial geomorphology spanning a broad array of topics in over 180 papers, including 10 in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.”

The BSG announcement added that Phillips’ “career has included a combination of thought-provoking methodological and philosophical contributions to geomorphic system understanding and landscape evolution, and empirical contributions across several branches of geomorphology."

The David Linton Award is given to a geomorphologist who has made a leading contribution to the

by Whitney Hale

(Oct. 3, 2014) — The 2014 issue of Nomenclatura: Aproximaciones a los estudios hispánicos, a publication dedicated to investigating Hispanic literatures and cultures, is now available online via UKnowledge through a collaboration between the University of Kentucky Department of Hispanic Studies and UK Libraries. This journal encourages work that employs innovative writing styles as well as formal scholarly work and is edited by graduate students from the Department of Hispanic Studies at UK.  

The first issue of Nomenclatura: Aproximaciones a los estudios hispánicos: “

Professor emerita Jane Gentry Vance passed away on Thursday afternoon after a year-long battle with cancer. This is terribly sad news to everyone who knew her or was taught by her, especially her colleagues in the English Department and the Honors Program, where she taught for forty years before retiring in 2013. While this is a dismaying day, it’s also worthwhile to pause and celebrate Jane, and to remember fondly her warmth, her wry humor, her graciousness, and her many accomplishments as a poet and faculty member. 

Jane graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hollins College in 1963, joined the University of Kentucky in 1972, published two books of poetry, a chapbook, and over 100 other poems, and taught creative writing to thousands of students. Always a favorite of her students, Jane won the Alumni Association’s Great Teacher Award. For her poetry, the state of

By Sarah Schuetze

When Virginia Conn was growing up in LaGrange, Ky., the opening of the town’s first Chinese restaurant warranted a school field trip for lunch. At that time, LaGrange was still growing, and it didn’t offer Conn much exposure to different cultures or people. Through reading, however, Conn’s passion for language and culture began to grow.

This fall, Conn took a new step in pursuing this passion as a graduate student in the Comparative Literature Department at Rutgers University. She hopes her degree will allow her to live and work in different countries, “never settling for too long in any one place,” and it’s that process of adapting that interests Conn

Hard work pays off! Faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences and families from around Kentucky gathered Friday, September 26, to celebrate students who excelled in their studies. Five GWS majors made the Dean’s List and were honored at a bountiful reception in the Ballroom of the Student Center. They were: Rebecca Moore; Alexandra Adams; Andrea Marie Stephenson; Destiny Simone Commodore; and Rockia Kiara Harris.

“We are so proud of our Dean’s List students,” said GWS director of undergraduate studies, Carol Mason, at the reception. “Our majors cultivate a truly interdisciplinary perspective and are encouraged to think through a variety of theoretical frameworks, different methodologies, and texts from both the humanities and social sciences. When they make the Dean’s List, they prove they are well-rounded thinkers.”

Alex Adams, a senior, said she attended the

by Keith Hautala

(Oct. 1, 2014) — Helen Blau, director of Stanford University's Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, will deliver the sixth annual Thomas Hunt Morgan Lecture, presented by the University of Kentucky Department of Biology. 

Blau's lecture, titled "Reprogramming Stem Cell Fate and Function," will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, in Room 116 of the Thomas Hunt Morgan Building. Blau will give a second talk, "Extended Healthspan Through Regenerative Medicine," at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 4, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium.  

Blau’s research is focused on the regulation of cell fate. In the 1980s her lab challenged and changed the dogma that the mammalian differentiated state was "terminal

by Whitney Hale

(Oct. 1, 2014) – The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is now accepting scripts by women for its 2015 Prize for Women Playwrights, which awards a $500 cash prize and a full theatrical production to the winner. Actors Guild of Lexington will produce the winning script as a world premiere in summer 2015, and playwright Carson Kreitzer will serve as judge.

The submission deadline for the 2015 Prize for Women Playwrights is Nov. 1, and a winner will be announced on Feb. 20, 2015. Scripts must be submitted online

By Guy Spriggs

With sea levels rising, will coastal land along the northern Gulf of Mexico naturally build itself up enough to combat the loss of its coastline? As the coastline continues to disappear, where will the rate of loss be worst?

When did pollution in Maine’s Penobscot River begin? Is the polluted material being introduced into our food chain? Are new laws helping reduce the pollution level?

If we wanted to answer these important questions, where would we turn?

These questions – and many more – can be solved by the unique equipment and skilled researchers working in Kevin Yeager’s Sedimentary, Environmental and Radiochemical Research Laboratory (SER2L) at the University of Kentucky.

by Gail Hairston 

(Sept. 30, 2014) — More than an “s” has been added since the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science was created in 1908 with only seven faculty members. In fact there was a College of Arts and Science even before the institution was named the University of Kentucky; the institution was called the State University, Lexington, Kentucky (previously Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and State College) until 1916.

In those 106 years, several of today’s largest colleges were birthed from the original College of Arts and Science’s former programs, including today’s College of Education, College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work and College of Fine Arts.

The college grew quickly under the inspiration and commitment of President James Patterson, whose statue now graces the plaza next to the

by Whitney Hale

(Sept. 25, 2014) — From Affrilachia to fiddles, the next two performances in the "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series are sure to entertain. On Friday, Sept. 26, celebrated folk duo Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will perform. The next Friday, Oct. 2, Letcher County's only female fiddle duo, the SkiPdiPPerS, will appear. Both free public concerts will take place at noon at the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

A Folk Concert with Some Spark

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform "Which Side Are You On?" at UK's

by Keith Hautala

(Sept. 24, 2014) — Students from across the University of Kentucky have a new opportunity to work for the well-being of children in the 54 Appalachian counties of Kentucky, in the "UK Tomorrow Corps," a service initiative being launched by the UK Appalachian Center.  

The UK Tomorrow Corps program will provide summer employment and professional support for UK students tutoring K-12 students in math and literacy skills, in partnership with local libraries, public schools, and community organizations. The initiative is intended to help young residents of Appalachia gain and retain skills through the summer and work toward their long-term educational goals.

Participants can be from any major and will receive training throughout the academic year to help them succeed as