By Guy Spriggs

In the fall of 2013, graduate students from the English Department approached their director of graduate studies, Andy Doolen, to solicit his help in building a more robust community of writers.

“They wanted to bring together people at different levels of the program, different cohorts that might not cross paths so easily,” Doolen explained. “I told them I would look into it and immediately started doing some research.”

Doolen found was that some of the country’s finest graduate schools invest in shared writing programs similar to what UK’s grad students desired. And once he realized the English Department could offer more to its students than writing boot camps, the Let’s Write! program was born.

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by Gail Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 29, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World program has already whisked students on four virtual globetrotting tours, yearlong explorations into the culture and history of a country or region. For the program’s fifth academic year, the college will delve into the turbulent, headline-grabbing region of the Middle East.

Once again the UK College of Arts and Sciences has chosen a region that impacts all of us. The eyes of the world have focused on the area for months, years. And yet, for many Americans, the Middle East is still mysterious and threatening, a culture and people churning with unfamiliar beliefs, traditions, expectations and dreams.

Like past programs about

By Sarah Schuetze

There are many parallels between the kickoff of a program and starting a novel/story. The creative possibilities seem to inspire creative writing faculty members who are energized by new projects. For Andrew Ewell, a new assistant professor in UK’s Department of English, “beginning projects is exciting because you can go anywhere with it but it’s also daunting because you haven’t yet gone, but I like being in the middle of things when it’s always tugging at the back of my mind.”

But no one involved in establishing the Department of English’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing Program seems daunted by the newness of the program—their collective

by Gail Hairston

(Aug. 26, 2014) — It’s rarely easy to get a child out of bed, dressed, fed and off to school, especially when it’s still dark outside. Schoolchildren everywhere (their parents too, if they are being honest) groan for “just a little longer” in the sack.

School systems that have adjusted and re-adjusted school start times in search of the perfect balance may have to reevaluate the task after reviewing recent findings from a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky. Their work has found that elementary-age children living in middle- and upper-class neighborhoods of Kentucky demonstrate weaker academic performance when they are required to start classes early.

Recently published by the American Psychological Association, the research was led by Peggy S. Keller, UK associate professor in the

by Jenny Wells

(Aug. 26, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence honored its newest class of Chellgren Fellows this past weekend.  Benefactor Paul Chellgren, along with Chellgren Endowed Chair Philipp Kraemer, recognized and congratulated the students on being named Fellows.

The Chellgren Fellows Program is for students with exceptional academic potential and aspirations, who are eager to participate in a special learning community designed to cultivate extraordinary achievement. Outstanding faculty members from across campus serve as individual mentors for the Fellows.

The students selected as 2014-15 Chellgren Fellows include:

By Guy Spriggs

From early childhood human beings have an understanding of rotational movement: we see tops spin and planets move and gain some comprehension of what rotation is. However, even the most gifted scientists don’t have a complete understanding of how rotation – or spin, a quantum analog – operates at a sub-nucleon level.

After being awarded a highly-competitive grant to perform Advanced Scientific Computer Research (ASCR) from the ASCR Leadership Computer Challenge (ALCC), UK physics professor Keh-Fei Liu and his collaborators (including colleague Terrence Draper, post-docs and students at UK, as well as 2 co-PIs at George

by Keith Hautala

(Aug. 13, 2014) — University of Kentucky biologist Jeramiah Smith studies salamanders and sea lamprey to find genetic clues to regeneration. Smith works closely with colleague Randal Voss on sequencing the salamander genome. Both are in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"It’s 10 times bigger than the human genome, even though it probably contains essentially the same genes as the human genome," he said. "So there are lessons that can be learned about how organisms deal with all the DNA they have by looking at sort of this extreme example in salamanders. It can provide an important perspective on what the ancestral genome looked like."

Like salamanders, sea lamprey can regenerate

By Gail Hairston

(Aug. 11, 2014) — Often, research findings reflect the scientist’s and the public’s expectations. Sometimes, they come close. Other times, research results simply astound everyone.

Case in point is the recent research of Professor Peter R. Giancola of the psychology department of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. He, and his former graduate student, Aaron Duke, have found an unexpected relation between spiritual beliefs, violence and alcohol consumption.

“Oversimplifying — in many cases the more religious someone is, the more aggressive they will become after drinking alcohol,” Giancola said.

The researcher defined religiosity as someone who “finds meaning in the sacred,” regardless of the doctrine they follow.

Pointing out that

By Zachary Dodson

Research at the University of Kentucky expands well beyond campus, and thanks to Physics & Astronomy professor Gary Ferland we have to measure the distance in light years instead of miles.

Ferland’s research focuses on theoretical atomic & molecular physics and how matter in space produces the light we see. Unlike other scientists, astronomers cannot perform experiments – they can’t reach out and touch another galaxy. But they have an advantage – a time machine – they can look into the past by observing galaxies far from the Earth.  It’s a science driven by observation and analysis. For this reason, Ferland and his colleagues are experts in remote sensing.

“We take the light that we can receive here on Earth and figure out

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 5, 2014) — Assistant Professor Brandi Frisbi and Associate Professor Kevin Real, from the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information, and Katherine Rogers-Carpenter, lecturer in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digitial Studies at the UK College of Arts and Sciences, led a series of college teacher training workshops at Qingdao Technological University in China from July 14 through Aug. 1, 2014.

The three-week workshops were collaboratively designed to improve English and teaching skills for campus-wide faculty members at Qingdao Tech and attracted the participation of more than 25 faculty members representing several disciplines (e.g., architecture, landscape design, pollution control, energy, literature, civil engineering

by Mallory Powell

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 5, 2014) -- University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto will join U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers and Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), at a Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) Health Impact Series to discuss the health challenges in the region and announce two new UK initiatives to address them.

The announcements will come during a symposium held at Hazard Community and Technical College, the second “Health Impact Series” event with the CDC as part of the SOAR initiative.

According to the Kentucky Department for Public Health, this region has a greater prevalence for heart disease (84 percent higher), diabetes (47 percent higher) and obesity (26 percent higher) than the nation’s average. The state’s lung cancer mortality rates are the nation’s highest, at 67 percent

by Gail Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 4, 2014) — The Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women (OPSVAW) in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences recently announced that it will support the largest number of graduate and professional students within its relatively short history.  One of the top priorities of the OPSVAW is the support of students, and the 2014-2015 academic year will see the program support five individuals through graduate fellowships and research assistantships.

“It is an extraordinary opportunity to advance the careers of these young scholars while also teaching them that there are real women behind the work that they do,” said Carol Jordan executive director of OPSVAW. “I believe we help give real purpose and inspiration to their academic careers while they also

Video by UK Research Media. 

by Keith Hautala

(July 30, 2014) — University of Kentucky biologist Ann Morris is studying retinal regeneration in zebrafish to find ways to combat human eye diseases.

The small, minnow-like fish have eyes that develop in a way very similar to humans. Unlike humans, however, zebrafish have the ability to regenerate retinal cells following an injury. Diseases of the retina are a leading cause of blindness in older adults. 

“With zebrafish the embryos develop outside the mother, and they are completely transparent. And development occurs very rapidly," Morris said. "So we can study the process of the development of eye under the light microscope in a dish, and it only takes a couple days to happen."

How is it that zebrafish can

by Elizabeth Adams

(July 30, 2014) — The phrase "we caught it early" is possibly the best news a patient can hear in the midst of a cancer diagnosis. Combating cancer in its earliest stages, when the disease is localized to a certain part of the body, gives patients the best chances of survival.

Screenings for breast, skin, colon, prostate and other forms of cancer are touted for saving lives through early detection. Many health care providers recommend cancer screenings as a precautionary measure, especially for high-risk patients. But in the case of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, the patient's decision to undergo a screening process is more complex.

According to University of Kentucky psychologist Dr. Jamie Studts, lung cancer screening is an algorithm, not an event. Patients aren't always aware of the physical and

by Rachel Knuth

(July 29, 2014) — Adam J. Banks professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies recently received the 2014 Rhetorician of the Year at The Young Rhetoricians Conference.

Banks, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, received his bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in English from Penn State University. Banks is currently the director of writing, rhetoric and digital studies (WRD), teaching

by Heather Chapman

(July 24, 2014) — When in Lexington, do as the Romans do — at least if you're attending the Conventiculum Latinum Lexintoniense, a week-long conference on the University of Kentucky campus where participants from all over the world are immersed in the Latin language.

How immersed? UK Latin Professor Terence Tunberg, who has directed the conference since its inception in 1996, says all participants must sign a contract promising to speak only Latin until the end of the conference on July 28.

And they do. Sitting in a quiet corner of the Blazer Hall cafeteria around lunch time this week feels like a field trip to the Roman Forum. Even while eating their lunch, conventiculum attendees strictly

Video by UK Research Media

by Keith Hautala

(July 23, 2014) — University of Kentucky Biology Professor Ashley Seifert, whose research is focused on skin regeneration, is studying the African spiny mouse, a tiny mammal with some amazing regenerative abilities.     

"What’s phenomenal is that they’re able to regenerate complex tissue structures," Seifert said. "They can regenerate all of the components of their skin including hair follicles, sebaceous glands and the underlying dermis, the structural component which gives the skin strength. And then, in the ears, amazingly, they can regenerate cartilage. Any orthopedic surgeon will tell you what a huge advance it would be if we could figure out how to regenerate cartilage in a mammal." 

by Whitney Hale

(July 22, 2014) — Fiction writer Rebecca Makkai, whose novel "The Hundred-Year House" was published this month, and the multi-talented Margaret Wrinkle, author of the 2013 novel "Wash," will read from their work and teach fiction at the Kentucky Women Writers Conference being held Sept. 12-13, in Lexington.

Chicago-based writer Makkai just released her second novel, "The Hundred-Year House," described by The Los Angeles Times as "a big-hearted gothic novel, an intergenerational mystery, a story of heartbreak and a romance, all