By Robin Roenker

UK alumna Stephanie Spires—who earned a B.A. in Secondary Education Social Studies in 2003—recently found herself in the interesting position of being awarded a second UK major years after graduation day, without having to step foot in a single additional undergraduate class.

While she had never officially declared political science as a major, Spires’ lifelong love of the social and political aspects of government and international relations kept her signing up for class after class within the Department of Political Science during her undergraduate tenure.

While unaware of it at the time, Spires actually earned enough Political Science credits while at UK to have rightly earned an Arts & Sciences major alongside her UK Education degree.

While belated, the degree award is

By Sarah Geegan

Jakobi Williams, professor in the UK Department of History and in the African American and Africana Studies Program, will present the next lecture in the "Rebuilding the Block," S.T. Roach Community Conversation series, at 11 a.m., on Saturday, April 14, at the Lyric Theatre.

The "Rebuilding the Block" series is a seven-month sequence of public lectures, led by UK experts and focused around the theme of African-American males. Held at the Lyric Theatre in east Lexington, the conversations are broken into sub-themes, each presenting relevant issues in

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 3:30pm

Location: Memorial Hall

Staged reading in Memorial Hall with talk-back for Q&A with playwright (Silas House), director (Adanma Barton), cast, crew and the band Sugar Tree at the Memorial Hall Amphitheater (rain room Gatton BE 148 for talk back session).

By Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will present the Distinguished Professor Lecture, featuring History Professor Ron Eller at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 12 in the William T. Young Library auditorium.

Eller's lecture, "Seeking the Good Life in America: Lessons From the Appalachian Past," will discuss what the future holds for Appalachia, using the history of the region as a foundation.

Eller, a professor in the Department of History, is originally from West Virginia. Having  spent more than 40 years teaching and writing about the Appalachian region, he also served as the director for the UK Appalachian Center for 16 years. Eller has also served as

By Guy Spriggs

UK Geography professor Daehyun Kim was recently named the recipient of the J Warren Nystrom Award, a prize presented every year by the Association of American Geographers (AAG).

The award, funded by geographer and former AAG Executive Director John Warren Nystrom, is given for the best dissertation paper presented by a recent doctoral graduate in geography.

Judging for the award began back in August of 2011. Kim was named a finalist for the Nystrom Award, and presented his paper at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in February 2012.

“To be honest, I was not very confident,” Kim explained. “During the presentation I saw a lot of good research, so I was not sure

By Whitney Hale

Chemist and educator John Anthony will receive the 2012 University of Kentucky Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement. The award will be presented to the medallion recipient at the University of Kentucky Libraries Annual Dinner scheduled for April 13, at the Hilary J. Boone Center on the UK campus. This year's dinner will also feature a talk by guest speaker and UK alumnus Alan C. Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

The UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement recognizes high intellectual achievement while encouraging education and promoting creativity throughout the Commonwealth. Candidates must have been born in Kentucky or studied, worked or lived in Kentucky for at

By Torie Johnson, Kathy Johnson

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) today announced the winners of its first ever Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Awards. The awards honor professors from SEC universities with outstanding records in teaching and scholarship who serve as role models for other faculty and students. The University of Kentucky's recognized professor is Steven W. Yates, professor of chemistry, physics, and astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

In presenting the awards, the SEC becomes the only Division I conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) currently recognizing university faculty for their achievements, unrelated to athletics or student-athletes

By Sarah Geegan

The UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program will host the author, director, full cast and technical crew of Silas House's new play, "This is My Heart For You," fresh from its world premiere at Berea College. The cast will do a staged reading, accompanied by projected images of the world premiere event, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 15, in Memorial Hall.

House, a Kentucky author whose novels have attained major prizes and spanned across national best-seller lists, sold out the first three performances of his play on the night of the world premiere.

"

By Guy Spriggs

Joe Sutliff Sanders is a professor at Kansas State University specializing in children’s literature. But according to Sanders, he found his way into children’s literature – and eventually into a job at one of the field’s leading programs – by accident.

As he was finishing his dissertation at the University of Kentucky in 2005 and preparing to enter the job market, Sanders took note of a series of interesting job offers.

“I kept coming across all these children’s literature positions,” he explained. “I kept saying, ‘It’s too bad that I don’t do children’s literature.’”

Then, Sanders says, he realized that his whole project was directly related to his future field.

Sanders started applying for those positions and found himself in the middle of

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On Veterans Day, 2013, we were pleased to rededicate Buell Armory in memory of Colonel Lawrence A. Floro, Jr.  This rededication marked the official end of phase two of the Buell Armory and Barker Hall renovation project we started in 2011.  The project began with a vision to bring the Armory on par with the rest of the buildings on campus and provide a learning and training environment conducive for proper Cadet development.  Senior leaders in the university and an extensive community of generous alumni and supporters of the program believed in our vision.  Together, they teamed to contribute more than $500,000 for the renovation.  With that money we were able to recreate a professional space that welcomes Cadets, athletes, faculty, and

By Katy Bennet, Student Activities Board

Kentucky-bred writers Hope Johnson and Bianca Spriggs will share their stories of the transition from student to writer and establishing their names and work within the community at the James Baker Hall Writers Series at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, in Student Center's Center Theater. This event is free and is sponsored by the Student Activities Board.



The evening will begin with an open mic opportunity for creative writers, students, faculty and community members to share their work followed by a reading and talk by each author.



Johnson finds influence for her work by growing up in Lexington. Johnson received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Kentucky and is currently a post-baccalaureate student. Johnson’s work has been

By Ann Kingsolver, Sarah Geegan

Author bell hooks will give the final lecture in the "Place Matters" series, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program. The lecture, "Reclaiming Place: Making Home," will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the Worsham Theater, with a reception following at the Appalachian Center (624 Maxwelton Court).

Writing as bell hooks, Kentucky-born Gloria Jean Watkins received her doctorate in literature from the University of California Santa Cruz and has taught at a number of universities across the country. She has published more than 30 books; her forthcoming book of poetry, "Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place," will be

Award-winning poet and A&S Creative Writing Professor Nikky Finney is featured on NPR's program Arts & Life. Finney was recently awarded the National Book Award in poetry for her collection of poems entitled, Head Off & Split. At the award ceremony, her acceptance speech received a standing ovation and almost as much acclaim as her poems themselves. The speech went through thirty nine drafts before it was finalized. To listen to the full story and read more, click here.

Gary King Lecture I



Date: Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 4:00 to 5:30pm

Location: Whitehall Classroom Builfing room #110

Who: Gary King (Harvard, Political Science)

When:  4 – 5:30 pm, Thursday, April 19th

Where: Whitehall Classroom Building  room #110

What: “How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression"



Gary King Lecture II

Date: Friday, April 20, 2012 - 2:30 to 4:00pm

Location: Mining & Mineral Resources Building Room #102

Who: Gary King (Harvard, Political Science)

When:  2:30 – 4 pm, Friday, April 20th

Where: Mining & Mineral Resources Building room #102 (next to the Boone Center Faculty Club)

What: “

Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 4:00pm to 6:30pm

Location: President's Room, Singletary Center

Gender & Women's Studies Spring 2012 Lecture Series presents Queens:

Karen Tice, Professor of Education and Gender and Women's Studies, will present "Queens of Academe:  Campus Pageantry and Student Life"

Lecture begins at 4:00pm with a reception to follow.

GWS Symposium: Tamara Mose Brown, "Building a Community of Mothers: Under the Watchful Eye"

Date: Friday, April 13, 2012 - 1:00pm to 3:30pm

Location: 18th Floor Patterson Office Tower

GWS Symposium:

A gathering of people from the university and the community who will speak to various issues with regard to motherhood, including but not limited to: Mothering the elderly

Queer Parenting

Mothering while in the academy

Mothering, class, and reproduction

Tamara Mose Brown, author of Raising Brooklyn:  Nannies, Childcare, and Carribeans Creating Community, will lead the discussion around the idea of "Building a Community of Mothers: Under the Watchful Eye". 

18th Floor of Patterson Office Tower, 1:00pm

Tamara Mose Brown: "Nanny Networks: A

By Whitney Hale, Lea Mann

The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 10 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.

Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities. Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession are given equal consideration.

UK's

By Sarah Geegan

UK anthropology Professor Sarah Lyon's recent work was described by the Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA) as the best book in economic anthropology in three years. Her subject: coffee.

While many people believe that drinking fair-trade coffee, purchased directly from the growers, promotes healthier working conditions, environmentally friendly agricultural standards and fair prices, Lyon's work, "Coffee and Community: Maya Farmers and Fair-Trade Markets," analyzes the real implications of fair-trade networks.

Centering on the lives of Maya coffee farmers in Guatemala, the book examines the question: what is the reality for producers, intermediaries

By Sarah Geegan

Frank X Walker, professor in the UK Department of English and the African American and Africana Studies Program, will read and discuss his poetry at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 9, at Midway College's Anne Hart Raymond Center. The event is sponsored by Chapter F, a local chapter of the International organization, P.E.O.

A local poet, professor and playwright, Walker provides "an eclectic, powerful mixture of liberating style, profound insight and unwavering organic connection to the intellectual, political and cultural struggles of people," said Ricky Jones, professor at the University of Louisville's Department of Pan-African Studies.

Walker’s work captures the profound feelings

By Whitney Hale

Choice magazine has named two books published by the University Press of Kentucky (UPK) as Outstanding Academic Titles in its January issue. "After the Dream: Black and White Southerners since 1965" and "How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders," written by UK alumna Maryjean Wall, made the list of titles the publication recommended to its readership.

Choice's "Outstanding Academic Titles, 2011" reveals the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice magazine for the year. The honor brings with it extraordinary recognition from the academic library community as more than 35,000 academic librarians, faculty and decision makers use reviews in Choice magazine and from