by Erin Holaday Ziegler

If you understand Kentucky history, you understand American history, according to former University of Kentucky history Professor Daniel Blake Smith.

"If the nation is a body, then Kentucky is the heart," Smith said, quoting Kentucky poet Jesse Stuart. "Through issues such as industrialization and land use, the country can learn a lot from Kentucky's past."

Narrated by film star Ashley Judd, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner and written and produced by Smith, “Kentucky—An American Story” is a provocative and entertaining documentary about the revealing connections between Kentucky's and America's past. The film premieres at 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 24, on Kentucky Educational

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

Two University of Kentucky professors and acclaimed authors were awarded honorary degrees this past weekend.

Gurney Norman, UK English professor



Gurney Norman, Kentucky Poet Laureate in 2009-10 and director of UK's Creative Writing Program, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Berea College on Sunday, May 8. The acclaimed Appalachian author addressed 240 candidates for graduation during Berea's 139th commencement.



Born in Grundy, Va., and raised in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, Norman graduated from UK in 1959 with degrees in literature and creative writing. There,

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

A child’s ability to focus on a videogames is not necessarily the type of focus parents should look for when determining attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.



In fact, increased focus on a screen as opposed to other activities is actually a characteristic of ADHD, according to pediatrician Perri Klass.



"Is a child’s fascination with the screen a cause or an effect of attention problems — or both? It’s a complicated question that researchers are still struggling to tease out," Klass wrote in a recent New York Times story.



Klass references University of Kentucky psychology professors Elizabeth Lorch

by Erin Holaday Ziegler



From the complexity of Proctor and Gamble's profit-maximizing strategies, to the seeming simplicity of a crepe myrtle's determination of how much root mass to grow, the world makes decisions in a spectacular array of circumstances.



Most academic disciplines at the University of Kentucky address the process of decision making in some way. According to UK biology Professor Philip Crowley, there's a rich mix of similarities and differences in approach among the disciplines that provides great opportunities for cross-fertilization when it comes to studying decision making.



"For example, there are different goals for the decision making process in different fields, such as profit maximization in

by Whitney Hale

Seven students and recent graduates from the University of Kentucky and two 2010 alumnae were selected as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2011-2012 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. In addition, one of UK's nine winners, alumna Jordan Covvey, received the prestigious three-year Fulbright-Strathclyde Research Award.



"I am excited the Fulbright Program has chosen to honor nine of UK's students, our largest class of Fulbright Scholars to date," says Lisa Broome-Price, director of the UK Office of External Scholarships. "We

I recently stepped in on a planning session between Professor Mark Watson and the Community and Education Coordinator of Lexington’s Explorium, Katherine Shaw.  Preparing for the Explorium’s second annual week-long Chemistry Summer Camp, Watson and Shaw talked lightheartedly about what gets young kids excited about learning about concepts such as viscosity, electrolysis and recrystalization.  They both agreed (without a doubt) that science really is fun for young kids. The challenge is keeping third and fourth graders engaged throughout their academic career. “We do not have to build an interest in science, just not squash it,” Watson said. 

As the kids competed with experiments that require slimy tadpoles and growing fish, Watson shared a few lessons he has learned as an educator and a father. According to his experiences

UK Paved the Way

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/original.mp3

Jeffery Burch is a graduate from the University of Kentucky. He currently serves as president of the Atlanta Alumni club in Georgia, volunteers as a student recruiter in the Atlanta area, and is an avid UK sports fan. His experiences at UK paved the way for the rest of his career.

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All students at the University of Kentucky have to take multiple classes in the College of Arts and Sciences to fulfill their general education requirements.

But in today’s increasingly specialized world, some people question the practicality and benefits of classes in the liberal arts: sure, studying English is quaint, but unnecessary; history is a good hobby, but nothing more; a foreign language is interesting, but that’s all.

They beg the question, who needs the liberal arts?

Ask UK A&S graduates, however, and they will readily tell you that their education in the liberal arts greatly rewarded them both professionally and personally.

Their answer: everyone needs the liberal arts.

“Arts and Sciences offers the courses that are foundational for any educated person,” said Anna Bosch, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College. “We

Tonya and Jackie Jones giggle like best friends over the remnants of a casual lunch. You almost feel like you're intruding in attempts to capture their attention. Mother and daughter never seem to tire of each other's company, especially considering they live together in the Jones family home in Lexington and both work part time at the Inn on Broadway downtown.

"We do everything together," Jackie Jones laughed. "And this is no different."

In this instance, Jackie is alluding to her impending May Commencement Ceremony, where she will graduate with a degree in history. Tonya Jones will have a front row seat for her daughter's graduation, as she is receiving a degree in history from UK as well.

"I refused to let her graduate before me," joked

Graduate Student

By Megan Neff

Photos by Mark Cornelison

Natalie Glover bears no material resemblance to Wassily Kandinski.

But the 23-year-old psychology graduate student has dealt with the abstract in ways that parallel this Russian abstract painter and art theorist.

The most obvious parallel is that Glover is a painter too. And like Kandinski, she realizes the intrinsic value of art in dealing with matters of human nature; of reflecting not only what is aesthetically pleasing, but also what is internally revealing.

“The older I get, the more I study, the more confident I become,” said Glover. “And I find that in my art. More and more I’m starting to do original work, most of it abstract. I’m starting to trust in my abilities more.”

Though Glover’s path did not lead to pioneering a new school of art, it

A&S Ambassador - Cameron Hamilton

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/hamilton.mp3

Cameron Hamilton serves as a K Crew Coordinator for UK's K Week for incoming students, as well as serving as an A&S Ambassador. Hamilton discusses new initiatives that  the K Crew Coordinators are working on, as well as the personal and professional benefits of being a K Crew Coordinator and A&S Ambassador.

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"Back home … there's nothing like it."

To say that University of Kentucky biology graduate Kellie Farthing loves Eastern Kentucky is an understatement.

Farthing is as proud of her accent as she is her hometown. She's proud of her sister, who graduated from the University of Kentucky last year with a 4.0 GPA in psychology. There's also her mom and three other siblings and the nieces and nephews, many who have remained in Martin, Ky.

"Martin probably has a couple thousand people. I graduated high school with a class of 83, to put it in perspective," Farthing said. "I say that I'm halfway between Pikeville and Hazard… people usually know one place or the other."

Farthing will gladly be moving back in with her mom after graduation, having accepted a two-year contract with Teach for America in its inaugural

Rebecca Street Undergraduate Student by Amber Scott photos by Mark Cornelison

Rebecca Street grew up in Clemson, S.C., a town known for being the home of Clemson University, for historic houses and for thick Southern drawls. Also for neighboring Greenville, S.C., home to BMW's North American Headquarters, and it is this latter fact, oddly enough, that set Street on the path to studying linguistics at the University of Kentucky. "In high school, I did an exchange program in Germany that was sponsored by BMW since my high school had one of the best German language programs in the state," she said. "It was my first time being abroad, and it really got me interested in what life is like in other places. That was my inspiration for deciding that languages and other cultures were what I was interested in." Drawing on that newfound interest and an off-the-cuff suggestion from

When the University of Kentucky established the Committee on Social Theory in 1989, it was one of the first of its kind.

The committee, in the College of Arts and Sciences, provides one of the most engaging teaching, research and learning experiences at UK, including 75 affiliated faculty from 17 departments and schools across campus. 

 "The program is premised on the belief that major social questions and problems, issues of our time and of earlier periods, that touch all of us, can be investigated constructively across disciplinary and theoretical divides, between scholars and intellectuals, particularly of the humanities and the social sciences, as well as, we believe, the physical and life sciences,” said Social Theory Director and French Professor