In case you missed it during the hectic holiday season, A&S English professor Nikky Finney was featured on “UK at the Half” with Carl Nathe during the UK vs. Loyola basketball game. Finney’s book, “Head Off & Split,” was the winner of the 2011 National Book Award in Poetry. The National Book Awards is one of the most anticipated events in the publishing world. Finney has taught at UK for decades and is a member of the Affrilachian Poets group that includes Frank X Walker and Kelly Norman Ellis.

To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click here.

As the semester comes to a close, I want to take a moment to recognize several faculty members and students who were recently honored for their outstanding accomplishments.

Six UK professors have been recognized for their excellence in the classroom with the UK Alumni Association 2012 Great Teacher Awards. Beginning in 1961, the Great Teacher Award is the oldest continuous award that recognizes teaching at UK – the nominations are made by students. A&S faculty include Arne Bathke, director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Statistics and director of the Applied Statistics Laboratory; Eric Christianson, associate professor in the Department of History; and Ana Rueda, chairwoman and professor of Peninsular Spanish Literature in the Department of Hispanic Studies. The recipients will be honored at the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Recognition Dinner on Jan. 17, 2012. They are scheduled for further honors at Rupp Arena during the Arkansas vs. Kentucky men’s basketball game later that evening.

The iPad is an amazing piece of technology that can take us anywhere we want to go. But, aside from being a portal to the internet, game console, and personal music machine (iTunes – you’ve probably lost count of the songs you’ve downloaded), it also has applications that can be functional in the classroom.

Winter break and the holidays are fast approaching. Students – have you made plans for winter intersession yet? If not, A&S is offering classes during the break for those students interested in gaining extra credit hours and speeding up time to graduation. It’s a great time to pick up an extra class in your major or explore a topic you find intriguing. For example, we are offering a new online course for those students interested in an overview of technologies we use every day. The class, A&S 100 – 230: IT IQ will allow you to sharpen your IT IQ and learn about video conferencing, software installation, internet research tools, and Blackboard basics – just to name a few – and earn extra credit hours in the process. This class will familiarize you with technologies, research tools, and search engines that are important to your success at UK and beyond. Become a better digital citizen and learn about social networking and e-etiquette as you communicate through Facebook, Twitter, email, and blogs. To learn more about the class, click here.

As part of our Year of China, A&S is pleased to welcome former United States Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch to campus on Thursday November 10. She will speak on “Leadership and Education in a Globalizing World: China’s Challenge.” Ambassador Bloch was the first Asian-American ambassador in U.S. history and served in a wide range of positions, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Information Agency, the U.S. Senate, and from 1989 to 1993 served as U.S. ambassador to Nepal. She is currently president of the U.S. – China Education Trust, a nonprofit organization working to develop U.S. – China relations through education and exchanges.

Ambassador Bloch has devoted her career to increasing international understanding and after a career of distinguished public service, she is now pioneering efforts to grow exchange relationships between the United States and China. We are especially fortunate to have her come to UK to talk with our students and the broader academic community. We hope you will attend this lecture given by a trailblazing U.S. diplomat.