By Jessica Powers

Universities are in constant motion – students and faculty alike are always seeking to gain and refine more knowledge. Your intellectual perspective and personal development continually expand, even for the most senior of faculty. That is why Associate Professor of English Andy Doolen is interested in Social Theory, a program that allows him access to new perspectives and intellectual growth.

After coming to UK in 2003, Professor Doolen accepted an invitation to become the Social Theory faculty mentor for disClosure, an annual, graduate student managed journal, which immersed him with the students and their publication. The journal, in its twentieth year, accepts submissions from a

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences will host a trailblazing American diplomat next week to continue the college's Year of China initiative.

Former U.S. Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch will speak on “Leadership and Education in a Globalizing World: China’s Challenge” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's campus.

Bloch’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the "Passport to China: Global Issues & Local Understanding" course taught by UK sociology Professor Keiko Tanaka.

Ambassador Bloch, the first Asian-American ambassador in American history, has had a broad career in U.S. government service. She is currently president of the U.S.-China Education Trust, a nonprofit organization working

By Kathy Johnson

Mark Kornbluh, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences was the guest on last night's "UK at the Half," which aired during the UK vs. Transylvania University game that aired on radio last night.  "UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing. To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click on the play button below. To view a transcript of the "UK at the Half" interview, click here.

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky was recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education this week as a top producer of U.S. Fulbright Scholars for the 2011-12 academic year, with five recipients as of Oct. 7.

UK is a top producer of Fulbright Scholars among research institutions, according to the Chronicle's listing.

The prestigious Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international exchange program of the U.S. and provides grants that allow distinguished academics to spend extended periods of time studying and teaching at foreign universities.

Economics Professor

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky's College of Arts & Sciences continues to expand its language offerings this year, as the UK Board of Trustees approved a Chinese studies major in early fall 2011 on the heels of Japan studies last year.

"We've gotten a lot of positive student response," said Matt Wells, professor of Chinese and director of Undergraduate Studies for the new major. "The program offers four years of Chinese language, study abroad opportunities and an interdisciplinary curriculum covering modern and pre-modern Chinese culture."

A major couldn't come too soon, as the number of students studying Chinese has experienced 20-30 annual growth, according to Wells. "We have more students in our 101 classes now than there were in 101, 201

By Erin Holaday Ziegler, Arielle Parker

A University of Kentucky club is bringing anthropology to life and giving students hands-on experience with a prehistoric weapon whose popularity peaked 30,000 years ago.

Since its founding last year, the CATLATL Club at UK has introduced many students to the atlatl: a long-range, spear-throwing weapon that resembles a bow and arrow and ball thrower.

The atlatl, which employs basic physics to launch a dart at a designated target, is a spear-like device with three main parts: the handle (grip), the shaft and the peg. The dart is located at the rear of the atlatl and then launched by snapping the wrist. The atlatl launches a dart with more force and speed than when thrown by hand. And in prehistoric times

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky will host 40 of the world's experts in early modern France at an interdisciplinary conference this week.

The 30th Annual Conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies (SE17) will begin Thursday, Nov. 3, with scholarly papers and discussion. The meeting will be held in the Blue Grass Room of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Lexington and is free and open to the public.

Jeffrey Peters, the director of UK's Division of French and Italian Studies, organized the three-day scholarly get-together.

"The nature of literary studies has really changed in recent years,"

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

When University of Kentucky freshman Gareth Voss was a student at Lexington's Dunbar High School and was tasked with finding a UK professor to work with on a Math, Science, and Technology Center (MSTC) senior project, he never thought that a common email mix-up would have such a lasting effect on his scholarly trajectory.

At the time, Gareth Voss's dad, UK political science Professor Dennis Stephen Voss, happened to receive quite a few emails by mistake pertaining to the work of UK biology Professor Stephen Randal Voss. The unrelated email addresses are unavoidably similar.

When Gareth Voss began looking for an MSTC topic the summer

By Brad Duncan, Jenny Wells

 Using the Halloween holiday as a backdrop for their lessons, students in the University of Kentucky College of Education's Master's with Initial Certification (MIC) program worked with students from the UK Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) to help them prepare for their upcoming TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams while they also learned how to work with ESL students.

MIC students were placed in groups and charged with developing curricula to teach English language principles using Halloween topics, from making masks to solving puzzles to learning the basics of trick-or-treating as done by children in the United States. Then each group assembled in UK Taylor

The University of Kentucky's Clinical Psychology program took the number one spot in a national study of productivity rankings, meaning that UK psychology graduate students and professors in the College of Arts & Sciences are generating a host of novel research that is effective and influential as well.

By Erin Holaday Ziegler, Andrew Jarrells

Lexington's Isaac Murphy Bicycle Club grew out of writer and avid cycler Frank X Walker's vision. The English professor and director of UK's African American and Africana Studies Program wanted to link inner city children to Lexington's Legacy Trail by providing them with bicycles and the equipment needed to enjoy a bike ride.

Furthermore, Walker wanted young participants to have access to mentors; mentors would provide training, education and diet guidance to Lexington's youth.

The bicycle club is named for Isaac Murphy, who grew up on the East End of Lexington, was a three-time Kentucky Derby winner and the

Close, intimate relationships are an essential part of human existence. And obviously, when a partner cheats, it isn't exactly going to brighten your day. New research by Nathan DeWall and colleagues explored the role of attachment style in cheating behavior and attitudes. Read the full article.

Allison Harnish is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology. Harnish recently received a Fulbright Grant to conduct research on the environmental and economic ramifications of displacement and resettlement in Southern Province, Zambia. Harnish was invited to participate on this project by Lisa Cliggett, her advisor. Many social and environmental scientists have been involved in this project for the last few decades.

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/Documenting%20Displacement_%…

Diwali is known as the "festival of lights" and is being celebrated with vibrant Indian dance, music and food. Diwali Dhoom is open to the campus community and the general public. The event will feature a talent show including performances from the University of Cincinnati, University of Louisville, Wright State University and other competitive teams. The event will be followed by a reception featuring a traditional Indian dinner menu.

Tickets are available at the Singletary Center center box-office or online. The prices are $17.95 for students and $19.95 for adults (subject to Singletary Ticketing fees); tickets do include the price of dinner. Dinner is being provided by Shalimar Indian Restaurant from Louisville.

For more

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky is one of America's first universities to receive students from the southwest Asian state of Oman in a five-year scholarship agreement with the nation's Ministry of Higher Education.  UK welcomed 50 undergraduate students to campus last week.

Most Omani students will be registering for American engineering, computer science and business courses in January 2012, after an intensive English language program (IELP) at their respective university, but UK has the ability to enroll students now, due to its English as a Second Language Program's (ESL)'s mid-fall admit date.

"Our Center for English as a Second Language has increasingly become an integral part of the academic program at UK, as we seek to provide academic advising even before the students

Russian studies, 2008

During my four years at the University of Kentucky, I discovered my passion in life. My freshman year, I signed up for a Russian language class, and just fell in love with the language, the culture, and the literature of the Russian people. I had the incredible opportunity to take language classes from full professors, one of whom is the head of the department! I have since learned that a professor teaching an introductory language course is a rarity, as they are generally taught at universities by lecturers or graduate students, as well as an incredible treat. My first year teacher could answer any possible question I had in a completely logical way, and her enthusiasm for the subject was absolutely contagious. I am now teaching my own first year Russian class at Indiana University in Bloomington, and one of my goals is to impart the very clear

Date:
Friday, OCtober 28, 2011 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Location:
228 Student Center

"Re-thinking Difference"

According to Heidegger, the difference between being and beings is the most essential difference of all. Not surprisingly it is a constant in his thinking from beginning to end. Yet in the course of his work, he re-thinks this difference fundamentally, recognizing its at times ambivalent sense and even insisting on the need to abandon various versions of it, particularly as he foregoes his early project of fundamental ontology. His re-thinking of the difference plays a crucial role in his attempt to differentiate the leading question (Leitfrage) of metaphysics from the basic question (Grundfrage) of his thinking, especially in his work from the mid-1930s on. Consideration of Heidegger’s re-thinking of the difference between being and beings thus

Professor Brandon Look has been invited to be the Hans Kohn Member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey for academic year 2011-12.

The Institute for Advanced Study is a private, independent research center, founded in 1930, whose goal is to foster and support theoretical research and intellectual inquiry in the sciences and humanities.  It is divided into four Schools -- Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences  -- and has a permanent faculty of 28 distinguished thinkers.  Each year the Institute invites approximately 190 scientists and scholars from around the world to be members and to work and study within its community.

Past faculty have included Albert Einstein, Kurt Gödel, Hermann Weyl,

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

Four individuals will join the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame during a ceremony this evening at the Keene Barn and Entertainment Center. 

The school's Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding alumni, faculty and students whose foundation for success can be found in the Arts and Sciences.

"We are tremendously pleased about inducting these outstanding Arts and Sciences graduates and faculty into our Hall of Fame," said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "As our students prepare for their own journeys, the achievements of our award-winning alumni and faculty serve as an inspiration, bringing honor to the entire university and improving the quality of life for the

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky's College of Arts & Sciences welcomes an internationally renowned filmmaker to campus next week to discuss the history and memory of China's Cultural Revolution.

Sociology professor Keiko Tanaka will show scholar and filmmaker Carma Hinton's award-winning documentary, "Morning Sun," to UK's "Passport to China: Global Issues & Local Understanding," class at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Room 118 Classroom Building.

Hinton will join Tanaka's class at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27 for a discussion of the film. Both the film viewing and the discussion are open to the public.

"We are fortunate to have such a wonderful opportunity to hear a renowned director and great public speaker discuss her film in person," said assistant professor of Chinese literature and