By Kami Rice
photos by Richie Wireman

When he enlisted, Master Sergeant Jason Skinner wasn’t planning on a career in the military. He simply needed money to help pay for the birth of his daughter, and a stint in uniform could provide it. So just out of high school, he made a three-year commitment to the Army. Now 17 years later, he’s still wearing his military fatigues.

“I didn’t come in for a greater good,” Skinner acknowledged. “But after being [in the Army] and falling in love with the people and being part of an organization that’s bigger than yourself, that’s why I stayed.”

In March, Skinner arrived at UK from Fort Riley in Kansas to serve as the senior military instructor with UK’s ROTC “Wildcat Battalion.” In his new role, the 35-year-old Indiana native serves as the right-hand support for 

UK professor of Political Science Mark Peffley's most recent publication, "Justice in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites" was awarded the Robert Lane Award from the Political Psychology Section of the American Political Science Association. Available from Cambridge University Press, the book is co-authored by Professor Jon Hurwtiz of the University of Pittsburgh.

Peffley & Hurwitz's research uses innovative survey experiments to uncover how whites and blacks formulate and use their widely differing views of the fairness of the

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

A Kentucky-produced educational film on the state's archaeology did more than just debut on the west coast.

"Historic Archaeology: Beneath Kentucky's Fields and Streets," produced by the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS), the Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) and Voyageur Media Group, Inc, garnered three awards at the 8th Annual Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival in Eugene, Ore. This program, the third volume in the council's popular “Kentucky Archaeology” series, was made possible with support from the Federal Highway Administration and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Chosen as one of only 18

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky will welcome a Nicholas County native to campus this fall as the university continues its mission to unite and strengthen its Appalachia programming.

Internationally renowned cultural anthropologist Ann Kingsolver has accepted the positions of director of the Appalachian Studies Program and director of the Appalachian Center at UK.

“I am thrilled that Dr. Kingsolver will be joining us in the College of Arts and Sciences and at the university,” said College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Lawrence Kornbluh. “Her expertise in Appalachian studies and her lifelong dedication to the region and culture will reverberate well beyond the classroom

The University of Kentucky will welcome a Nicholas County native to campus this fall as the university continues its mission to unite and strengthen its Appalachia programming.

Internationally renowned cultural anthropologist Ann Kingsolver has accepted the positions of director of the Appalachian Studies Program and director of the Appalachian Center at UK.

“I am thrilled that Dr. Kingsolver will be joining us in the College of Arts and Sciences and at the university,” said 

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by Erin Holaday Ziegler

Kathryn Cunningham is an active person. She is a lifelong vegetarian who consumes a healthy diet 95 percent of the time. She enjoys food, and fitting into her clothes remains a priority.

Cunningham is a wife, mother, student, teacher and consultant to faculty and staff members at the University of Kentucky. She's very much like you and me. And like all of us, she found devoting hours a day to exercise to be challenging.

However, it was a challenge Cunningham was able to overcome in an innovative way.

Innovation plays a daily role in Cunningham's job designing course material as a faculty/instructional consultant at UK's Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), so the thought of abandoning her desk chair for a treadmill didn't seem like such an outrageous

by Guy Spriggs

Cassie Hardin was sure that she wanted to explore her passion for studying languages after arriving at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2008, but she also knew that she getting tired of more traditional romance languages. She wanted something new; she wanted a new horizon.

So how did Hardin arrive at her decision to pursue courses in UK’s Chinese Studies program? She left it up to chance.

“I wanted a new challenge, so I flipped a coin: did I want to do Japanese or did I want to do Chinese. It landed on Chinese, so I went with Chinese and I’m so glad.”

In the spring of 2010, Hardin was presented with a unique opportunity to travel to China for the Conversational Chinese in Shanghai Program through Education Abroad at UK. The program, directed by UK professor Liang Luo, was the inaugural exchange program for the new Confucius

by Matthew Patton

There’s more than 4,300 miles separating Morehead, KY and Berlin, Germany. For Ben Williams, it was a gap that would be bridged thanks, in part, to his experiences at the University of Kentucky.

Hailing from Morehead, Williams graduated from Rowan County Senior High. From there, he went to the University of Kentucky, followed by a graduate degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. His parents still live in Morehead, where his mother works in the Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop and his father as a professor at Morehead State. His two sisters live in Lexington.

Inspiration

When studying at UK, he was

by A&S staff
photos by Dana Rogers

A basic connection between the texts of theater and their staging as performance is undeniable. Yet, in most universities today, these disciplines tend to be rigidly divided into separate colleges and departments – literature and languages; the performing arts. In an effort to join together what should have never been separated, Arts & Sciences French professor Suzanne Pucci from the 

The Rural Sociological Society has recognized Shannon Bell and Richard York for Best Article. The article, “Community Economic Identity: The Coal Industry and Ideology Construction in West Virginia,” was published in March 2010 in Rural Sociology, the Society’s journal. Shannon Bell is an assistant professor of sociology at UK; Richard York, who co-authored the article, is a professor at the University of Oregon. 

In their article, Bell and York address the relationship between capitalist modes of production and ecological destruction. Using the Appalachian coal industry as a case study, they demonstrate the ways in which declines in coal industry jobs and

Stan Brunn, geography professor, author, and editor of various publications has edited the three-volume set “Engineering Earth: The Impacts of Megaengineering Projects.” Springer Publishing released it this year; the whole set contains 126 chapters over 2250 pages. Dick Gilbreath produced many of the figures in the work.
 
There is an introductory chapter by Stan Brunn and Andy Wood; and there is another chapter authored by Brunn. In addition to many well known scholars from across the world, the names of many UK alums appear in the table of contents, including Mark Graham, John Bowen, Ben Smith, Darren Purcell and Jerry Webster. UK students

by Whitney Hale, Erin Holaday, & Jessica Hancock

The University of Kentucky Asia Center will host a Chado (Japanese tea ceremony) demonstration at 2 p.m. on May 29 and June 12 at the Art Museum at UK.

The tea ceremony is designed to take a few moments to close out the world and find a moment of peace and tranquility. Chado, meaning "the way of tea," is a way to self-discipline, inner strength and peace. The ceremony is designed to contain different elements of the Japanese arts, including pottery, calligraphy, lacquer work and more.

"In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea; I see all of nature represented in its green color. Closing my eyes I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart. Silently sitting alone and drinking tea, I feel these become a part of me," was the way that Sen

by Brad Duncan and Jenny Wells

Celebrating its 13th year, the University of Kentucky College of Education’s Teachers Who Made a Difference program honored its newest group of educators at the 2011 ceremony held Saturday, April 30. More than 140 educators from nine states were recognized for the significant influence they have had in the lives of their students.

"The University of Kentucky College of Education prides itself on preparing great teachers," said Mary Ann Vimont, the college's director of Public Relations and Student, Alumni and Community Affairs. "As part of our mission, we also think it is important to honor those teachers who are making a difference in the lives of their students, here in Kentucky and across the country."

The program got its start

by Erin Holaday Ziegler and Jessica Hancock

A 2009 film exploring the history that lies beneath Kentuckians' feet is one of 18 films to be featured in this year's Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival in Eugene, Ore.

"Historic Archaeology: Beneath Kentucky's Fields and Streets," produced by the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS), the Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) and Voyageur Media Group, Inc., will make its west coast debut on Saturday, May 28.

The festival began May 24 and includes five days of juried films and videos on archaeological and indigenous topics as well as a conference on Cultural Heritage Films.

"This is a great honor for KAS and Kentucky archaeology in general," said KAS

There is a wonderful program at Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY called the Appalachian Media Institute that I am excited to have the opportunity to work for this summer.  Appalshop was founded in 1969 as a non-profit multi-media arts and cultural organization dedicated to preserving Appalachian culture as well as addressing the issues that the Appalachian region is confronted with.  They have a community radio station that broadcasts throughout the area as well as internationally streaming on the web.  They have also produced numerous films, some of which were played at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City last fall. 

Check out all that Appalshop has to offer here: 

Christie Shrestha, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, was contacted by the United Nations' High Committee on Refugees to publish an abridged version of her MA thesis, which was published in 2010. Her thesis, "Power and politics in resettlement: a case study of Bhutanese refugees in the USA," is based on research conducted in 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. 

The article, as it appears in the UNHCR series, "New Issues in Refugee Research," can be found here.

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

A former chemistry student digs with small tools, the size of those a dentist might use, next to an aspiring business titan from another life, who lightly brushes away dirt clods with almost maternal care.

"Sometimes I'll be working, and three or four hours will fly by," the former business student says. "It's absorbing."

Both are part of a team working to record and analyze the remains of over 125 patients buried on the historic grounds of Eastern State Hospital, the second-oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. 

David Pollack, director of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS) and adjunct  professor of anthropology at the University of Kentucky, has brought together professional archaeologists and anthropology graduate and undergraduate students for the project.  

by Stephanie Lang

With the semester over, several members of the College of Arts & Sciences Geography Department hit the road on a research trip to Ouachita National Forest near Mena, Arkansas. The team includes geography professor and PI for the project, Jonathan Phillips, adjunct professor and research hydrologist with the United States Forest Service (USFS) Dan Marion, graduate students Stephanie Houck and James Jahnz, and undergraduates Megan Watkins and Eli Koslofsky. The team will work with two other USFS scientists, Ouachita National Forest hydrologist Alan Clingenpeel and soil scientist Jeff Olsen.

The main purpose of this study for the USFS is to examine the effects of off-highway vehicle (OHV) trails on streams. OHV trail crossings of streams are known to have adverse impacts on stream erosion, sedimentation, water quality, and aquatic habitat in

by Ann Blackford

Since she was 9 years old, University of Kentucky sophomore Lindsey Shipp has known what she wanted to do when she grew up. She made that decision in a hospital room not long after she was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes. Inspired by a caring team of doctors and a prayer, she knew she wanted to become an endocrinologist and teach other people how to live with diabetes.
 
Shipp, an anthropology major from Dry Ridge, is in many ways a typical college student. She loves her French class and studying different cultures, has a part-time job at the Johnson Center and squeezes in a game of golf when she can. What's not typical about Shipp is the tiny box the size of a pager that sits at her waist and feeds her body insulin through a tiny tube inserted in her abdomen.
 
Shipp has lived with diabetes for 10 years, and the last