By Sarah Geegan

Author and communication researcher Mary L. Gray will discuss how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth construct spaces for fashioning their emerging sexual identities, in the first lecture of this semester's "Place Matters" series, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, on Friday, Jan. 27. 

The lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m., in the Center Theatre at the UK Student Center, with a reception to follow at the UK Appalachian Center.

After Gray's lecture, there will be a screening of four short films about growing up gay in Eastern Kentucky, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. The

By Kathy Johnson

WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  Today's program highlights Frank X Walker, associate professor in the Department of English and recently recognized by Oxford American Magazine as one of the most creative teachers in the South.

To listen to the podcast interview with Walker, from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, click here.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each Friday on WUKY 91.3, UK's NPR station.

by Jonathon Spalding

LEXINGTON, Ky.— Jacqueline Couti, UK professor of French and Italian Studies/Gender and Women Studies, has organized an event that will include renowned scholars Nick Nesbitt, Valérie Loichot and Myriam Chancy in discussing the current research in the field of French Caribbean Studies. Sponsored by the UK College of Arts & Sciences, this event will take a closer look at the Caribbean beyond its stereotypes. 

“Many people often associate the Caribbean with sun, sea and sex in mind,” said Couti, “simplistic and stereotypical views prevent us from seeing histories of survival, of self-determination and resilience against all odds.” 

The two-day symposium kicks off on Feb. 2rd from 4:45-6:30 p.m. in the Niles Art Gallery and is titled, “Narrating the Caribbean: Food for Thought and Food for Soul”.

Loichot will join Couti in examining

By Whitney Hale

Ainsley Wagoner, a University of Kentucky architecture senior from Lexington, will present the 18th annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. Wagoner’s lecture, which focuses on the role memory plays in haptic architecture, is free and open to the public.
 
The Breathitt Lectureship was designed to honor an outstanding UK alumnus with an exceptional interest in higher education and the humanities, Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. The lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate who has eloquently expressed the qualities of

By Gail Hairston, Amy Jones, Kody Kiser

Six University of Kentucky professors were honored last night by the UK Alumni Association for the excellence they demonstrate in the classroom.

Click here for a transcription of the video above.

This year’s recipients of the 2012 Great Teacher Awards are:

Steven Yates is an Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor who works in the departments of both Chemistry and Physics and Astronomy.

In this interview, Yates discusses his recent collaboration with the iThemba Laboratory, a nuclear particle accelerator facility in Cape Town, South Africa.

This podcast was produced by Stephen Gordinier.

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/Steven%20Yates%20-%20Final.mp3

By Sarah Geegan

In the second semester of his senior year, University of Kentucky undergraduate Jeremy Puckett is attempting an accomplishment normally undertaken by professors — publishing a book.

Though his book is fiction, Puckett said it reveals a real perspective on the experience of growing up in rural Kentucky. He describes his novel, "Black Bottom Hollow," a horror story set in the Kentucky backwoods, as a way to portray southerners as heroic. 

"There are a lot of stories where Appalachians are the villains," Puckett said. "But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a novel in the horror or fantasy genres that treated them as heroes."

The novel depicts an 8-year-old boy brought back to life by his family after dying in car accident. With black magic, deadly

Date: Saturday, January 14 at 11:00am
Location: The Lyric Theater

By Colleen Glenn

A new year is just starting, but an important community series at the Lyric is already underway. “Rebuilding the Block,” the S.T. Roach Community Conversations, kicked off in December and will continue through the spring. 

The second annual series is a collaborative project created by UK’s African American and Africana Studies Program in partnership with the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center. Faculty members from across the University of Kentucky are involved in the project.

“The idea is to broaden access to university professors beyond the campus,” says Frank X Walker, Professor of African American and Africana Studies and Creative Writing. “We wanted to

When my students ask me why I became a Latin teacher, I often tell them it was fate. This, obviously, is the short answer I give during class time when they have asked an off-topic question to avoid conjugating deponent verbs or learning about gerunds and gerundives. The truth of the matter is that I have grown to love the Latin language and couldn’t imagine my life without it. I was introduced to the wide world of Latin in college, continued my education until I was satisfied with my level of learning, and then  entered into the teaching profession at a college preparatory school.

The long and the short of it:

My first day on Western Washington’s campus for freshman orientation was bright and sunny. Naturally, I accessorized with short, hot-pink hair and old army fatigues I had found at the Army Navy supply for cheap. I walked over to my assigned classroom and sat in