by Jenny Wells

(March 25, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Cultural Diversity Festival committee and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government will present the fourth annual "UK Live at the Lyric" 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Lexington. 

Live at the Lyric is a talent showcase that brings together the UK and Lexington communities for a variety of culturally diverse performances, including song, dance and spoken word.  The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Deb Ross, co-chair of the Cultural Diversity Festival at debra.ross@uky.edu.

The mission of the UK Cultural Diversity Festival is to promote cultural awareness to

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 27, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2014) — Tearing down the walls of diversity is a task that requires one to think outside of the box. 'Boxes and Walls' is hosted by CATalyst, which has teamed up with six other organizations to build a multicultural museum for students to explore.

The exhibits are designed to personalize the struggle of tearing down these walls of oppression and to educate attendees on the impact of this persecution over time.

Keeping with this year's theme, "Oppression through Time," participating organizations are building their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.

Alexis Asamoah, president of the African Student Association, says that she hopes their exhibit will take attendees back in time.

“We would like students to understand the effects of colonization through an interactive

by Benjamin Kandt

(March 26, 2014) Carmen Martinez Novo has been an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Kentucky since 2011. Professor Novo’s research includes studies on indigenous immigration in Baja California, Mexico, and issues with indigenous peoples’ movements and indigenous human rights in Ecuador.  Her research has contributed to her election to the executive council of the prestigious Latin American Studies Association.

LASA’s mission is to foster intellectual

by Gail Hairston

(March 25, 2014) — An appearance by Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, author, speaker and commentator, on March 27 kicks off the two-day Conference on Political and Economic Inequality, hosted by the University of Kentucky Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ron Formisano, UK’s William T. Bryan Professor of History and organizer of the conference, said he was inspired to create the conference because “inequality is a major issue in the world today.

“But (inequality) is of particular

by Gail Hairston, Rob Theakston 

(March 25, 3014) -- The University of Kentucky Late Night Film Series hosts award-winning filmmaker, author and community activist dream hampton, who will be presenting an exclusive director's cut of her current documentary "Transparent" at 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, at the University of Kentucky Worsham Theater. Admission is free.

"Transparent" is the story of Shelly Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman living in Detroit who was brutally murdered. "Transparent" follows Hilliard's family and friends as they struggle to search for closure and tell the story of her life. The project is in its final phases and the Late Night Film Series will present a rough cut followed by a question and answer session with hampton, who prefers her name appear in lower case letters. A reception at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural

by Derrick Meads, Carmen Stinson

(March 25, 2014) — Have you ever wondered what it is like to be part of a culture totally different from your own? The Cross Cultural Workshop, held at Natural Bridge State Resort Park Saturday, March 29, will help students explore and understand intercultural experiences.

The workshop, hosted by the University of Kentucky International Center and CATalyst, will bring international and domestic students together to talk about culture, learn interactively from each other, and clear up confusion and tension that cultural discussions often cause.

Students will participate in simulations that will teach them how to react in culturally diverse situations, partake in group discussions, and

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2014) ­― As part of the year-long Viva Mexico program, University of Kentucky Libraries and the UK College of Arts and Sciences will host a speaker on “Mexico on the Digital Frontier: Creating Access in Archives and Libraries.” Linda Arnold, professor emerita of history at Virginia Tech University, will speak on the topic at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library on UK’s campus. A reception will follow in the Little Library foyer.

Arnold spent 29 years at Virginia Tech, where she developed and taught more than a dozen undergraduate writing-intensive courses, and directed nearly 30 undergraduate independent studies.  She was a pioneer in digital history who,

by Whitney Harder

(March 24, 2014) — Students in introductory-level chemistry courses at the University of Kentucky now have a resource focused on their success. 

The General Chemistry Learning Center at UK provides introductory assistance to any student taking the courses, including Chemistry 105, with its inaccurate reputation for being a difficult class that "weeds out" students. Lisa Blue, the center's coordinator, says students need to know that help is available.

"I don't want students to feel like Chem 105 is a weed-out course in the least," Blue said. "I want them to understand that there are certain critical thinking skills that, as a card-carrying chemist, we want them to walk out of that class having. So, we're going to do anything we can

by Katy Bennett, Amy Jones-Timoney

(March 20, 2014) — Hundreds of top students from across the state and region will make their way to Lexington this Friday through Saturday for the second of two University of Kentucky Merit Weekends. 

The University Registrar and Office of Undergraduate Admission host these two-day events every March so that some of the best and brightest can have a last look at campus before they decide where to attend college.

"Merit Weekends showcase the many opportunities available to outstanding students," said

by Sarah Geegan

(March 19, 2014) — Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will lead the next event in the "see tomorrow." Speaker Series at 4 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

As one core tenant of the plan focuses on UK's community impact, Gray will discuss "town and gown" relations between the university and the city.

"UK President Eli Capilouto and I often quote the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who said that 'to create a great city, you create a great university, and you wait 200 years.' UK is nearly 150 years, and we’re seeing the fruits of that growth and partnership between university and community."

The former CEO of international construction firm Gray Construction, Gray became Lexington's mayor in 2011.

by Whitney Hale, Whitney Harder

(March 18, 2014) — Bernard LaFayette Jr., an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will speak on his leadership experience in the voting rights movement in Selma, Ala., and participate in a book signing beginning 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at the University of Kentucky's Martin Luther King Center.

LaFayette, a prominent leader in the civil rights movement, was a cofounder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a leader in the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins, a Freedom Rider, and the national coordinator of the Poor People’s Campaign.

At 22 years old LaFayette became director of the Alabama Voter Registration Project in Selma, the basis

By Nolan Gray

(March 18, 2014) - Whether you’re haggling in the agora in 400 BCE, or sitting in traffic in 2014 CE, humanity seems to have a universal desire to understand truth, ethics, and the “good life.”

“Philosophy in the broadest sense is all about what’s true and what’s good. Yet philosophy is also about how we should ask questions about the good and the true,” said Eric Sanday, Associate Professor in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Philosophy. “A historical approach to these questions involves determining how ancient authors understood these issues.”

At the upcoming Lexington Workshop in Ancient Philosophy, academics from across the country will explore this very theme: what

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 18, 2014) — The quickly approaching deadline for submission of original manuscripts to the 2014 Dantzler fiction and Farquhar poetry contests is 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26. The event is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English. 

The contest is for University of Kentucky undergraduate students only. The winning prize in each category is $250. Fiction entries are limited to 3,000 words. Poetry entries are limited to five poems or three manuscript pages.

The Department of English has presented the Dantzler and Farquhar awards annually since 1953. Many of the winners have gone on to have successful literary careers.

Paper manuscripts should be submitted to Professor Gurney Norman, Department of English, University of Kentucky,

by Allison Perry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 17, 2014) — After 39 years of working in the University of Kentucky's Department of Chemistry, you might suspect one would get bored with the work. But professor Allan Butterfield describes his current project as "one of the most intellectually stimulating projects I've ever worked on."

Butterfield, whose many titles include director of the UK Markey Cancer Center's Free Radical Biology in Cancer Shared Resource Facility, studies oxidative stress in the brain. This includes the effect of oxidative stress on the development of Alzheimer's disease, and, in collaboration with Daret St. Clair, Markey's associate director for basic research,  the study of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), known colloquially as "chemo brain" by the

by Keith Hautala & Jennifer Edwards

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 17, 2014) — The University of Kentucky has announced eight awards for the first round of its eLearning Innovation Initiative (eLII) Program, totaling more than $500,000 in internally funded grants.

The eLII program was launched in September 2013 to improve instructional delivery and learning outcomes, with a $3 million investment over three years. The program is administered through a collaborative effort by the Office of the Provost, UK Analytics and Technologies, and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

“As new delivery models and teaching methods evolve across higher education, the University of Kentucky should be an active contributor and innovator,” said President Eli Capilouto. “The eLII program will give creative faculty the support to develop high-quality

by Whitney Hale, Whitney Harder

(March 14, 2014) — The relationship between two of the world's largest powers, the U.S. and China, continues to expand and become increasingly multifaceted. The University of Kentucky's Confucius Institute, UK's gateway to China, will present a talk by David Adams, a former administrator of the Fulbright Scholar Program, on the importance of the countries' partnerships in education.

"Chinese-American Educational Exchanges: A Window on the Bilateral Relationship," will begin at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at the University of Kentucky Athletics Auditorium in William T. Young Library. The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow Adams' lecture in

by Gail Hairston

(March 14, 2014) ― The natural beauty of the Elkhorn City/Russell Fork region of Pike County, Ky., is undeniable. It is home to part of the Breaks Interstate Park, referred to by some as the 'Grand Canyon of the South.' And yet tourism, especially adventure tourism, is still a slowly developing factor in the local economy. Locals want to know why.

The Elkhorn City Heritage Council is trying to promote recreational and outdoor tourism in the area. University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University students and faculty have been asked to assist in those efforts by gauging public opinion.

March 20-23, a group of UK students will go door-to-door surveying residents of Elkhorn City to find out more about their visions of the community's economic future and community

by Whitney Hale

(March 13, 2014) — Two University of Kentucky students have been awarded Critical Language Scholarships to study the Arabic and Turkish languages. Marketing and media arts and studies sophomore and Global Scholar Jordie Gamble will travel to Morocco for her Arabic language studies, while anthropology doctoral student Lydia Roll will return to Turkey for her second consecutive year of language coursework in Turkish.

The 

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 11, 2014) — Eugene Richards, a photographer, writer and filmmaker known for capturing moments of political activism and social issues in his work, will give the final presentation in the 2013-14 Robert C. May Endowment Photography Lecture Series with a lecture at 4 p.m. Friday, March 14, in Worsham Theater at the University of Kentucky Student Center. In conjunction with the talk, an exhibition of Richards' work will be on display March 14 through April 27, in the Art Museum at UK. The lecture and exhibition are free and open to the