by Sarah Geegan

English professor and 2011 National Book Award winner Nikky Finney was recently appointed the inaugural Guy Davenport Endowed English Professor, an award honoring one of UK's most distinguished professors.

Guy Mattison Davenport, author, poet, painter and critic, retired in 1990 as a UK Distinguished Alumni Professor of English. Throughout his career, he received national and international recognition by several educational and professional institutions for his many achievements. Honoring this legacy, the endowed professorship was made possible through a generous donation to the College of

First photo: Jennifer Osterhage crosses the finish line as the women's winner of the 2011 Louisville Sports Commission Half Marathon.

Second photo: As the winner, Jennifer was asked to hold the women's finish line tape at the summer 2012 Louisville Ironman (standing right). 

Jennifer Osterhage is a lecturer in the Department of Biology at UK that specializes in molecular biology, phylogenetics, and biology education. In addition to teaching an introductory biology course (BIO 148) and coordinating the Genetics laboratories, she is continuing a collaboration with other geneticists and ecologists at other institutions investigating the evolutionary relationships among the Homalopsidae, rear-fanged water snakes found throughout Southeast Asia.

The University of Kentucky's Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences gives its graduate students the chance to explore a wide swath of the geosciences that take them many divergent routes but, in the end, they're all at home in EES.

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Lucas Rohrer is from Princeton, Kentucky, and received a B.A. in Chemistry from Asbury University.  Lucas received a 2012 Geological Society of America Student Research Grant for his M.S. thesis research on the evolution of the Appalachian mountains of the northeastern U.S. Lucas's research involves a lot of field work (i.e., hiking) in the woods of central Massachusetts. Like many geologists, the field work is what Lucas finds particularly stimulating.

Although he was a chemistry major as an undergraduate, Lucas was inspired to pursue a graduate

by Amy Jones and Kody Kiser

As freshmen move into the University of Kentucky, one of the first things greeting them will be tables of free food near their residence halls. 

It’s a welcome many students take full advantage of throughout K Week.  But is it possible to actually go the entire week without paying for food during this special Big Blue welcome? 

Watch the feature above to get some tips from a real free food expert, UK Biology Senior Annie Tiu and discover why the incentive helps students become involved in campus life from the very start of their college careers.

This is the first in a new series produced by UK Now called "Who Does That?"  We'd like to show you the unique

by Carl Nathe and Nathan Schwake

Recently, eight UK female student-athletes, along with members of the athletics department staff, participated in a service trip to Ethiopia. On the trip were Megan Moir from women's golf, Brooke Keyes and Kayla King from women's soccer, Kayla Hartley from gymnastics, Grace Trimble from women's tennis (political science major), Kastine Evans from women's basketball, Emily Holsopple from rifle (biology major), and Aubrey Lamar from softball. Each student was nominated by her respective head coach for this trip.

This is a wonderful example of how UK students and staff involve themselves in efforts so much bigger than themselves. This article is excerpted from blogs written by several of the student-athletes. 

For the second consecutive year,

By Guy Spriggs

In his dissertation research, Tim Vatovec frequently calls upon his background in geography, sociology and political science. This interdisciplinary approach – what Vatovec calls “borrowing” – makes him a natural fit for UK’s social theory program.

“Social theory has been an interest since I was an undergrad,” he said. “I’ve taken a lot from sociology and political theory and political science. That’s what geographers do, we take stuff from all over the social sciences.”

And in turn, UK’s Committee on Social Theory has borrowed a lot from the Geography

by Whitney Hale 

The Thomas D. Clark Foundation and the University Press of Kentucky will host a symposium to honor the life and literary legacy of James Still. The Thomas D. Clark Medallion Symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15, at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, located at 251 West Second St.

The symposium will celebrate Still’s posthumous collection of short stories, "The Hills Remember: The Complete Short Stories of James Still," winner of the Thomas D

Elizabeth came to the University of Kentucky in 2009 and completed her MA in Classics in May of 2011. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 2009, with majors in Classics and English. Although she had been studying Latin during much of her time at UF and had always been interested in the ancient world, she spent the first four years of her undergraduate education focusing predominately on English, planning, at the time, to become a medievalist. In spring 2008, while taking a course on Vergil’s Eclogues and Georgics, she decided to pursue Classics instead, ultimately finding that Latin allowed for deeper and more meaningful study of the literature she had always loved. She remained in the Classics department at UF for a fifth year, studying Greek over the summer and a heavy load of Latin and Greek during that year to prepare for a

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

The Department of History is excited to welcome professor Scott Taylor to its faculty!

Professor Taylor joins us this fall researching the history of early modern Europe, especially Spain. Currently, he is working on a book on the beginnings of modern addiction, examining how western Europeans experienced "soft drugs" like sugar, tobacco, chocolate, coffee, tea, distilled spirits, and opium.

This podcast is part of a series highlighting the new faculty members who joined the College of Arts and Sciences in the fall 2012 semester.

Produced by Stephen Gordinier.

By Sarah Geegan

The Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, an annual Latin immersion seminar hosted by Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., spotlighted two of UK's most acclaimed professors this summer.

Professors Terence Tunberg and Milena Minkova of the Classics Division in the Department of Modern Classical Languages Literatures and Cultures, conducted the seminar, which aims to enrich high school teachers' preparation to teach Latin. The event also attracts professors and graduate students from disciplines that benefit from good knowledge of Latin.

Participants travel from across the globe to attend

By Sarah Geegan

Ten students from colleges across the country came to UK this summer for a competitive research opportunity, unique in multiple senses.

Through a National Science Foundation (NSF) program called Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), the students, the first cohort among a total of three over the span of three summers, spent 10 weeks studying suburban ecology and invasive species at or nearby UK's Ecological Research Facility (ERF). The facility, adjacent to The UK/Lexmark Center for Innovation in Math and Science Education (formerly Lexington's Northside Library), offers a unique setting for the study of invasive species; ERF consists of 54 acres

Fast Track for Calculus is a residential academic preparation program for highly qualified students. Fast Track to Calculus is designed to prepare students for rigorous undergraduate mathematics classes. In this podcast, Dean of Arts & Sciences Mark Kornbluh and Mathematics Director of Undergraduate Studies David Royster discuss the goals of the program and how it will work.

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Listen to this WUKY podcast with Lt. Col. Jason Cummins as he talks about the event.

By Gail Bennett, Sarah Geegan

WUKY 91.3 FM, the University of Kentucky's NPR station, is partnering with UK Army ROTC to present the Inaugural Kentucky National Guard Bluegrass Mud Run Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012. This 5K run will begin at UK's Commonwealth Stadium and proceed through obstacles designed by members of UK Army ROTC. The obstacle course will be challenging yet fun and will be made to get runners muddy. 

"This fun and exciting mud run is for the pro-athlete or the pro-couch potato!" said Gail Bennett, marketing director at WUKY." Everyone is encouraged to

Networked Humanities: From Within and Without the University

A Digital Humanities Symposium

February 15-16, 2013

The University of Kentucky

Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media Program

http://network.as.uky.edu

Keynote Speakers:

Kathleen Stewart, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas

Malcolm McCullough, Professor of Architecture, University of Michigan

Of all the topics of interest to the digital humanities, the network has received little attention among digital humanities proponents. Yet, we live in a networked society: texts, sound, ideas, people, movements, consumerism, protest movements, politics, entertainment, academia, and other items circulate in networks that come together and break apart at various moments. While there

By Sarah Geegan

For the Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice, it was an opportunity to reorganize youth programs; for the nonprofit Seedleaf, it was a way to better connect with volunteers; and for students in geography Professor Matt Wilson's class, it was the chance to apply their skills to engage with the Lexington community.

Students in Wilson's