Although Barbara Hogan was born into a white family and did not have to endure the harsh restrictions of segregation, she was struck by the glaring inequalities imposed by an apartheid government.

Refusing to remain a passive spectator, Hogan became a member of the outlawed African National Congress (ANC) in 1977, joining a chorus of voices speaking out against an oppressive apartheid regime. Ultimately, she not only became the first woman in South Africa to be found guilty of high treason for her “illegal” political activism, but she endured periods of harsh, solitary confinement during her imprisonment.

As a testament to her remarkable spirit, Hogan immediately began working toward the building of a democratic South Africa upon her release in 1990. A passionate supporter of equality, she has focused her energy on improving both the socio-economic conditions of all

by Erin Holaday Ziegler



University of Kentucky anthropology professor Hsain Ilahiane first became attracted to the study of anthropology due to its prominent focus on people.

"You put yourself in the shoes of others in an attempt to comprehend," he explained. "This translation – it's meaningful."



Understanding and educating both sides of an issue frames the work of UK's entire Department of Anthropology, from Monica Udvardy's work on gender and symbolism in Africa and Diane King's advancement of honor killing

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UK Statistics Professor Arne Bathke was interviewed on WUKY about current research and projects coming out of the UK Statistics department. Bathke has long understood the importance of interdisciplinary work, and UK Statistics was recently ranked 16th of the nation's private and public universities.

Listen to the interview below.

 

https://stat.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/UK%20Perspectives%20Statistics.mp3
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With an insufficient budget and no help on the horizon, University of Kentucky Professor Gang Cao of the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy had nothing but bad news for his peers about being able to hold this year's Workshop on Novel Electronic Materials.

After successfully staging two international workshops in 2005 and 2008 on UK's campus, the scientific community was eager for the 2011 plans. "There are a lot of conferences in our field," explained Cao, "but few can address new materials, with such a diverse group of scientists from different fields. The phone just kept ringing."

The Novel Materials Workshop is intended to provide an opportunity to communicate recent developments, tackle challenges and establish possible

With an insufficient budget and no help on the horizon, University of Kentucky Professor Gang Cao of the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy had nothing but bad news for his peers about being able to hold this year's Workshop on Novel Electronic Materials.

After successfully staging two international workshops in 2005 and 2008 on UK's campus, the scientific community was eager for the 2011 plans. "There are a lot of conferences in our field," explained Cao, "but few can address new materials, with such a diverse group of scientists from different fields. The phone just kept ringing."

The Novel Materials Workshop is intended to provide an opportunity to communicate recent developments, tackle challenges and establish possible

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky will award two legendary South African anti-apartheid activists with honorary degrees on campus this week.

World-renowned leaders Ahmed Kathrada and Barbara Hogan, both of whom served in post-apartheid South Africa as senior officials in President Nelson Mandela's administration, have changed the lives of their country and the world through their tireless work for freedom and democracy.

UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. will confer the Honorary Doctorate of Letters to Hogan and Kathrada during an academic convocation ceremony at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the Singletary Center Recital Hall. The event is open to faculty, staff, students and the public.

Kathrada and Hogan will each deliver remarks on

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

A transformative researcher of transnational processes in Appalachia, the American South and around the world will visit the University of Kentucky for the fourth and final of the Place Matters series this week.

Barbara Ellen Smith, a sociology professor and the former director of Women's and Gender Studies at Virginia Tech, will present a talk titled "Transforming Places: Towards a Global Politics of Appalachia" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the John Jacob Niles Gallery. Professor Srimati Basu of the UK Department of Gender

by Erin Holaday Ziegler and Katy Bennett

The University of Kentucky's largest major will celebrate a world-renowned Nobel Prize winner of its own at the Student Development Council's 17th annual historical marker ceremony next week.

With the help of the Kentucky Historical Society and President Lee T. Todd Jr., the SDC will dedicate this year's historical marker to UK biology alum Thomas Hunt Morgan in a public outdoor ceremony on campus.

Born in Lexington in 1866, Thomas Hunt Morgan was a nephew of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. Thomas Hunt Morgan attended State College of Kentucky, which became UK, during the 1880s, graduating as

The world-renowned anti-apartheid activist is an honored guest of UK's College of Arts and Sciences' yearlong initiative "Kentucky and South Africa: Different Lands, Common Ground."

At 82 years old, Kathrada is a man of overflowing ideas, stories and experiences. And his visit to the East Coast and to UK is fittingly brimming with activity.

Kathrada's four-day whirlwind stay in Lexington next week includes an honorary degree convocation from the university; the stateside opening of "Ahmed 'Kathy' Kathrada: A South African Activist for Non-Racialism and Democracy," an

The College of Arts and Sciences offers Spanish for Health Professionals, or Spanish 151, in the classroom during the school year as the student need arises, and while the summer course is open to traditional students, Hispanic Studies is also focused on nontraditional students both locally and globally.

"A class like this does not require fluency," explained Hispanic Studies professor and course director Haralambos Symeonidis

The goal of the new Scholar-in-Residence Program is to anchor a critical aspect of the MLK Cultural Center’s programming firmly in the heart of the academic life of the campus through the leadership of faculty from various departments throughout the university.  The Scholar-in-Residence is a two-year faculty appointment, with

Students from third to sixth grade are participating in a weeklong camp April 4-8, focusing on simple Chinese language and a wide variety of cultural activities.

"This is one of the few Spring Break camps held by all the Confucius Institutes," said Director Huajing Maske. "We wanted to try something new. This year is a great learning year for us. And many parents don't get the same Spring Break as their children."

The CI's campers will have five days of varied activities, according to Maske. "Every day is different," she said.

To begin the day, campers will do

“I have been leading UK Summer Field Seminars in Japan along with professor Todd Stradford for many years. My students and I have many friends in each region that we will have for the rest of our lives.”

The earthquake and tsunami did major damage to a string of coastal settlements along Japan’s northeast coast, including the town of Taro, where Karan and his students stop each summer.

 “We study Japan’s effort to mitigate damage from tsunamis. Taro has suffered serious damage through its history,” Karan said. Hillsides in Taro indicate the run-up – the maximum height reached by a tsunami as it encounters the shore – from previous massive

Ph.D. Student

by Kathryn Wallingford

photos by Shaun Ring

Gretchen Phelps refers to her research as “SMOKE ‘n Mirrors.” While it sounds like a magic act, if you did not see Phelps and the optics set-up of her latest experiment, you might just think her research was just that.



Don’t let the title fool you. Phelps is a fourth year Ph.D. student in University of Kentucky’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and SMOKE actually stands for ‘Surface Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect,’ a technique utilized by condensed matter physicists for the reflection of polarized light by a material that is subject to a magnetic field.



Under the mentorship of UK’s Physics professor, Dr. Wolfgang Korsch

by Kathryn Wallingford

Photos by Richie Wireman and Lee Thomas



University of Kentucky French professor, Rupert T. Pickens, believes a medieval text is more than a fixed set of words and a single author, but the intersection of history, literature, and language. It is an evolving set of ideas that comes to light through the French language.



“A text has a life of its own. It is propagated through hand-writing and the transmission has created and influenced mistakes as well as additions,” said Pickens. He continued, “Before the 14th century, we do not have anything signed by just one author. But writers found a way to express their native identities through the French language.”



Since Pickens first came to the University of Kentucky in 1969, he has dissected, reviewed, and translated literally

But Butterfield's work goes beyond the lab; his support of undergraduate and graduate research at UK is celebrated throughout campus and the Commonwealth, with every research grant and doctoral diploma awarded.

Butterfield served as UK alumnus Tanea Reed's PhD advisor during graduate school.

"He saw my potential and made me a better graduate student by making me a critical thinker," she said. "Dr. Butterfield was a wonderful mentor who was always very encouraging and supportive.  Even though I have since graduated from UK, Dr. Butterfield still plays a role in my career as a mentor."

In a seemingly

Ph.D. Students

by Leah Bayens

photos by Mark Cornelison

Any language devotee knows that linguistics illuminates socio-political and bio-cultural mysteries. Apparently, it also forms the tie that binds a former theologian and a former telecommunications specialist, bringing both into the Hispanic Studies fold.

Doctoral candidates Jarrod Brown and Iván Sánchez-Medina diverged from many years of study and service in religion and business communications, respectively, and found a home in UK’s Department of Hispanic Studies precisely because of the program’s renewed emphasis on linguistic research. Despite their disparate backgrounds, and in spite of different research areas, they both use linguistics to track the continuum of presences and absences in