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…

Arts & Sciences Dean Mark Kornbluh and history professor Kathi Kern are teaching a class 'inside out' - by taking an issue (in this case, the 2012 presidential election) and building a course around it. The class, "Currents: America Through the Lens of the 2012 Election," is an interdisciplinary look into how American…

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…

Since 2010, the Chinese Studies program at UK has taken groups of students to Shanghai University in the summer for a 6-credit Conversational Chinese course. Liang Luo is a professor of Chinese culture and language, and has accompanied two of these groups to Shanghai. The group that went this summer also participated in the Shanghai University & UK Student Summit, part of the programs…

At the end of March 2012, the American Studies Center at Shanghai University hosted a symposium on Urbanization in the American South. Richard Schein, a professor in the Department of Geography, gave presentations in Beijing and Shanghai on America's urban landscape. In this interview, Schein discusses his research, some of his experiences in China, and some reflections on how globalization has changed relations…

Jim Shields graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1974 and currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a company that develops and markets prescription medications. In this podcast, Shields talks about his academic choices at the University of Kentucky and how they prepared him for his career. 

Shields was interviewed by Lauren Kidd. 

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

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At the end of May 2012, the American Studies Center at Shanghai University hosted a three-day symposium and student summit. The summit was a two-part discussion of an excerpt from the book by Maxine Hong Kingston, "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts." The discussion was facilitated by Michelle Sizemore, an assistant professor in the Department of English. In this interview, Sizemore discusses the text, the unique…

Mary Anglin, associate professor in UK's Department of Anthropology, discussed the effects of globalization on gender in reference to Appalachian women and Appalachian communities. In order to better understand the region's past and present, studies of women and gender in Appalachia should not be ignored. This field of study encourages new kinds of questions and topics for this specific culture, including the manifestations and consequences of power and documenting the impact of trans/…

Frank Walker, associate professor in the Department of English, discusses the origin of the word "Affrilachia" and how the use of the word forces the redefinition of a region traditionally described as all-white. Walker noted several key artists and intellectuals from Appalachia to illustrate the region's cultural diversity.

This podcast is a recording of his lecture on May 21st, 2012, at Shanghai University. The session was part of the…

Ron Pen, a professor in the UK School of Music, discussed how Appalachian music unities people and place, and how the styles brought to the region by its immigrant residents combined and generated several new musical genres, such as swing, bluegrass, rockabilly, and contry. Music creates a bond that binds individuals as shared community and creates a society based on values rooted to identiy and place. Pen referenced the visual imagery and landscape of Appalachia to…