With the help of a generous grant from the U.S. State Department, UK has been able to forge a partnership across the Pacific. On March 29th, 2012, three UK scholars will go to deliver lectures for the Inaugural Symposium for the American Studies Center at Shanghai.

Written texts, YouTube videos, podcasts - these are all means of communicating ideas to others. Craig Crowder is a graduate student in the Department of English and teaches Composition & Communication classes, WRD 110 & 111. In this podcast, Crowder discusses ways to engage students via multimedia projects, and his research, which examines social movement rhetoric in a society that uses multiple modes of communication.

Frank X Walker, noted author, poet, and Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky, shares the history of the term "Affrilachia," his thoughts on identity and place, and ways in which Affrilachian poetry continues to reach individuals all over the region.

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

Rusty Barrett is an assistant professor in the Linguistics program. On February 16^th, 2012, Barrett will present a lecture, “Sickening Queens: Ethnic and Class Difference in Drag.” The lecture is at 4pm in the President’s Room at the Singletary Center for the Arts, and will address ways in which drag performances reflect social and cultural differences related to class and ethnicity.