by Derrick Meads & Sarah Geegan

An exhibit titled “Interwoven: Rural Traditions, Modern Ties ~ Baskets from Appalachia and the Andes” will showcase more than 100 pieces of basketry from Ecuador and Appalachia at the Lexington Public Library’s Central Gallery.

The wide-ranging exhibit of baskets opened Nov. 3, and spans from Nov. 12-16. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16, at the gallery, during the final day of UK’s "International Education Week.”

The Ecuadorian work ranges from baskets made by Huaorani and Kichwa indigenous groups in the Amazon Basin and Andean highland, to modern pieces collected in major cities. The Appalachian exhibited works also span across white oak baskets to modern contemporary craft.

In early 2012 the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, invited

by Sarah Geegan & Lauren Kamas

The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute will celebrate its second anniversary Friday, Nov. 9 with various events.

A free public concert, the “East Meets West: Featuring Guzheng and Western Instruments” performance will be held at 7 p.m. at the Singletary Center for the Arts and will be followed by a reception.  This concert will feature musical artists Chi-Sun Chan, a veteran tuba player, and Shin-Yi Yang, a professional Gu Qin and Guzheng player.

Events such as this, which UKCI strives to present throughout the year, provide a unique lens into traditional Chinese culture. Confucius Institute Director

by Kathy Johnson

WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell. Today's program features William Endres, a professor in UK’s Division of Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Media and Noah Adler, Director of Research Computation and Application Development in Arts & Sciences, who discuss their effort to preserve and make accessible digital images of two rare manuscripts from the 8th and 15th centuries: the St. Chad Gospels and the Wycliffe New Testament.

To listen to the podcast interview, from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, click here.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:35 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each Friday on WUKY 91.3, UK's NPR station.

By Guy Spriggs

On Friday, December 7, UK’s Quantitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research (QISPR) will host a conference entitled “The Polarize Electorate” in the Young Library Auditorium.

The goal of the conference is to investigate the political and public division in contemporary America and to determine why this divisiveness is becoming a way of life for Americans.

“Everyone knows the political parties are more divided than ever,” said Mark Peffley, UK political science professor and director of QIPSR. “But why has the electorate become so polarized, and what, if anything, can we do about it?”

The conference is focused on understanding the psychology and policy implications of polarized communications. “One

This article appears courtesy of the UK Alumni Association

We recently had the chance to catch up with Lt. Col. Jason Cummins ’93 BE. Cummins is currently chair of the military science program and UK Army ROTC program at the University of Kentucky. He has successfully made service to the country his lifelong career. He has served in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, and even managed to obtain an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and teach at the United States Military Academy. Now he spends his days performing a most important task at the University of Kentucky: leading our future leaders. Read below for some interesting insights from Cummins.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time as a student at the University of Kentucky?

The

by Sarah Geegan

This semester, students at the University of Kentucky are learning about American leadership and democracy as it unfolds.

An interactive course, "UKC 180: America Through the Lens of the 2012 Election," utilizes an innovative classroom design and extensive multi-media resources to focus on the upcoming presidential election. Through lectures, guest speakers, in-class polls, group work in "caucuses" and interaction with real congressional staffers, students are gaining a deeper understanding of American politics, and addressing relevant issues in real time.

Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of the UK College of Arts and Sciences, and

by Sarah Geegan

Associate professor of geography, Matthew Zook, was featured in two articles in The Economist, providing insight into the geoweb—particularly the practices surrounding user-generated data, such as geocoded tweets or other commentary.

The Economist article titled "The new local," argues that the physical and digital worlds are becoming increasingly intertwined through the use of high-speed internet and innovative technology.

The article references Zook's forthcoming paper, in which he, along with Mark Graham, a graduate of UK currently at the Oxford Internet Institute (part of the university) and

by Sarah Geegan

Alfred Shapere, professor in the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy, was featured in "Nature," an international weekly journal of science, for his recent paper describing framework or starting point to explaining how particles cope with fluctuations in gravity.

Co-authored by Shapere, Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge and MIT graduate student Zhaoxi Xiong, the paper presents a straightforward way for quantum particles to move smoothly from one kind of ‘topological space’ to a very different one.

The collaborators suggest that their work might provide a simplified framework for understanding

By Sarah Geegan & Tess Perica

University of Kentucky Biology professor Robin Cooper recently won an award from the Kentucky Academy of Science (KAS), commending his excellence in teaching.

The KAS Outstanding College/University Teacher award is not awarded every year, but rather only when the organization sees fit to recognize a particularly excellent professor.

To qualify for the award, recipients must have made some significant contribution primarily to science teaching, but also to research at the university level in Kentucky.

These contributions are interpreted broadly to mean contribution directly to the Commonwealth, or the

by Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute (UKCI) administered an exam in mid-October, which amounts to more than just a language proficiency score.

The HSK exam, designed for non-native Chinese speakers, determines U.S. college students' eligibility for short-term and long-term scholarships to study in China. As increasing numbers of UK students express academic interest in the region, because of UKCI's strengthening ties with Chinese institutions and campus initiatives such as the College of Arts and Sciences' Year of China, this exam has become a crucial component in acquiring scholarships.

UKCI Director 

Daniel Prior, Lecture "How a Horse Theft Becomes a Praise Poem" 

Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Location: Keeneland Library, Keeneland, 4201 Versailles Rd.

Equestrian art takes many forms, even poetic. In 1864 a band of Kirghiz nomads in Central Asia crossed into China and stole a herd of several hundred horses from their long-time Mongol enemies at the cost of many lives. This unprovoked act of violence, which was an episode in a major outbreak of unrest, soon became the subject of a Kirghiz epic-like narrative poem celebrating the heroism of the raiders. Literature traditions show us that stealing herds of horses and protecting them from theft has held worldwide fascination for millennia. Daniel Prior, in studying and

by Sarah Geegan

Story by Erin Holaday Ziegler
Photo by Dana Rogers

It's 11:30 a.m. on a Thursday, and we're about to have a scientific throwdown.

University of Kentucky freshmen pull out their iPads, gather in small groups around 21st century tables and begin to discuss physics problems in a way that's as far from conventional as the touch screens they are intently gazing upon.

This is just a typical afternoon for physics and astronomy professor and chair Mike Cavagnero's experimental A&S Wired research course: the Science of Measurement.

"Measurement and observation are the foundations of science," said Cavagnero. "Measurement is the first step in all of science, actually, and it's a step that's often left out of K-12 science education."

The 26 A&S Wired

by Sarah Geegan

Associate professor of geography, Matthew Zook, was featured in two articles in The Economist, providing insight into the geoweb—particularly the practices surrounding user-generated data, such as geocoded tweets or other commentary.

The Economist article titled "The new local," argues that the physical and digital worlds are becoming increasingly intertwined through the use of high-speed internet and innovative technology.

The article references Zook's forthcoming paper, in which he, along with Mark Graham, a graduate of UK currently at the Oxford Internet Institute (part of the university) and

by Lea Mann and Whitney Hale

Fans of folk music and the dulcimer should check out the next two concerts in the "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series. The first concert will feature Si Kahn, a chart-topping folk music player, at noon Friday, Oct. 26, in the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center. The following week, Don Pedi, an accomplished dulcimer player, will perform at noon Friday, Nov. 2. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

Folk Musician and Activist to Play at Niles Gallery

Si Kahn has performed at concerts and festivals all over the world, including events in