The soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) who are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan by early March will have a University of Kentucky alum among those leading their mission.

Lieutenant Colonel James Becker, a battalion commander based at Fort Campbell, Ky., will have about 800 soldiers assigned to him as they make their way overseas for a year-long deployment. Becker’s unit will be in charge of ensuring all logistics and medical support is provided for brigade combat team soldiers located in Regional Command-East in Afghanistan.

Among their responsibilities will be organizing maintenance of equipment which includes radio systems, mine-resistant vehicles, and weapons, as well as medical facilities, and all the supply and transport operations for fuel, food and water in the area, according to Becker.

<p>There are going to be a lot of opportunities to foster international understanding this year. &quot;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.as.uky.edu/news_events/events/Pages/Kentucky%20South%20Afric… Africa &amp; Kentucky: Different Lands, Common Ground</a>,&quot; will provide the campus community as well as the general public with a closer look at the two societies&rsquo; rich histories and present-day conditions. The South Africa and Kentucky program covers topics across disciplines and formats: there will be a series of films shown, book reading groups, lectures and other presentations are slated for the&nbsp;2010-2011 academic year, in addition to a <a target="_blank" href

<p>I am thrilled to welcome a high caliber class of new faculty to the College this fall.&nbsp; Arts &amp; Sciences is fortunate to have 42 new faculty (professors and lecturers) joining us as the semester starts. Over the next few blogs, I hope to acquaint readers with some new additions to the A&amp;S team.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Allow me to introduce these new faculty members in the Department of Philosophy.</p>
<p><strong>Professor Timothy Sundell<br />
</strong><br />
Timothy Sundell&nbsp;works primarily in the philosophy of language and linguistics.&nbsp; One recent area of focus has been the nature of &quot;verbal disagreement.&quot;&nbsp; Specifically, in what way should&nbsp;individuals distinguish between substantive disagreements and disagreements that

Graduate Student

By Erin Holaday

Photos by Shaun Ring

After a busy day without a lunch break, how many times have you had that extra piece of chocolate cake, or another glass of wine later that night, when you knew, in your heart of hearts that you might not really need it?

 

"And the next morning, you're beating yourself up about it," said UK psychology graduate student Holly Miller. "It happens to everyone."

 

But according to a new study headed up by Miller, it's not necessarily your fault. "Without fuel, you can't inhibit the bad behavior," she explained. "It's physiology."

 

<p>I am thrilled to welcome a high caliber class of new faculty to the College this fall.&nbsp; Arts &amp; Sciences is fortunate to have 42 new faculty (professors and lecturers) joining us as the semester starts. Over the next few blogs, I hope to acquaint readers with some new additions to the A&amp;S team.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Allow me to introduce these new faculty members in the Departments of Anthropology and Sociology.</p>
<p><strong>Anthropology:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kristin Monroe</strong></p>
<p>Monroe is a sociocultural anthropologist specializing in Middle East studies and the production of social and spatial inequalities. She pursues a range of interests through her research and teaching including cultural geography, theories of power, and

PhD Student

by Rebekah Tilley

photos by Mark Cornelison

Any person involved in academic research knows there is no way to avoid the field of statistics. Somewhere along the way you have to have a working knowledge of it. Statistics touches everything.

It was this very aspect of the field that captivated Angela Schörgendorfer, now a fourth year doctoral student in the UK Department of Statistics. “I’m a math person. I like doing math that I know will be applied to something. That was what intrigued me about statistics. You can use it for medical research, any kind of social science, and just about anything.” 

Schörgendorfer experienced the wide-ranging application of the field as a statistical consultant to the UK College of Agriculture where she worked on over 100 projects during a two-year period. The

I am thrilled to welcome a high caliber class of new faculty to the College this fall.  Arts & Sciences is fortunate to have 42 new faculty (professors and lecturers) joining us as the semester starts. Over the next few blogs, I hope to acquaint readers with these new additions to the A&S team.

 

Allow me to introduce these new faculty members in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics.

Ribhu Kaul (Physics)

The field of "condensed matter theory" is concerned with understanding the rich diversity of our material world from the most fundamental laws of physics, i.e. quantum mechanics.  More specifically, Ribhu’s research focuses on the consequences of quantum mechanics on systems of infinite particles. Many-body quantum physics forms the basis of our understanding of the properties of a growing number of

<p>I am thrilled to welcome a high caliber class of new faculty to the College this fall.&nbsp; Arts &amp; Sciences is fortunate to have 42 new faculty (professors and lecturers) joining us as the semester starts. Over the next few blogs, I hope to acquaint readers with these new additions to the A&amp;S team.</p>
<p>Allow me to introduce these new faculty members in the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics.</p>
<p>Kathleen Ponto (Mathematics)</p>
<p>Every airport map has a &quot;you are here&quot; point. There is a theorem in topology that says this always must be the case. Kathleen Ponto studies what happens to these kinds of points when you consider more complicated spaces - more dimensions, more twists and turns. She is particularly interested in ways to describe how many &quot;you are here

<p>I&nbsp;am thrilled to welcome a high caliber class of new faculty to the College this fall.&nbsp; Arts &amp;&nbsp;Sciences is fortunate to have 25 new instructors joining us as the semester starts. Over the next few blogs, I hope to acquaint readers with these new additions to the A&amp;S team.</p>
<p>Allow me to introduce these two new faculty members in the Department of&nbsp;Hispanic Studies.</p>
<p><strong>Mariana Amato</strong><span> specializes in Latin American literary and intellectual history from the 19th century onward. Mariana has written articles on the works of Mansilla, Lugones, Bellatin, Pauls and Quiroga. She is working on a manuscript that explores figures of the animal and the flesh in Latin American fiction of the 20th century.</span></p>
<p><strong

Rebecca Greene knew one thing when she came to college from Elliott County in eastern Kentucky. She was going to leave her tiny hometown of Sandy Hook and become an astrophysicist. No doubt about it.

Both her parents were teachers, and she was reading at a very young age. Greene seemed far enough ahead of the other kids that she was “outcast and ostracized” from the start. “So, I was turned against my hometown in certain ways,” Greene said. “I thought I needed to get out of there – that it was suffocating and oppressive.”

After landing a Singletary Scholarship to UK, she signed up as a double major – in physics and linguistics. The linguistics part of the equation came from a paper she did in high school on the “science of language.” That idea – ‘the science of language’ – swirled in her

But to Rebecca Linares, the city and Latin America as a whole are not just exotic vacation destinations; they are tangible entities whose interests and culture are directly and firmly tied to the United States. And her work is aimed at showing how.

Linares left Louisville in 2006 bound for Midway College. After realizing that the school’s selection of courses would not satisfy her ambitious goals, she transferred to the University of Kentucky in 2007. Here, she tailored her plans into a Spanish and Latin American Studies/International Studies

<p>This summer the College of Arts and Sciences has expanded its curriculum to include online course offerings. I&nbsp;recently talked with UK&nbsp;President Lee Todd on WUKY's podcast &quot;UK&nbsp;Perspectives&quot;&nbsp;about the process of integrating technology into A&amp;S, and I am honored to have been able to discuss the exciting progress that A&amp;S&nbsp;has made as a whole. </p>
<p>To listen to our conversation, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wuky/news.newsmain?action=article&amp…;

<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.as.uky.edu/academics/departments_programs/HispanicStudies/Hi… Rueda</a>, a&nbsp;professor with the Department of Hispanic Studies, has co-released a book: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.marcialpons.es/fichalibro.php?id=100871361">El retorno / El reencuentro: La inmigracion en la literatura hispano-marroqui</a> (The Return / The Reencounter: Migration in Hispano-Moroccan Literature). </p>
<p>The book was written in collaboration with Sandra Martin, and was recently named &ldquo;Book of the Week&rdquo; by Radio

by Rebekah Tilley

photos by Shaun Ring

When you ask UK University Scholar Dan Sheffler to name one of his favorite books, he immediate replies The Confessions of St. Augustine. Leaning back in his chair, his face lights up and searching the ceiling, he begins to describe why.



“I feel that when I read The Confessions Augustine is talking to me, as if he were directly addressing me,” Sheffler explained. “Even though it is all obviously addressed to God I feel like I’m sort of sitting in the room. I feel like I can completely relate to Augustine’s position in his life, and I can really connect with what he’s saying.”



“I think it is one of the most beautiful things that has ever been written in Latin. There are passages in it that are just shockingly beautiful.”



If this wasn’t your take on The

by Guy Spriggs

Cassie Hardin was sure that she wanted to explore her passion for studying languages after arriving at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2008, but she also knew that she getting tired of more traditional romance languages. She wanted something new; she wanted a new horizon.

So how did Hardin arrive at her decision to pursue courses in UK’s Chinese Studies program? She left it up to chance.

“I wanted a new challenge, so I flipped a coin: did I want to do Japanese or did I want to do Chinese. It landed on Chinese, so I went with Chinese and I’m so glad.”

In the spring of 2010, Hardin was presented with a unique opportunity to travel to China for the Conversational Chinese in Shanghai Program through Education Abroad at UK. The program, directed by UK professor Liang Luo, was the inaugural exchange program for the new Confucius

<p>Summer is generally considered a time of higher flexibility for students, and being able to offer online education was an opportunity that A&amp;S wanted to offer to its student body. I am excited to report that the flexibility and quality of these courses has resonated with the participants, and that online courses will be an integral part of what A&amp;S has to offer in the future &ndash; for our current students and alumni.</p>
<p>A&amp;S&nbsp;summer courses have been featured on UKNow; <a target="_blank" href="http://uknow.uky.edu/node/10353">click here</a> to read more.</p>

Peggy Keller's research tackles alcohol problems and family stress

by Rebekah Tilley

Photos by Richie Wireman

An elementary school teacher notices one of her students is acting out in odd ways. She seems sad and anxious, exhibits random aggressive behavior toward other children, and her schoolwork is suffering.

What’s going on?

Researchers have long been aware that parental alcohol problems relate to these and other behavior problems in children. Yet what happens between Point A and Point C remains a mystery.

Enter Peggy Keller.

“It’s really important for researchers to tackle how alcohol problems translate to difficulties with children,” said Keller, an assistant professor in the 

<p>May&rsquo;s bike commuter challenge was the most successful one in the history of the event, and the University of Kentucky earned first place in three categories (determined by size). UK Libraries IT, the Department of Chemistry, and the College of Arts &amp; Sciences Dean&rsquo;s Office all earned first place in their categories. By biking to work, the participants were helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and represented a sustainable alternative to using fossil fuels. Even though the challenge is over, many participants continue to ride to work.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
UK has been working on making campus more environmentally friendly, and their &ldquo;Big Blue Goes Green&rdquo; campaign is planning a Sustainability Fair in September, which will showcase the ways in which UK is making efforts to conserve natural resources

Ph.D. Students

by Amber Scott

photos by Richie Wireman

During one typical afternoon in an average American high school, Nicholas Kirby, a junior at the time, found himself wandering into the "young, cool" math teacher's classroom. Curiosity about the different sizes of infinity had taken hold of him and he decided to give up his lunch break to get some answers.  His teacher patiently explained this complicated concept, crystallizing an appreciation for abstract thought that would eventually become Nick's whole life.

"It was just too cool," said Nick. "I was hooked. I became a math addict."

Setting out from his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., Nick went to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh to complete his bachelor’s degree in math. While there, he did research in the field of materials under his advisor and received

Growing up in Los Angeles and studying as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, Michael Dorff hadn’t heard a lot about Kentucky, let alone the University of Kentucky.

But while he was getting his masters in mathematics at the University of New Hampshire and trying to look for a doctoral program, one of his professors mentioned UK.

“She told me about a professor at UK, Ted Suffridge,” Dorff said. “He’s the reason I applied.”

Dorff, now an associate professor in Brigham Young University’s math department, said he wasn’t disappointed.

“The faculty at UK had high expectations that I would work hard and professors like Ted Suffridge were always looking for ways to help me and the other students,” Dorff said. “People there were very friendly, very nice. I have these fond