By Karen Petrone

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 30. 2020) — The following op-ed was published in the Herald Leader Aug. 21, 2020. Karen Petrone is the director of the Cooperative for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Times of crisis can be disorienting and overwhelming, but they can also be opportunities for creativity and growth. In such moments, the humanities and social sciences are well equipped to address and amplify community needs.

Recognizing that we can and must do better in this regard, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky has created the Cooperative for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CHHS). The goal is to

The National Science Foundation has awarded a new grant to Drs. David Heidary and Edith Glazer for the development of chemical tools to study RNA. The project, titled “Inorganic-aptamer hybrids for live cell imaging”, leverages the complementary expertise of the investigators in the development of optical cellular assays and the creation of photoactive inorganic molecules.



RNAs are functionally and structurally diverse molecules that play a role in the encoding, transmission, and regulation of genetic information, as well as catalysis. The ability to accurately track and quantify RNA levels or localization, either on the subcellular or tissue levels, is important to understanding the role of RNA in the regulation of biological processes. Given the dynamic nature of RNA, the information should be obtained in real time and in living cells. However, there are

By Richard LeComte

Amy Murrell Taylor, T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. Professor in the Department of History, is the 2020-21 Distinguished Professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. 

“Professor Taylor is outstanding in every aspect of her performance at the University of Kentucky, in her stellar award-winning research, her inspired teaching and her dedicated and extensive service,” said Christian Brady, A&S interim dean.

Her book “Embattled Freedom: Journeys Through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps,” published in 2018 by the University of North Carolina Press, won seven prizes including the Frederick Douglass Book Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.

“Amy Murrell Taylor is a truly

By Jenny Wells-Hosley and Sara Shoemaker

The experiment measured the weak force between protons and neutrons by detecting the tiny electrical signal produced when a neutron and a helium-3 nucleus combine and then decay as they move through the helium gas target cell. Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. DOE.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 28, 2020) — Chris Crawford, a professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the co-leader of a team that just precisely measured the weak interaction between protons and neutrons, also known as the weak force — one of four fundamental forces in nature.

The one-of-a-kind experiment

Among its many other impacts, COVID-19 has disrupted opportunities for University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences faculty to teach abroad.

In previous years, A&S faculty have taught short courses in China through partnerships facilitated by UK's Confucius Institute. For example, Rita Basuray, senior academic coordinator in A&S, has taught courses at Jilin University in Changchun, China, for six summers. Unfortunately, she was interrupted in 2020 by the pandemic.

She said she kept going back to Jilin because of her many positive experiences and her connections with the faculty and students. 

"Early on, it became obvious that it wasn’t just teaching, but exchanging active teaching ideas, fostering relationships over dinner or outings, and much more," Basuray said. "Not only did I develop long-term relations with teachers, but with

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2020) — The University of Kentucky is commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month, observed Sept. 15-Oct. 15, with a series of events for students, faculty and staff.

Ruth González Jiménez, Latino student community specialist in the UK Martin Luther King Center, says the events will be informative and healing for some, and educational and enlightening for others.

“I am so excited and honored to work with fellow Latinx faculty and staff, as well as our brilliant Latinx students, to put together another month of events dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating Latin American contributions and culture,” González Jiménez said. “From serving a less-than 1% population of Latino/Hispanic students

By C. Lynn Hiler T

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence has announced its newest class of 31 Chellgren Student Fellows.  

The Chellgren Center Student Fellows Program aligns with the university’s goal of cultivating undergraduate excellence. By providing experiences that go beyond the classroom, students become prepared for the next phase of their career, whether it be graduate school or a gap year dedicated to service. 

COVID-19 has certainly made for an unprecedented academic year. Students and professors are adhering to mask regulations in the classroom, dining halls are empty and many classes are completely online. In spite of this unexpected turn of events, Philipp Kraemer, Chellgren Chair

Dear Members of the UK Community:

Our thoughts are with the family, friends and community members directly affected by the news released today about Breonna Taylor's death. We know that coping in such a public way adds layers to an already deep grief.



Like many of you, we experienced a range of emotions upon hearing this news. For some, it was frustration. For others, it was fear. Collectively, we share a sense of concern, urgency and responsibility.



We, as academic administrators, recognize the impact this development has on our university community, particularly students. We acknowledge the hurt and anger many are feeling. We acknowledge the sense of physical and emotional exhaustion many are experiencing. We also acknowledge the need to express these feelings in a meaningful way.

  

In an interview with LEX18 in Lexington, Michelle Martel, professor and director of clinical training for the University of Kentucky’s Psychology Department in the College of Arts & Sciences, says it’s OK for parents to feel overwhelmed and admit they need help at times.

“If you have family or close friends in the area that could provide support, that’s a great place to start,” Martel said.

You can see more of Martel's interview at the LEX18 website.

By Richard LeComte

Austin Coke, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences from Louisville, Kentucky, is a Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence Scholar for fall 2020.

The Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence Scholarship aims to encourage and support Jewish Studies on the University of Kentucky campus. Students selected to become JHFE scholars commit to completing a minor in Jewish Studies in a maximum of four years.

As part of the JHFE scholar experience, students participate in an original scholarly research project under the guidance of a Jewish Studies faculty mentor. The scholarship provides $4,000 a year

By Richard LeComte

Benjamin Braun, associate professor of mathematics in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences, received a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to research geometric objects called polytopes.

Examples of polytopes are two-dimensional polygons; three-dimensional cubes, pyramids and prisms; and higher-dimensional extensions of these objects. Polytopes are used to find solutions for transportation problems, model possible outcomes of elections and investigate biological phenomena. Geometric properties of polytopes help planners model problems using computers and thus solve complicated problems. For example, volumes of polytopes can be used to compute the chance that a voting paradox will happen for a voting system.

“Polytopes have been

By Richard LeComte

Despite restrictions imposed upon the academic community due to the pandemic, the College of Arts & Sciences Passport to the World initiative at the University of Kentucky continues in 2020-21 for its 10th  year.

Passport to the World is a yearlong exploration of the culture and history of different areas of the world and interdisciplinary topics. This year’s theme focuses on “Global Perspectives on Race and Equity in Times of Pandemic.” The initiative will offer virtual programming that builds on previous Passport year themes of Equity (2019-2020) and Migration (2018-2019). Pursuing a virtual format this year will allow for different programming options.

“We're organizing several panel discussions on race and equity globally," said M. Cristina Alcalde, A&S associate dean of Inclusion and Internationalization "These include

By Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 21, 2020) — University of Kentucky graduates Calli Brooks and Tsage Douglas have been selected to participate in the Teaching Assistant Program in France.. The program offers recipients the opportunity to work in France for seven months teaching English to French students of all ages.

As part of the program, each year more than 1,500 Americans teach in public schools across all regions of metropolitan France or overseas in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion. The American cohort is part of the larger Assistants de langue en France program, which recruits 4,500 young educators from 60 countries to teach 15 languages annually in France. The Assistants de langue en France program is managed by France Éducation

By Hannah Edelen and Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 16, 2020) — Yuanyuan Su, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy, is finding new ways to analyze images of our universe.

“There are two milestones in the history of modern astronomy,” Su said. “The first was to put cameras on telescopes. Instead of sketching them, we can now take pictures of celestial objects. Astronomy thus develops from being subjective to objective. The second was to put telescopes in space, allowing us to look at the high

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center has a new resource available for students, faculty and community members seeking information on populations in Eastern Kentucky’s 54 counties.

“Eastern Kentucky: By the Numbers” offers a specialized set of county profiles from UK Cooperative Extension’s “Kentucky: By the Numbers" program. Compiled from 18 different sources, data for more than 60 variables are organized across 10 thematic areas, including:

"We are excited

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 1, 2020) — The University of Kentucky is part of a new Physics Frontier Center (PFC) that launched today at the University of California, Berkeley. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Network for Neutrinos, Nuclear Astrophysics, and Symmetries (N3AS) PFC seeks to improve understanding of the most extreme events known in the universe: mergers of neutron stars and their explosive aftermath, which includes ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves.

Susan Gardner, professor in the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, is leading the effort on behalf of UK.

“I am really enthusiastic about the new

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 11, 2020) — Most choose to attend college to earn an education — hoping they will gain knowledge to prepare them for the pursuit of a career. But the path to a degree can unlock more than job opportunities.

Just ask Chris Gorman.

It was fall of 1961, and the University of Kentucky freshman was eager to embark on his six-year plan — a fast-track strategy that would allow him to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree by the age of 24. 

“By nature, I’m a very social person,” he said. “To go from a small elementary school and high school to a major university was like putting a kid in a candy shop.”

Gorman referred to himself as a “bright-eyed kid,” but he was prepared to

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 8, 2020) — The Kentucky-West Virginia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, spearheaded by the University of Kentucky, has named nine of its first cohort of Bridge to the Doctorate fellows. Among them are three doctoral students in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The program supports a total of 12 graduate students from underrepresented populations who are pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines at UK.

Each fellow will receive a $32,000-a -year stipend as well as support for cost of education for two years through the grant. Fellows will receive coaching, academic and community support, professional development, and access to opportunities for

By Richard LeComte

Janice Fernheimer has been interested in archives, since she first set foot in one as an undergraduate English major at the University of Maryland. Her current projects build archives that highlight the influence of minorities in Kentucky’s history.

For her contributions to the archival profession, she has received the Midwest Archives Conference President’s Award for 2020.

“I am very honored that the interdisciplinary, highly collaborative work of building the oral history project has been recognized for its significant contributions to pedagogic innovation, archive building and stewarding,  and community engagement,” said Fernheimer, Zantker Professor and director of the Jewish Studies Program in UK’s College of

By Titus W. Chalk

Pulitzer-prize winning poet Paul Muldoon and author Kiese Laymon, whose memoir Heavy won the 2019 Andrew Carnegie medal for nonfiction, are featured in this year’s University of Kentucky Visiting Writers Series, which will be held online. Laymon will be reading alongside distinguished writers Cinelle Barnes, Minda Honey and UK alumna Joy Priest.

The English Department’s MFA in Creative Writing in the College of Arts & Sciences sponsors the series. Given the health risks associated with live readings, organizers are taking this mainstay of campus literary life online.

“This shows our determination to continue the high calibre and diverse guests our Visiting Writers Series has become known for, in a virtual format,” said Frank X Walker, the new director of Creative Writing. “We’ll also be adding master classes and workshops to