South Africa has received quite a bit of international press this year as the host nation of the 2010 World Cup. Although the festivities surrounding the exciting sports events are over, the College of Arts & Sciences is launching a new South African initiative which will allow students to learn more about this fascinating country over the course of the 2010-11 academic year. Students also have the opportunity to enroll in a class that breaks out of the traditional 3-credit hour, semester-long offerings.

On April 13, 2011, Ahmed “Kathy” Kathrada, the South African politician, former political prisoner, and anti-apartheid activist, spoke at UK as part of the unveiling of the traveling Kathrada Exhibit currently being hosted at the University of Kentucky. The exhibit, which documents Kathy’s life as an activist for non-racialism and democracy and also includes a replica of the prison cell in which Kathy spent 26 years of his life, was on display in the Webb Gallery of Lafferty Hall until May 31st, 2011.

Author Ron Eller, a professor in the Department of History, discusses inequalities and stereotypes of the Bluegrass State during 2010's AweSome Week.

As part of our Lecture Podcast Series, select lectures sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences are now available via ITUNESU. On January 27, Keith Gandal gave a talk entitled “Why the Vietnam Antiwar Uprising?: The Confluence Scholastic Meritocracy and Cold War Mobilization in a New Student Class”. In his talk, Gandal discusses the reasons why the Vietnam War, unlike previous wars, sparked antiwar protests and draft dodging among young Americans.

With 17 departments, 14 interdisciplinary programs, and 26 majors, the College of Arts and Sciences is one of the oldest and largest colleges at the University of Kentucky. A&S Week, coined AweSome Week by this year's organizers, is an opportunity for people to celebrate the liberal arts education experience at the University of Kentucky. Mary Beth Johnson, who serves as one of the coordinators of AweSome Week, discusses what this year's celebration will entail.

Morgan Hartlage, an undergraduate student in the Department of Biology, is the organizer of the Slow Food Organization at the University of Kentucky and serves as an A&S Ambassador, acting as a student liaison between faculty, prospective students, and the University of Kentucky campus at large. 

Cameron Hamilton, an undergraduate student in the Department of Biology, serves as an A&S Ambassador and as a K Crew Coordinator for UK's K Week for incoming students. Hamilton discusses new initiatives that the K Crew Coordinators are working on as well as the personal and professional benefits of being a K Crew Coordinator and A&S Ambassador.

On November 19th, 2010, the Council Forum on Haiti Reconstruction took place at the University of Kentucky. Everett McCorvey is the director of the UK Opera and a major player in the process of creating the Haitian Harmony Children's Choir. This initiative will bring communities together and share the stories of earthquake survivors through musical performance.

In his presentation, “Reconstructing Haiti: The American Contribution”, Russell Porter, the deputy coordinator and soon to be director of the USAID Taskforce, discusses the US government’s response to the earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010 and to its most recent cholera epidemic.