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by Gail Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 29, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World program has already whisked students on four virtual globetrotting tours, yearlong explorations into the culture and history of a country or region. For the program’s fifth academic year, the college will delve into the turbulent, headline-grabbing region of the Middle East.

Once again the UK College of Arts and Sciences has chosen a region that impacts all of us. The eyes of the world have focused on the area for months, years. And yet, for many Americans, the Middle East is still mysterious and threatening, a culture and people churning with unfamiliar beliefs, traditions, expectations and dreams.

Like past programs

by Jenny Wells

(Aug. 26, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence honored its newest class of Chellgren Fellows this past weekend.  Benefactor Paul Chellgren, along with Chellgren Endowed Chair Philipp Kraemer, recognized and congratulated the students on being named Fellows.

The Chellgren Fellows Program is for students with exceptional academic potential and aspirations, who are eager to participate in a special learning community designed to cultivate extraordinary achievement. Outstanding faculty members from across campus serve as individual mentors for the Fellows.

The students selected as 2014-15 Chellgren Fellows include:

Shiza

by Keith Hautala

(July 15. 2014) — The University of Kentucky has entered into an agreement with a major Chinese petrochemical conglomerate to develop technologies to capture, utilize and store 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year from a coal-fired power plant in Dongying, Shandong, China.

The agreement, between UK's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) and the Sinopec Corporation's Shengli Oilfield Company and Petroleum Engineering Construction Corporation, is a project of the joint U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) as part of its Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS) initiative. Preliminary work on the project began in 2012, and work is scheduled to continue through 2017.

The purpose of the project, with an estimated total investment of $320-400 million, is to develop a series of technologies to capture, transport, store

Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world, with more than 250 million speakers worldwide. Aside from its country of origin, Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Acores, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe, and is commonly spoken in seven other countries. A part of the Ibero-Romance language group that descends from Latin dialects, its origins are ancient, but during the Age of Exploration, it spread to many corners of the globe, and is present in many popular forms of music, such as bossa nova and samba.

During Fall semester 2014, Fabrício da Silva will teach introductory Portuguese. He is a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil, has lived in Lisbon, Portugal, and has an MA in Languages, Literatures

by Benjamin Kandt, photo by Kiran Lannagadda

(June 13, 2014) - The University of Kentucky is proud to host a Confucius Institute (UKCI), a center dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of Chinese culture throughout the University of Kentucky and the Lexington community. UKCI’s offerings include Chinese language classes and cultural outreach events. It also serves as a bridge for the University of Kentucky to make connections with institutions

by Jenny Wells and Whitney Hale

(May 30, 2014) — Before embarking on a two-week tour of China, the University of Kentucky’s Jazz Ensemble will take a Bluegrass stage to present a preview concert of music they plan to perform on tour. The free public concert will begin 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 2, at the Singletary Center for the Arts.

The concert, featuring everything from big band swing music to more contemporary jazz performed by the UK Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Miles Osland, is designed to showcase the tremendous breadth of the American art form for Chinese audiences, who have become major fans of the genre but rarely get to hear live American performances. 

by Derrick Meads

(May 27, 2014) — Fifteen UK faculty members will teach students at Shanghai University (SHU) in China for a week this summer through the UK Confucius Institute’s (UKCI) “UK Faculty China Short-Term Teaching Program,” during the week of June 16-20.

The program fosters global literacy throughout UK’s multiple disciplines by embedding UK faculty members in SHU’s departments where they teach students for one week, meet professional colleagues, identify shared research interests and gain key insights into China that they can then share with their students in Kentucky.

"Students need to know how knowledge is created, disseminated and used in a commercial and global environment of commerce," said Susan Carvalho, associate provost for

by Whitney Hale

(May 27, 2014) — University of Kentucky Office of External Scholarships has announced that four UK students have been selected as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among approximately 1,800 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2014-2015 academic year through the prestigious program.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio Station recently featured UK Appalachian Center’s new project “Las Voces de los Apalaches.” Anne Kingsolver—Director of the Appalachian Center—and Pedro Martínez—project leader were interviewed by Celeste Headlee.

Kingsolver and Martínez talk about how “Las Voces de los Apalaches” started as a project that sought to create awareness and increase knowledge about the Appalachia region. The common conception that Appalachia is full of poor-whites is mistaken, there are different ethnic groups living in Appalachia that have been silenced over the years. “Las Voces de los Apalaches” is a platform that will allow different cultures to share their experiences and their lifestyales in the Appalachia.

One group that has greatly grown since the early 2000s is the Latino community. Over 4% of people living in the Appalachia region identify themselves as

by Whitney Haley

(May 5, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Office of External Scholarships has announced two UK students will study critical languages on scholarship in 2014-15.

Cassidy Henry, a graduate student at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce from Navarre, Fla., has been awarded a National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Fellowship of up to $30,000 to study Russian in Irkutsk and Vladivostok, Russia. Henry is one of 106 graduate student award winners selected nationally from a pool of 497 applicants.

Samuel Northrup, a 

by Tony Neely

(April 29, 2014) — A total of 61 University of Kentucky Wildcats earned a place on the 2013-14 Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll announced by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

UK’s 61 honorees was the fourth most among the 14 league teams. UK has five representatives from the men’s basketball team, six from women’s basketball, 12 from gymnastics, six from rifle, 16 from men’s swimming and diving and 16 from women’s swimming and diving.  This marks another strong showing for UK’s student-athletes, who had the second-most qualifiers on the SEC Fall Sports Honor Roll released earlier this year.

The 2013-14 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on the grades from the 2013 Spring, Summer and Fall terms. Among other qualifications, a student-athlete must have a grade-point average of 3.00 or above for the preceding

El Departamento de Arts & Sciences se enorgullece de anunciar que la profesora Ana Rueda ha sido nombrada Profesora Distinguida del 2014-2015 en el área de Arts & Sciences. La Dr. Rueda recibió su título de Doctorado en la Universidad de Vanderbilt en 1985, y luego fue profesora en al Universidad de Missouri-Columbia. Ana Rueda comenzó su carrera en UK en el 2002.

La carrera de la Dr. Rueda ha sido una amalgama de investigación, instrucción y servicio, lo cual contribuyó a su nominación a este premio. Reconocida internacionalmente por su trabajo en el área de Literatura Española, la Dr. Rueda ha conducido investigaciones tanto en teoría de cuentos, teoría epistolar y literatura de guerra, como en estudios interdisciplinarios en música, historia cultural y literatura por mujeres. Rueda ha publicado 6 libros y alrededor de

by Jenny Wells, Carl Nathe

(April 23, 2014) — As a University of Kentucky Commencement tradition, two students have been selected to serve as speakers for the two undergraduate ceremonies Saturday, May 10.

Emily Willett will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony and Pooja Reddy will speak at the 6 p.m. ceremony. Willett and Reddy were selected among several candidates by UK President Eli Capilouto to represent the May 2014 undergraduate class.

Willett, from Ormond Beach, Fla., is graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in management from the Gatton College of Business and Economics.  She is a third-generation

By Mark Lawrence Kornbluh

The College of Arts & Sciences is very pleased to announce that Professor Ana Rueda has been named the 2014-15 Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor. Dr. Rueda received her PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1985. After teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia for many years, she came to the University of Kentucky in 2002.

Professor Rueda's distinguished career realizes an ideal balance between research, teaching, and service, which is a hallmark of this Award. An internationally recognized scholar of modern Spanish literature, her research has widely ranged from short story theory, epistolary, and war literature to interdisciplinary studies in music, women's writing, and cultural history. She has published six books and almost fifty book

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 25, 2014) — Two University of Kentucky juniors have received the Undergraduate Research Abroad Scholarship (UGRAS) which will support their international independent research projects during the 2014 summer session.

Tamas Nagy, a computer science and chemistry double major in the Colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences, and Alexis Thompson, an animal science/pre-veterinary science major in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, have been awarded the

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 25, 2014) — University of Kentucky Education Abroad (EA) is inspiring students to “enKompass” the world by sharing the stories and experiences of students who have studied, interned, researched and even taught abroad through journal entries, videos and program reviews.

“EnKompass is a one-stop forum for students by students,” said Seth Riker, promotion and outreach coordinator for Education Abroad. “Students can access candid testimonials, which will inspire them to dive into an education abroad program and find avenues to make it financially possible.

Riker believes students can relate to other students who have already experienced what a study abroad prospect plans to achieve.

Students who are interested in studying

(April 23, 2014) — Several scholarships, fellowships and grant opportunities to study and teach in China have been made available to University of Kentucky students and faculty through the UK Confucius Institute and partner universities in China.

Students at UK interested in studying in China should consider applying for Confucius Institute Student Scholarships or the Shanghai Summer School program.

The Confucius Institute Student Scholarships are available for both undergraduate and graduate levels of academic study in Chinese language, literature, history and philosophy. The Confucius Institute Student Scholarship provides support for terms lasting from one semester to five years. Awards vary depending on program type. 

                               

by Jenny Wells, Derrick Meads 

(April 21, 2014) — Legendary anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg will speak at 4 p.m. today in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. A reception will follow at 5 p.m.

In 1964, Goldberg, Nelson Mandela and six others were tried and convicted for trying to overthrow the apartheid regime in South Africa.  He spent the next 22 years in prison, and was released in 1985 on the condition that he be exiled from his native South Africa to Israel.

After his release, Goldberg instead traveled the world organizing international opposition to apartheid, becoming a spokesperson for the African National Congress, then the leading anti-apartheid organization and current ruling party of South

The University of Kentucky has been presenting the Sullivan Award to students, faculty, and staff since 1927. This award recognizes individuals who evince a sense of love and helpfulness for other communities, at home and abroad.  

This year’s UK recipient is graduating senior Andrew Ritzel. A Biology and Spanish major, Ritzel is being recognized for his involvement and leadership with UK’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Program and for creating a formal partnership between UK and Shoulder-to-Shoulder Global.

Ritzel’s involvement started when he was a first-year student here at UK. “Coming into college, the Alternative Spring Break Program was something I had heard about at other universities. I was really interested in the program, so I went to one of the information sessions at the beginning of the school year. I learned that UK’s ASB program was launching a

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 16, 2014) —  The piece, an exploration of people, place and promise, will be celebrated with a presentation, "Nation of Nations: Awakening to a New World," and reception at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the UK Libraries Athletics Auditorium. The event and reception are free and open to the public.

"Nation of Nations" includes a series of 10 works embodying the spirit of many different peoples and creeds: Incan, Kenyan, Mexican, Moroccan, Cherokee, Hindu, Hebrew, Creole, Arab and Russian. On each one, the phrase, “Have Mercy on Us,” is written in a different language: Cherokee, Chinese, English, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Swahili, Latin, Russian and Haitian Creole.  In addition, the titles of the 10 paintings echo the anthems, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful."

"Nation of Nations" was