By Richard LeComte

Alix McIntosh

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Lexington native Alix McIntosh, a project officer in Cambodia with the United Nations' International Organization for Migration, will be speaking at an awards ceremony for the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences International Studies Program at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 19, in the Grand Courtroom of the Rosenberg Law Building. The event is open to the public.

McIntosh works as a project officer for counter trafficking in persons at an office in Phnom Penh. She graduated from UK in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Arabic and Islamic Studies. She served with the U.N. in Egypt for four years, then earned a master’s degree in human rights and democratization, international law and legal studies from the Global Campus of Human Rights in Europe. She took her

By Ryan Girves 

Michelle Sizemore

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 15, 2023) – Michelle Sizemore, associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky, has been named the new director of UK's Gaines Center for the Humanities, pending approval by the board of trustees. 

“Without question, the director of the Gaines Center is my dream job,” Sizemore said. “I have always been passionate about undergraduate education, and I believe deeply in the mission of the Gaines Center and the value of the Humanities. As a university program, the Gaines Center presents an important forum for Humanities advocacy throughout campus, the Lexington community and the Commonwealth.”

Sizemore received her doctorate in

By Erin Wickey 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 15, 2024) — Understanding how sleep helps people live healthier lives is the mission of one University of Kentucky researcher. Lauren Whitehurst, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences and assistant director of the UNITE Research Priority Area, studies how genetics and environment affect sleep. 

“Before birth all the way until death, our sleep can be shaped,” Whitehurst. said. “Understanding what those biological mechanisms are, as well as what those kinds

The University of Kentucky has announced recipients of the 2024 Faculty Awards. The College will have an awards program and reception in early fall to recognize the recipients. More information will follow soon.

2024 College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Awards recipients are: 

Outstanding Teaching Award

Excellence in Teaching Large Courses Award

Innovative Teaching Award

Outstanding Undergraduate Research

The Committee on Social Theory (CST) is pleased to announce that we are once again accepting applications for Graduate Student Research Grants. 

CST supports research by University of Kentucky graduate students with interests in social theory, broadly defined. Grants between $500-$1,500 will be awarded. Funds can be used for any research-related expenses.

The grant competition is open to graduate students from across the University of Kentucky. Priority will be given to students working towards a ST certificate and/ or have taken the ST 600 or ST 500 course (or an equivalent) within the past two years. Support is available for master’s thesis research and doctoral dissertation research. Award is given up front (not reimbursement). Grantees are required to present their research at a ST graduate student showcase in Fall 2024.

Application deadline: May 10,

By Shannon Markel 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 10, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center is showcasing the work of student and faculty researchers through its Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress series this spring.

The presenting researchers represent five colleges and eight departments from across UK’s campus as well as the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in UK Libraries. Many of the presenting students are supported through the center’s 

By Richard LeComte

Ernest J. Yanarella, left, Leslie Land Geoghegan, Ana Franco-Watkins, Quentin R. Tyler and Philip D. Leming

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 8, 2024) — The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky inducted three alumni and one emeriti faculty into its Hall of Fame on Friday, April 5. 

The honor recognizes UK Arts and Sciences alumni and faculty who exemplify the foundational importance of an arts and sciences education and who have contributed significantly to their professions, their communities and the university.

“This year’s honorees exemplify extraordinary talent and steadfast dedication to their respective fields,” Ana Franco-Watkins, dean of UK

The March 29 edition of the National Public Radio podcast "It's Been a Minute" features an interview with University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences history professor Anastasia Curwood on her biography of U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm. The podcast examines the history left out of the new Netflix film "Shirley," which follows the presidential run of Chisholm. Curwood is the author of "Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics." Curwood talks about how Chisholm's identities informed her approach to the campaign. 

By Daily Bates

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 12 undergraduate students for its fellowship program. 

The Gaines Fellowship Program began in 1984 thanks to a gift from John and Joan Gaines. The program aims to recognize exceptional academic achievement, independent research capabilities, commitment to public issues and a passion for deepening the understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

“I want to acknowledge the hard work and difficult decisions made by our volunteer faculty selection committee led by Chelsea Brislin. This was a record year for Gaines applications and every one of them was stellar,” said Richard H. Schein, acting director of the Gaines Center for

By Lindsay Travis 

Jeremiah Smith

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2024) — A study by a group of researchers at the University of Kentucky in collaboration with scientists in four other countries has been published in Nature.

Jeramiah Smith, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, collaborated with an international research group to parse the hagfish genome and better understand the early evolution of vertebrates.

Their study is “The hagfish genome and the evolution of vertebrates.” Hagfish are a type of jawless fish that live in deep ocean waters far from

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 29, 2024) — On Monday, April 8,sky gazers across North America will be treated to a total solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the planet and temporarily blocking the sun's light. Weather permitting, this event creates an awe-inspiring display as the sky darkens and the sun's corona becomes visible.

Like the rest of the continent, the University of Kentucky and Lexington are gearing up for this rare natural phenomenon. However, it's important to note that Lexington will only experience approximately 97% coverage. While that might sound good enough, experts in the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy say

By Brandon Brown and Lindsey Piercy
 

A James Beard Foundation Award nominee as Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Southeast, Ouita Michel has built a regional restaurant empire. Michel majored in political science in the College of Arts and Sciences.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2024) — From the distilling industry to policy making, University of Kentucky alumnae are not just preserving Kentucky traditions — they’re rewriting them.  

Shannon Arvin, J.D., Maggie Davis, Tia Edwards, Ouita Michel, Crystal Staley and Tukea Talbert offer a glimpse into the diverse experiences of women as they shatter glass ceilings and pave the

By Jennifer T. Allen

Annie Saylor (first row, far left) after winning a math contest that earned her a college scholarship.

As a young girl growing up in the small mining community of Molus, Ky., in Harlan County nestled in the mountains of Appalachia, Annie Saylor excelled at math.  

“I enjoyed being good at something that other people weren’t,” she said. “I like being able to teach it, and I like that sense you get when you solve the problem.” 

Her acumen for math made college possible. While in high school, she won a math contest that allowed her to attend Cumberland College (now known as University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Ky., on scholarship. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Saylor came to the University of Kentucky to pursue her graduate studies in mathematics and numerical analysis.  

“I chose UK partly out of loyalty to my

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 22, 2024) – Is Gratz Park really haunted? Where did the lore of Moth Man come from? Does Lexington have a tarot card reader? These topics will be explored at this year’s Lafayette Seminar in Public Issues presented by the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities.  

Presented annually, the Lafayette Seminar in Public Issues provides an opportunity for Lexington community members, faculty and students to come together and discuss our city’s past, present and future. Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby, Ph.D. a UK professor and modern classical languages

In early 2021, the Nunn Center and Dr. Janice Fernheimer partnered to launch the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project. This oral history project, built in collaboration with students, documents women who have played important roles in Kentucky’s bourbon industry. Doug Boyd and Janice Fernheimer reflect on this phase of the oral history project and some key themes expressed in the interviews.  
 

By Morgan Luster 

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky’s Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences will offer its 49th annual Naff Symposium, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. The theme is  “Energetic Foundations and Futures of Life.”

The day's lectures will start with the dawn of life, which emerging science now explains in terms of reactions that capture and convert energy. Moreover, variants of those same reactions are being exploited in new research for a sustainable future. 

Distinguished scholars from around the world will present their work to students and faculty from UK as well as other colleges and universities in Kentucky and the region.

By Haven L. Patrick

Posters-at-the-Capitol is a one-day annual event to help increase the understanding of the role undergraduate research plays in higher education. Photo provided by OUR.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 22nd annual Posters-at-the-Capitol on March 7 featured 13 University of Kentucky undergraduate research projects that address such issues in Kentucky as public safety, energy conservation, homeownership and lung cancer prevention. 

Posters-at-the-Capitol is hosted by Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Western

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Maddie Duff is reaching out to her fellow Appalachians through a University of Kentucky research initiative called SPARK, or Students Participating as Ambassadors for Research in Kentucky.  

Duff, a junior neuroscience major in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences, conducts research through SPARK, the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology and the John Calhoun Wells Eastern Kentucky Scholars Fund. Each of these programs encourage and assist students with giving back inside their communities. For example, Duff conducts phone surveys of people with hearing issues.

“A lot of the participants I've dealt with just want to be heard,” said Duff, who’s from Prestonburg, Ky. “They want somebody to understand the struggles that they go through as a patient who has all these conditions Also, they have to

By Daily Bates

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 15, 2024) — While St. Patrick’s Day is associated with wearing green, community parades and shamrock hunting, the holiday is also grounded in history that dates back more than 1,500 years.

Did you know, the earliest known celebrations were held in the 17th century on March 17 — marking the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick in the 5th century?

Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has expertise in how St. Patrick’s Day came to be.

As a folklorist,

By Jennifer T. Allen

Last year, Jayden Sheridan worked 70+ hours a week to make ends meet while taking a 19-credit hour course load. A first-generation student from Findlay, Ohio, majoring in political science and minoring in gender and women’s studies and criminology while also working on a peace studies certificate, Sheridan has no lack of motivation.

“Looking back, I don’t know how I was doing that,” she said. “I don’t know how I was keeping my grades up and also working that much. Honestly, last year was a blur.” 

Being the first in your family to attend college means navigating the world of higher education without much guidance from home. Sheridan knew that to get the research experiences she wanted while in college, she was going to have to look for funding opportunities. 

“First-generation students don’t know where to go for scholarships or who to