Rachel Philbrick, a graduate student in classics at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded one of only 33 Jacob K. Javits Fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education. The Javits Fellowship is awarded to students of superior academic ability who plan to undertake graduate study in the selected fields of arts, humanities and social sciences.

As part of the Javits Fellowship, the U.S. Department of Education awards fellowships to students on the basis of demonstrated achievement, financial need and exceptional promise. The selection is made by a panel of experts appointed by the Javits Fellowship Board. The Javits Fellowship covers study at the doctoral and Master of Fine Arts level in selected fields of arts,

The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 11 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of students’ outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, interest in public issues, and desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities. Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession are given equal consideration.

The 11 students selected as Gaines Scholars are as follows:

"It's 11:57 a.m., and I'm hurrying to class with my backpack on. A colleague stops me in front of the Chemistry-Physics Building and says, 'You look like a student!' Actually, I am."

 

So begins the story of Alan Fryar, a University of Kentucky geology professor who elaborates on his midlife undergraduate experience in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

Fryar, who is also the director of graduate studies for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UK, began taking French language classes on campus last semester.

 

"At 46, I'm an associate professor of geology and one of 25 students in an elementary French class here at the university," he explains in the Chronicle Review. "I'm nearly twice the age of my oldest

The Rural Sociological Society has recognized Shannon Bell and Richard York for Best Article. The article, “Community Economic Identity: The Coal Industry and Ideology Construction in West Virginia,” was published in March 2010 in Rural Sociology, the Society’s journal. Shannon Bell is an assistant professor of sociology at UK; Richard York, who co-authored the article, is a professor at the University of Oregon. 

In their article, Bell and York address the relationship between capitalist modes of production and ecological destruction. Using the Appalachian coal industry as a case study, they demonstrate the ways in which declines in coal industry jobs and

There is a wonderful program at Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY called the Appalachian Media Institute that I am excited to have the opportunity to work for this summer.  Appalshop was founded in 1969 as a non-profit multi-media arts and cultural organization dedicated to preserving Appalachian culture as well as addressing the issues that the Appalachian region is confronted with.  They have a community radio station that broadcasts throughout the area as well as internationally streaming on the web.  They have also produced numerous films, some of which were played at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City last fall. 

Check out all that Appalshop has to offer here: www.appalshop.org

The Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) is a program that was started at Appalshop in 1988.  AMI is

A former chemistry student digs with small tools, the size of those a dentist might use, next to an aspiring business titan from another life, who lightly brushes away dirt clods with almost maternal care.

"Sometimes I'll be working, and three or four hours will fly by," the former business student says. "It's absorbing."

Both are part of a team working to record and analyze the remains of over 125 patients buried on the historic grounds of Eastern State Hospital, the second-oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States.

David Pollack, director of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS) and adjunct  professor of anthropology at the University of Kentucky, has brought together professional archaeologists and anthropology graduate and undergraduate students for the project. 

Pollack and his team of 10 braved cold in February and

Christie Shrestha, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, was contacted by the United Nations' High Committee on Refugees to publish an abridged version of her MA thesis, which was published in 2010. Her thesis, "Power and politics in resettlement: a case study of Bhutanese refugees in the USA," is based on research conducted in 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky.  



The article, as it appears in the UNHCR series, "New Issues in Refugee Research," can be found here. 

Director of the Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation and Department of Psychology Professor Michael Bardo has been named a 2011 William B. Sturgill Award recipient. The award is presented anually to a graduate faculty member for outstanding contributions to graduate education at the University of Kentucky.



"Winning the Sturgill Award is such a high honor for me because my past trainees have been so successful," Bardo began. "It has been a great pleasure to stay in contact with many of them on an annual basis at professional meetings in psychology and neuroscience. Watching them grow from

During America's colonial period, the trans-Appalachian west, though largely terra incognita to people living on the eastern seaboard and occupied by significant numbers of native peoples, lay open to initial forays by hunters, explorers, surveyors, and settlers. The earliest overland travel routes to traverse western Virginia lands, country that eventually became the Commonwealth of Kentucky, were established between the 1750s and 1780.

Richard Waterman, professor in the Department of Political Science, has penned a novel entitled "The Oracle: The Succession War." The novel is a science-fiction take on politics, ambition, and the complex relationships that arise in the context of shifts in political power. 

The novel was released in 2010 by Otherworld Publications, a publishing firm in Louisville, Kentucky. The cover and illustrations for "The Oracle: The Succession War" are by Sendil Nathan. 

Waterman's blog about the book release can be found here.

 Tonya and Jackie Jones giggle like best friends over the remnants of a casual lunch. You almost feel like you're intruding in attempts to capture their attention. Mother and daughter never seem to tire of each other's company, especially considering they live together in the Jones family home in Lexington and both work part time at the Inn on Broadway downtown.

"We do everything together," Jackie Jones laughed. "And this is no different."

In this instance, Jackie is alluding to her impending May Commencement Ceremony, where she will graduate with a degree in history. Tonya Jones will have a front row seat for her daughter's graduation, as she is receiving a degree in history from UK as well.

"I refused to let her

A&S Ambassador - Cameron Hamilton

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/hamilton.mp3

Cameron Hamilton serves as a K Crew Coordinator for UK's K Week for incoming students, as well as serving as an A&S Ambassador. 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.

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2011 has marked a variety of successes for the University of Kentucky Anthropology Department.  Among the notable achievements and publications released this year are: 

 

This year, the College of Arts & Sciences awarded four professors with 2011-2012 Awards for Outstanding Teaching: Ben Braun (Mathematics), Nathan DeWall (Psychology), Paul Koester (Mathematics) and Linda Worley (Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures).  Drs. Braun, DeWall, Koester, and Worley are all exemplary practitioners of the arts of teaching, to be congratulated for their dedication to making the classroom a rewarding place for students and instructors alike.  These faculty have also made significant contributions to education beyond the classroom, including to University-wide and national educational

Rebecca Street Undergraduate Student by Amber Scott photos by Mark Cornelison

Rebecca Street grew up in Clemson, S.C., a town known for being the home of Clemson University, for historic houses and for thick Southern drawls. Also for neighboring Greenville, S.C., home to BMW's North American Headquarters, and it is this latter fact, oddly enough, that set Street on the path to studying linguistics at the University of Kentucky. "In high school, I did an exchange program in Germany that was sponsored by BMW since my high school had one of the best German language programs in the state," she said. "It was my first time being abroad, and it really got me interested in what life is like in other places. That was my inspiration for deciding that languages and other cultures were what I was interested in." Drawing on that newfound interest and an off-the-cuff suggestion from

Hsain Ilahiane, associate professor of Anthropology, has released a briefing about the ongoing fight for democracy in North Africa and the Middle East. Ilahiane's document was presented to the Society for Applied Anthropology's Human Rights and Social Justice Committee. The full report is available in .pdf format at the Society for Applied Anthropology's website. 



Ilahiane has carried out research in Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, and his areas of theoretical interest are globalization, development and information and communication technologies, and political ecology. 



UK Anthropology professors

At the 2011 annual meeting for the Society for Applied Anthrpology in Seattle, UK Anthrpology professors Diane King and Hsain Ilahiane, and graduate student Karen Rignall discussed "Anthropological Insights into the 2011 Uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East." 



To listen to their comments via podcast, click here.

We are very pleased to announce that our very own, Dr. Paul Karan, received the University Research Professor Award for the 2010-2011 academic year. This is the University's highest honor and is a very well deserved recognition for Professor Karan's outstanding work as a Geographer. For more information please visit here.

Adam Banks, an Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Media in the Department of English continues his efforts to strengthen the Black community in Lexington. Currently, he's involved with the King Mixtape Project taking place at St. Paul AME Church. Read the full story from The Key Newsjournal.

As a current board member of a company she boycotted during apartheid, Zohra Ebrahim is a dynamic testament to the New South Africa.

Ebrahim draws on her past of political activism, as well as a wealth of experience on corporate boards, to assess the role of women in contemporary South Africa.

Women have gained a great deal in the new South Africa. It is the third most equitable government in the world. Forty-five percent of parliament ministers are women.

Unfortunately, women have not entered the ranks of business in the same way. There are only 12 women on corporate boards of listed companies and only one female CEO in the whole country. Violence against women and children occurs frequently as well, due in part to the legacy of families destroyed by apartheid policies.

"South Africa has come so far so fast," Ebrahim said, "But these changes bring new