By Jenny Wells, Mike Lynch

The Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky celebrated a major achievement today in the mapping of Kentucky's geology. KGS has published all 25 maps in the 30 by 60 minute geologic map series (1:100,000 scale), making them available to the public. This achievement is unparalleled by any other state, making Kentucky a leader in geologic mapping and map technology.

These detailed maps show surface and subsurface rock types, formations, and structures such as faults. Geologic formations and faults control the occurrence of minerals and fuels, groundwater, and geologic hazards.

"They are an important contribution to society because the information they provide assists in the production of resources, protection of groundwater and the environment, stability of

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky's Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program will give the campus and Lexington community a realistic look at Appalachia through film in the center's first Appalachian Forum series event this week.

Young people from the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) will showcase three films produced by AMI filmmakers from 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at the William T. Young Library Auditorium. The short films will be followed by a question and answer session. 

The film presentation will cover a wide range of content, including "Searching for an Appalachian Accent," a 15-minute film that explores the stigma attached to regional dialects; "A Little

Dissertation Defense of Alice Driver

Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 9AM-11AM in 1145 Patterson Office Tower

Dissertation Title: Cultural Production and Ephemeral Art: Feminicide and the Geography of Memory in Ciudad Juárez, 1998-2008.

Joseph Tipton is currently a predoctoral fellow in the Department of Classics at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to teaching courses in Greek history, ancient mythology and classical literature, he is writing his dissertation which deals with the philosophical commitments underlying the Athenian democracy in the Periclean period as evidenced in philosophical, historical and dramatic texts.

Joseph was a graduate student in the Classics program at the University of Kentucky from 2001 to 2003. During these two years he pursued both Greek and Latin studies in the department. He appreciates most the work he did in the Institutum Studiis Latinis Provehendis. In the Institutum he gained not just a command of the language, but also an insight into the nuances of the language that has proved invaluable in subsequent work. He has also gained an understanding

ITIQ is a program of online, 1-credit hour courses designed to teach today’s students about various information technology tools, skills, and methods to use technology successfully in the academic, professional, and personal aspects of their lives. Students learn tools to help with academic research, stay organized, collaborate virtually, analyze and visualize data, publish online content, create dazzling presentations, and much more!

There are currently three course offerings, ITIQ-Intro, ITIQ-Web Publishing, and ITIQ-VisLab.  The courses are typically offered during 6-week part-of-term courses toward the beginning or end of the semester.   

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

University of Kentucky Confucius Institute Director Huajing Maske rarely takes a moment to reflect. With a passion for spreading Chinese language and culture to the Commonwealth that aligns with the UKCI's gateway mission, Maske and her small staff have made quite an impact on UK, Central Kentucky schools and the community in their first year of work.

"When I sit down and think about it, we've achieved a lot," Maske said laughing. "It's amazing to see such an improvement in such a short time."

The Confucius Institute's goals are to provide leadership, support and coordination for Chinese language and programs in K-12 schools as well as on the UK campus; assist in establishing and maintaining faculty and student exchange between 

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The annual POW/MIA Run is a chance for Air Force and Army ROTC cadets from the University of Kentucky, along with Air Force ROTC cadets from the University of Louisville, to honor the sacrifices of the nation’s prisoners of war and those still missing in action.

ROTC cadets and faculty will run 29 miles — from the UK campus in Lexington to the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Frankfort — on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Cadets and faculty will start their run at 6:30 a.m. in front of Barker Hall, located on Administration Drive on the central campus of UK. The runners expect to arrive at the memorial around noon.

Cadets will carry both the United States and POW/MIA flags along the entire route. The run will take place along Old Frankfort Pike.

Student

Matt Wells presented a paper titled “How to Be an Exemplary Official: Didactic Life Narrative in the Jin shu.” 15th Annual Southeast Early China Roundtable, University of the South, Sewanee, October 7-9, 2011.

Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby and Matt Wells participated in an Asian studies meeting up in Louisville for all of the Asian Studies faculty across the state, hosted by the Crane House.  

EVENT - David Hunter & Catholic Studies - Sinai Monk to Visit
The Cottrill-Rolfes Chair of Catholic Studies, through the good offices of Dr. David Bradshaw, Philosophy Depaetment chair, will be sponsoring two lectures in early November.  The speaker will be Fr. Justin Sinates, a monk of St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai Desert, Egypt, and a native of Texas.  St. Catherine's was founded in the sixth century by the Byzantine emperor

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences will host a trailblazing American diplomat next week to continue the college's Year of China initiative.

Former U.S. Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch will speak on “Leadership and Education in a Globalizing World: China’s Challenge” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's campus.

Bloch’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the "Passport to China: Global Issues & Local Understanding" course taught by UK sociology Professor Keiko Tanaka.

Ambassador Bloch, the first Asian-American ambassador in American history, has had a broad career in U.S. government service. She is currently president of the U.S.-China Education Trust, a nonprofit organization working

Doctoral Defense of Adam Glover

Tuesday, November 15 - 8am to 10am in 1145 Patterson Office Tower

Dissertation Title: Poetics of Enchantment: Language, Sacramentality, and Meaning in Twentieth-Century Argentine Poetry

Dean Mark Kornbluh sits down with Ann Kingsolver, a professor in the Department of Anthropology and the new Director of the Appalachian Research Center and the Appalachian Studies Program. Find out about her passion for the region and how she plans to strengthen UK/Appalachia connections

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky is one of America's first universities to receive students from the southwest Asian state of Oman in a five-year scholarship agreement with the nation's Ministry of Higher Education.  UK welcomed 50 undergraduate students to campus last week.

Most Omani students will be registering for American engineering, computer science and business courses in January 2012, after an intensive English language program (IELP) at their respective university, but UK has the ability to enroll students now, due to its English as a Second Language Program's (ESL)'s mid-fall admit date.

"Our Center for English as a Second Language has increasingly become an integral part of the academic program at UK, as we seek to provide academic advising even before the students

Russian studies, 2008

During my four years at the University of Kentucky, I discovered my passion in life. My freshman year, I signed up for a Russian language class, and just fell in love with the language, the culture, and the literature of the Russian people. I had the incredible opportunity to take language classes from full professors, one of whom is the head of the department! I have since learned that a professor teaching an introductory language course is a rarity, as they are generally taught at universities by lecturers or graduate students, as well as an incredible treat. My first year teacher could answer any possible question I had in a completely logical way, and her enthusiasm for the subject was absolutely contagious. I am now teaching my own first year Russian class at Indiana University in Bloomington, and one of my goals is to impart the very clear

Inside the Fall 2011 issue of the Wildcat Wrap:

Jeremy Popkin is the T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. professor of History for the College of Arts and Sciences, and the director of the Jewish Studies Program, an interdisciplinary minor.

He has been named one of six finalists for the 2011 Cundill Prize in History, the world‘s largest nonfiction history book award, for his recent publication of "You Are All Free: The Haitian Revolution and the Abolition of Slavery."

The Jewish Studies Program will have its open-house event on Wednesday, October 19th, from 12 - 1:30 p.m. at the Bingham-Davis House (213 E. Maxwell Street).

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By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky's revamped UK Core Composition and Communication classes combine historically united concepts, while giving students the interactive skills they need for the future.

"This is the only program in the United States that we're aware of in which communication faculty from another department —  actually, another college  —  and writing faculty are collaborating on a joint curriculum," said Roxanne Mountford, director of the Division of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Media in the College of Arts and Sciences. 

UK sophomore Jake Allgeier will remember his Composition and Communication classes (CIS 110 and 111 or WRD 110 and 111) for years to come.

The civil engineering student didn't know what to expect when he

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

Chad Montrie, professor in the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, will be visiting the University of Kentucky to discuss the history of environmentalism and its connection to the modern-day struggle against mountaintop removal (MTR) on Oct. 20.

His talk, titled, "Confronting Environmental Mythology, Making a New Environmental Movement," will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library.

Montrie will examine common notions about the origins and development of environmentalism in the United States, highlighting militant opposition to strip mining in Appalachia during the 1950s and 1960s as a precursor to contemporary efforts to end (MTR).

Montrie suggests that acknowledging underground miners’ critical involvement in that preceding

See this Power Point to learn more about Scott Hutson's work with Maya of Yucatan in the summer of 2011!

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

Four years of college is four years of finding yourself socially and [sometimes] academically for many students enrolled at the University of Kentucky. The city in which a student goes about pursuing the next chapter of his or her life doesn't always come into play.  However, a new course at UK wants to change that.

UK geography professor Richard Schein hopes to shed some local, Lexington light on students this fall with a Community 101 class being offered to university students through UK's College of Arts & Sciences.

"We've been an urban society since the 1920s," said Schein. "It's important for our students to become urban citizens,

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky continues on its international course with a visit from University of Haifa Rector (Provost) David Faraggi this week.  While here, Faraggi signed a memorandum of understanding, or a general cooperation agreement, with President Eli Capilouto Monday, Sept. 12.

“The University of Kentucky is excited about the opportunity to partner with the University of Haifa,” said Capilouto. “With the phenomenal advances in technology and industry, strategic collaborations between postsecondary institutions play an important role in a growing global economy.”

This past June, a UK delegation including public health professors Douglas Scutchfield and Jim Holsinger and Associate Provost for International Programs Susan