The University of Kentucky's Passport to the World series is entering its fifth year and with that anniversary comes a number of exciting announcements. This upcoming year the program will highlight an entire region - the Middle East.
Professors Janice Fernheimer and Paul Chamberlin are at the helm of The Year of the Middle East, which begins in the Fall 2014 semester, and they have ambitious plans for the program over its yearlong duration. The professors sat down with us to discuss some of those plans and to enlighten us a bit on the culture of the Middle East.
Frank X Walker is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, a professor at UK, and Kentucky's Poet Laureate. He has published six volumes of poetry, the most recent of which (Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers) won a NAACP Image Award. Here, he shares poems from a new collection he is currently working on.
Kwakye's work at the University of Kentucky will revolve around the examination of the life experiences of black women and girls particularly focusing on their educational experiences. Like many who come to UK and join departments within the College of Arts & Sciences, Kwakye was drawn by the interdisciplinary approach that the school fosters. Another draw was the college's commitment to digital studies which Kwakye hopes to capitalize on with her new research project focusing on how young black women use performance and social media to express their lives.
This podcast is part of a series highlighting the new faculty members who joined the College of Arts and Sciences in the fall 2013 semester.
Hill's focus at the University of Kentucky will be on creative writing. While she tends to specialize in fiction, Hill has a background that spans the writing spectrum from poetry to play writing. Hill looks forward to continuing her research work monitoring the politics of appearance while also being allowed the room to chase her more creative pursuits.
This podcast is part of a series highlighting the new faculty members who joined the College of Arts and Sciences in the fall 2013 semester.
Studying abroad is considered an unforgettable experience for many of the University of Kentucky’s students. A typical study abroad program transports a group of students to a foreign country. These opportunities offer new perspectives, connections, and fond memories. The Zolondek Scholarship sets itself apart by offering students the opportunity to travel abroad on their own.
During the summer of 2013, Bailey Ubellacker, a double major of Spanish and Elementary Education, spent three weeks abroad studying and experiencing the Italian Renaissance. Bailey Ubellacker was the recipient of the Zolondek Scholarship, which allowed her to challenge herself as she traveled alone and shaped her own study abroad experience. In this podcast, Bailey Ubellacker discusses her time in Italy and what she has brought back with her.
University of Kentucky alumni Debdas Mukerjee graduated in 1962 with his Ph.D. in genetics. After UK, Mukerjee contributed his expertise to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center before his career finally carried him to the Environmental Protection Agency where he was a Senior Environmental Health Scientist for the United States.
All of this was not Mukerjee's plan but he found that both the University of Kentucky and the state itself opened the doors of America to him in way he would never have imagined. In this podcast, Mukerjee reminisces on his "innumerable" memories at UK and gives some advice to current students so that they too can get the most from their academic experience.
One such researcher is Professor Gary Ferland of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Since the late 1970s, he’s been using computer modeling software to carry out experiments that would otherwise be impossible. With his widely used program Cloudy which simulates clouds of interstellar matter out in space and UK’s high-tech supercomputing infrastructure, Ferland and his students have been able to help answer some of the biggest questions facing astronomers as well as society.
Fibromyalgia causes pain that can be felt in muscles, joint and even skin. Although it is the most common musculoskeletal condition after osteoarthritis, it is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.
