By Carl Nathe

The immediate crisis may have been alleviated somewhat by the 'fiscal cliff' legislation passed by Congress on Jan. 1, however, the issue of revenue vs. spending by the federal government continues to be a major topic of debate across the country.

Against this backdrop, the University of Kentucky's Martin School of Public Policy and Administration is bringing a major national figure to campus to discuss the financial challenges facing America and the rest of the world.  David M. Walker, who served as comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008, will address students, faculty, and the general public at 7:00 tonight. Wednesday, Jan. 23, in the Recital Hall of the Singletary

From being a walk-on with the undefeated 1971-72 freshman basketball team, to working with the Supreme Court, and now as the President and CEO of the Freedom Forum, which oversees the Newseum and First Amendment Center is Washington D.C. - Jim Duff's resume is as diverse as and A&S education. No wonder he is being inducted into the A&S Hall of Fame this week!

The Herald-Leader recently covered Duff's career - read more.
 

By Ethan Levine, Whitney Hale

Crawfish Bottom was not the best neighborhood in the city of Frankfort, Ky. In fact, it was far from it. But a book from University of Kentucky oral historian Doug Boyd, recognized with a recent regional historic preservation award, sheds light not only on the area's notorious history but the love its residents had for their community.

The 50 acres of Crawfish Bottom on the north end of the state capital was better known for its crime rate and tough reputation than anything else, earning it the nickname "the lowest part of the city," or simply "bottom" for short. But if you dig beneath the "bottom," what you'll find is a neighborhood formerly filled with culture, history and lasting relationships.

A few years ago, Boyd, director of

By Sarah Geegan

University of Kentucky students and faculty will travel to Shanghai in May to share Appalachian culture at the American Studies Center at Shanghai University.

The  American Studies Center, funded by a grant from The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, is one of 10 similar centers in China. In December 2011, UK signed a joint-venture agreement with Shanghai University to pioneer the center on the SU campus.

The facility aims to broaden Chinese understanding of American culture and to foster intellectual and cultural exchange. UK's primary contribution involves providing a perspective of the American South and Appalachia.

"The purpose of the center is to try and counter Hollywood stereotypes of the United States by bringing them a more nuanced version of

By Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will present the Distinguished Professor Lecture, featuring History Professor Ron Eller at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 12 in the William T. Young Library auditorium.

Eller's lecture, "Seeking the Good Life in America: Lessons From the Appalachian Past," will discuss what the future holds for Appalachia, using the history of the region as a foundation.

Eller, a professor in the Department of History, is originally from West Virginia. Having  spent more than 40 years teaching and writing about the Appalachian region, he also served as the director for the UK Appalachian Center for 16 years. Eller has also served as chairman of the Governor’s Kentucky

By Sarah Geegan

The UK American Studies Program, the Graduate School,UK Student Government Association and the English Graduate Student Organization will present "Hawthorne and the State of War," a lecture by Philip Gould from 12:30 - 1:15 p.m. Friday, March 30, in the Niles Gallery.

Gould is professor of English at Brown University and the author of "Covenant and Republic: History Romance and the Politics of Puritanism." His work has also appeared in journals such as "Eighteenth Century Studies," "American Literary History," and "Journal of the Early Republic".

The story of Nathaniel Hawthorne's late career during the U.S. Civil War

By Sarah Geegan

Students in professor Randolph Hollingsworth's research seminar expanded the boundaries of a typical history class as they examined the complexities and influences of Kentucky civil rights era women. By participating in digital dialogues, contributing to online databases and engaging in community service, the students experienced history by thinking outside the book.

"We don't have many scholarly books covering the wide-ranging history of women in Kentucky," Hollingsworth said. "One thing that we've found is that women are simply absent in many historical records. Sometimes it's a willful absence, and people choose not to include them. But then other times, it's just neglect."

The course aimed to begin filling this historical void. Students served as history-detectives, acquiring

By Sarah Geegan

Rich Kirby and John Haywood will present the second lecture in the Appalachian Studies Program’s Place Matters lecture series on Friday, Feb. 17.

The lecture, “Somewheres on the Track: Place, Art and Music in Eastern Kentucky,” will demonstrate Kirby and Haywood's experience with all three – place, art, and music – from Appalachian Kentucky. Their multimedia presentation will take place  from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Center Theater, University of Kentucky Student Center.

Rich Kirby is a musician who founded June Appal Recordings in 1974. For over 30 years – from vinyl to iTunes – June Appal has

By Kathy Johnson

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Appalachian Studies and the Graduate Appalachian Research Community are making a call for papers for the 2012 UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase. The topic of the work must be related to Appalachia, original, and produced in the last three years. 

The deadline for submitting an abstract of work online is midnight Dec. 15. The submission can be made by going to the GARC tab on www.appalachiancenter.org and clicking on the "Abstract

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

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

University of Kentucky creative writing Professor  Nikky Finney has won the 2011 National Book Award in Poetry for her recent work, “Head Off & Split.”  Finney attended the award ceremony last night in New York City, where she accepted the highly prestigious honor.

“Head Off & Split” was published by Northwestern University Press in February of this year, and Finney has been touring with the book since late winter.

The National Book Award website says the poems in Finney's "Head Off & Split" "sustain a sensitive and intense dialogue with emblematic figures and events in African-American life: from Civil Rights matriarch Rosa Parks, to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from a brazen girl strung out on lightning, to a terrified woman abandoned on a

By Erin Holaday Zielger

The United States celebrates International Education week this week, but UK has escalated its presence and connectivity across the globe since Provost Kumble Subbaswamy established the Internationalization Task Force in February 2007.

"Our students, regardless of whether they come from rural Kentucky or from outside the U.S., are increasingly aware of the importance of being ready for the global marketplace," Subbaswamy said.  "Thus, it is our responsibility to make sure that UK provides them ample opportunity to become ‘world ready.’ Our internationalization efforts are aimed at achieving this strategic goal."

International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences American Studies Program will host a discussion with the internationally renowned New York Times film critic A.O. Scott this week.

"Film and Reality: A Conversation with A.O. Scott" will take place at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17 in Memorial Hall on UK's campus. The event is free and open to the public.

American Studies Professor Alan Nadel will be speaking with Scott. Nadel, the William T. Bryan Chair in American Literature and Culture, is currently teaching an undergraduate course in the American Studies Program on the nonfiction novel and documentary films.

"This isn't so much an interview as a conversation,"

By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky Special Collections Library invites the public to an exhibition and symposium celebrating the opening of the papers of Appalachian author Harriette Simpson Arnow. The event will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Great Hall, of the Margaret I. King Building. The exhibition of work will run through February 2012.

Harriette Arnow’s papers at UK Libraries provide a broad look at a writer’s life and work.  Included are materials that document her writing process, from first-draft manuscripts on dime store tablets, through various iterations and drafts, to printer page proofs. Also included are correspondence with family, editors, publishers and literary agents. Researchers will find mail from readers, photographs,

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

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky was recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education this week as a top producer of U.S. Fulbright Scholars for the 2011-12 academic year, with five recipients as of Oct. 7.

UK is a top producer of Fulbright Scholars among research institutions, according to the Chronicle's listing.

The prestigious Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international exchange program of the U.S. and provides grants that allow distinguished academics to spend extended periods of time studying and teaching at foreign universities.

Economics Professor

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

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

University of Kentucky English professor Frank X Walker is not one to sit still. And the new director of both the African American Studies & Research and the Africana Studies Programs doesn't expect his students to either.