LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 18, 2022) – On Tuesday, November 8th, Kentuckians joined their fellow Americans at the voting booth for the 2022 mid-term elections. Federal, state, and local offices were on the ballot, along with a multitude of state constitutional amendments. On a federal level, the election resulted in a divided government heading into 2023, as Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2019, while Democrats retained their Senate majority.

On this episode of ‘Behind the Blue’ associate professors Dr. Emily Beaulieu Bacchus, who specializes in comparative politics, and Dr. Stephen Voss, who specializes in voting behavior and political methodology, join us to discuss the impact of these elections on a local, state, and national level. They offer insight on factors that may have swung elections from one

By C. Lynn Hiler 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 21, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Nu Circle of the national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa inducted 30 members at a ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022. The society recognizes superior leadership and exemplary character and encourages collaboration among members across the five phases celebrated by the society: scholarship, athletics, service, communications and arts.

The UK circle was established May 2, 1925, and celebrates leaders across campus by co-hosting the Alumni Association Great Teacher Award and other honors like the Maurice A. Clay Outstanding Graduating Senior Award. In

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 25, 2022) — The UNited In True Racial Equity Research Priority Area welcomed its first cohort of 18 graduate students from six colleges to the UNITE Predoctoral Research Enhancement Program. 

UNITE is led by Danelle Stevens-Watkins, associate vice president for research, diversity and inclusion. She created this program in 2022 with support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, Office of Institutional Diversity and the Graduate School, to engage and support scholars who enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in Ph.D. programs at UK. The program is aligned with university priorities to create cultures of inclusive excellence while integrating students into the world of research and academia. 

“The UNITE Predoctoral Research Enhancement Program is designed to meet the needs of exceptionally talented

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2022) — From being in the classroom to leading the classroom — first-generation students and graduates are an integral part of the University of Kentucky.

In fact, nearly one in four incoming freshmen and one in three transfer students at UK are first-gen.

Each year, Nov. 8 is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating those who represent the first generation in their family to attend college.

There are many unique challenges first-gen students encounter when pursuing higher education — from academic and financial concerns to psychological and social obstacles.

But these students also have many strengths, which we see on our campus every day. They

By Nizhoni McDarment  

LEXINGTON, Ky, -- Koji Tanno, assistant professor of Japanese in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences, has been recognized as the Kentucky Association of Japanese Language Teachers’ representative for the 2022 Outstanding Japanese Teacher during the Kentucky World Language Association fall conference.  

Tanno, the Japanese Language Program coordinator in the Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, also was a candidate for the Kentucky World Language Association’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.  

In addition, UK alumna Collin Smith received the association’s Outstanding Rising Star Teacher Award. The award recognizes teachers with fewer than five years of experience who have helped their students and

By Lindsay Travis 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 3, 2022) — University of Kentucky researchers in the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Public Health are the first in the country to study a digital intervention method’s impact on interrelated public health issues: heavy drinking and insomnia.

The two-year, nearly $400,000 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism will fund research on how an intervention program called Sleep Healthy Using the Internet will improve participants’ sleep and indirectly improve their drinking habits.

The program is an online version of cognitive behavioral

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 31, 2022) — Dressing up in a creative costume, gathering candy from neighbors until dusk and watching spooky movies late into the night.

These are time-honored Halloween traditions that might have you believing the mostly light-hearted holiday is uniquely American.

If so, you’ve been tricked.

Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby, 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, says Halloween didn’t start in the United States. As a folklorist, she

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2022) — Keaton Upshaw, a senior tight end for the Kentucky Wildcats, understands the demand of one of football’s true hybrid positions.

Running routes and catching passes on one play, then blocking a linebacker the next, means taking extra steps in practice to be prepared. It means sometimes going the extra yard.

On the gridiron, Upshaw has coaches to guide him. But off the field, he also has someone who is encouraging him to do more, learn more and be more.

“Professor (Keiko) Tanaka pushes you to be the best,” Upshaw said. “She stays on top of you to go harder to reach your goals. I work hard because I don’t want to let her down.”

Keiko Tanaka has a dual appointment in the College of Arts & Sciences

By Jesi Jones-Bowman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2022)The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research has announced the fourth 5-Minute Fast Track Research Competition finalists. These undergraduates competed in the competition’s preliminary round and were selected as Top 10 finalists to present their research during the final round from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, in The Cornerstone’s eSports Theater.

Finalists will present their research in five minutes in front of a panel of judges and a live audience using only a single static slide. The goal of this competition is to improve undergraduate students’ abilities to communicate their research to a nonspecialist audience while creating a compelling story about their scholarly work.

Students compete for cash prizes: $750 for first place, $500

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Abbey Loar, a University of Kentucky junior psychology major, wants to help people in rural communities, and her major offers her the chance to do just that: She’s going to be working on a project to study why people in Appalachia don’t get enough sleep. 

"I want to do research to help improve the mental health of communities, especially like those in Eastern Kentucky,” said Loar, who’s from Hebron, Maryland. "Rural communities don't necessarily have that help available, and I’d like to help communities like that in the future.” 

Loar, is a psychology major, is joining  Mairead Moloney and Christal Badour, associate professors in UK’s Departments of Sociology and Psychology in the College of Arts & Sciences, in “Researching Equitable Sleep Time in Kentucky Communities (REST-KY)." The effort, funded

By Erin Wickey

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 18, 2022) — University of Kentucky Research Communications has partnered with UK’s Office of Technology Commercialization to feature faculty innovators  in “I am a UK Innovator,” a four-video series. The Office of Technology Commercailization works with innovators to assess, protect and license early-stage technologies and create new technology startups. In this Q&A, Chad Risko discusses the innovation ExpFlow, which could help the research community confirm results by repeating experiments, an activity fundamental to scientific progress. Risko is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and

By Stacey Gish

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2022) — More than 60 alumni and students were honored during the 31st annual Lyman T. Johnson Awards program Friday, Oct. 14, at the Gatton Student Center.  

The University of Kentucky Alumni Association Lyman T. Johnson African American Alumni Constituency Group and the UK Office for Institutional Diversity hosted the awards luncheon as part of the 2022 Lyman T. Johnson Homecoming Celebration. The 2021 ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, leading to a combined ceremony this year. 

UK College of Arts & Sciences alumni Nevaeh Eggleston and Anthony Jones were honored. Eggleston

LEXINGTON, Ky, -- Amber Sergent, a social studies teacher at Woodford County High School in Kentucky, was named the 2023 Kentucky High School Teacher of the Year during a ceremony Sept. 20.

Sergent earned a master’s degree and doctorate in American history at the University of Kentucky. She has taught in Woodford County since 2017. 

“In working with Dr. Sergent, I have had the opportunity to witness firsthand how fair and equitable she is with students, in every instance demonstrating compassion and care,” said Morgan Howell, principal of Woodford County High School. “She takes time to truly understand and listen to student concerns both in and out of the classroom while working to establish strong relationships. The love and care she has for her students is exceptional. It is hard to put into words and quantify the difference someone can make in another person’s

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky. --- Gabriela Spears-Rico, assistant professor of Chicano Latino Studies and American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, will lead off the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology’s Autumn Colloquium Series with a talk titled “Malinche’s Refusal: New visions for a decolonized Latinidad. “

This first event, at noon Friday, Oct. 14 in the Young Library Auditorium, is free and open to the public. Sponsors are the UK College of Arts & Sciences, Martin Luther King Center and the Gaines Center for the Humanities.

Spears-Rico will discuss the idea of “Dia de la Raza,” or “Day of the Race,” which Spanish-speaking communities often celebrate in place of Columbus Day. She will explore the origins of the term “la raza” and how it relates to gendered

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 6, 2022) — Three alumni and one faculty member were inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at a ceremony held on campus Friday, Sept. 30. 

The hall of fame recognizes UK Arts and Sciences alumni and faculty who have made meaningful contributions to the university, the Commonwealth and the nation in their respective fields. 

“We are honored to recognize and celebrate our stellar class of inductees; La Tasha Buckner, Dennis McCarty, Cythnia 'Didi' Rapp and Dwight Billings, who are some of our most distinguished alumni and faculty,” said Ana Franco-Watkins, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Our honorees’ life

By Tori Santiago 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 6, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, in collaboration with the Housing Development Alliance, is seeking volunteers for a service trip to Perry County, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 15, to aid in flood relief 

The trip will involve mucking and gutting homes so that the homeowners have a cleaner slate to start again, after the devastating floods. Participants can expect to be removing mud/debris from homes and crawl spaces, removing damaged materials and treating the homes with fungicide to reduce the risks of unwanted moisture and mold in the homes. 

This trip is open

By Nizhoni McDarment

LEXINGTON, Ky.  -- The University of Kentucky’s Delta Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, recently received a Best Chapter Awardfor the 2021-22 school year.

The UK chapter was one of six institutions, similar in size, to receive this award out of more than 800 Pi Sigma Alpha Chapters in the United States.

“These awards are intended to recognize local chapters that are particularly active in their institutions and communities and embody our society’s mission to stimulate scholarship and intellectual interest in political science,” according to the National Pi Sigma Alpha Organization.

The honors society hosts panels, speakers, debates, workshops and political science mixers to engage students in the UK College of Arts & Sciences community.

“Our group was formed with the intention and

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 5, 2022) — Fruithurst is your quintessential small town. Located in Cleburne County, Alabama — just five miles on the other side of the Georgia state line — only a few hundred people call it home.

Christy Hiett is one of those people.

Born and raised in the tight-knit community, she now serves as principal of Fruithurst Elementary, the same school she attended as a young girl.

“Fruithurst is a very small community where the school is a large part of the community, and the community is a large part of the school.”

That’s why Hiett became concerned when a growing number of people, including her students, were diagnosed with cancer.

“When children started being diagnosed with leukemia, people in the community looked to me for answers

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky – As Black women gained economic status in the United States, one of the big issues that arose involved what their daughters’ toys would look like. It’s an issue Aria S. Halliday finds fascinating.  

"At the turn of the 20th century, a lot more Black people were able to participate in the consumer marketplace,” said Halliday, assistant professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and Program in African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences. “They want stuff that represents their culture and who they think they are. From then to the present, we've been debating that. And I think that’s part of the thrust of the book.” 

Her book, “Buy Black: How Black Women

LEXINGTON, Ky, -- A new book by Peter Kalliney, William J. and Nina B. Tuggle chair in English in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts & Sciences, looks at ways in which rival superpowers used cultural diplomacy and the political police to influence writers.

The book, "The Aesthetic Cold War: Decolonization and Global Literature," examines how the United States and the Soviet Union, in an effort to entice writers, funded international conferences, arts centers, book and magazine publishing (including the Paris Review), literary prizes and radio programming. Their international spy networks, however, subjected these same writers to surveillance and intimidation by tracking their movements, tapping their phones, reading their mail and censoring or banning their work.

Readers can find out more about the book through a podcast found