By Lindsey PIercy

(Left to right) Alberto Ortiz Brito, Gertrude Kilgore, Elizabeth Straub (holding the Ethics Bowl trophy), Gabriela Montero Mejía, Daniel Vallejo-Cáliz and Scott Hutson.

Five graduate students at the University of Kentucky have been named champions of the Ethics Bowl Competition. Last month, the team claimed the first place prize at the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA) annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. UK was making its first appearance in the competition, which has been held for 15 years.

In recent years, archaeologists have been confronted with a range of ethical issues. How the next generation of scholars chooses to address these challenges will define the field. In 2004, the SAA inaugurated the Ethics Bowl at its annual meeting in Montreal, Canada, to help

By Rebecca Longo

Top, l to r: Eli O’Neal, Chase Carleton, Melynda Price (director). Middle: Claire Hilbrecht, Josh Ehl, Carson Hardee. Front: Aileen Tierney, Hannah Thomas, Bria Northington, Daniela Gamez. Not pictured: Will Kueshner, Nicole Blackstone, Megan Yadav.

The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has selected 12 undergraduate students as new scholars for the Gaines Fellowship Program.

The Gaines Fellowship is presented in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities. Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and

By Adrian Ho

The Braceros Photo Exhibit at the University of Kentucky’s William T. Young Library depicts the experience of Mexican laborers’ emigration as rendered by photographers who were uprooted. Featuring 18 images about the Bracero Program, the exhibit is free and open to all until May 1, 2019. 

“Immigration is a significant social topic these days. The Braceros Photo Exhibit offers an opportunity for people to view this topic from the historical perspective,” said Scott Hutson, professor of anthropology and director of the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program at UK. “I appreciate anthropology Ph.D. candidate

By Aaron Porter

Richard Jefferies, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC).

SEAC gives this award to senior scholars who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of archaeology. Throughout his 30-year career, Jefferies has conducted an extensive amount of research. His most significant work centers on the Middle to Late Holocene hunter-gatherers, who lived in the Ohio River Valley from 8,000 to 3,000 years ago. The results of Jefferies’ research are detailed in his book, "Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Lower Ohio River Valley," published in 2009.

Jefferies is currently investigating a 17th century Spanish mission period occupation on Sapelo Island, Georgia. For the past

By Sarah Jayne Johnson

This fall in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) will be exhibiting "Los Códices: an exhibit of illustrated books from indigenous Mesoamerica," Sept. 12-Nov. 9, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Library Building. The exhibit and a lecture with art historian Lori Diel are free and open to public.

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The celebration started as a week under President Lyndon Johnson and then expanded to the present 30-day period under President Ronald Reagan in 1988. It started Sept. 15, the

Events include:

The Universal Language: Latin
September 17th, 2018, Patterson Hall 218, 4:00pm-5:00pm
Drs. Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg from the Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department will present “The Universal Language: Latin” at the International Village LLP.

Cultural Research and Internship Opportunities
September 18th, 2018, Gatton College of Business, 435 UV, 3:00pm-4:00pm
Panelists will include Juliana McDonald, George Crothers, Philip Mink, and Renee Bonzani from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Anthropology. The University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology offers programs in three sub-disciplines of anthropology: archaeology, cultural, and biological. Learn about new and upcoming research, opportunities for field work, as well as their experiences with working with the Museum of

By Nate Harling

Mark Kornbluh, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, has appointed two interim associate deans while Elizabeth Lorch, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Study, is on sabbatical for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Carrie Oser is interim Associate Dean for Research. Oser is a highly involved and committed faculty member who serves as associate chair and professor of sociology. She holds joint appointments in the Department of Behavioral Science and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and serves as associate director of the new Center on Health Equity Transformation. A scholar of addiction treatment and health disparities, Oser has a strong history of external grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

 “It is a tremendous honor to be asked to serve as interim associate dean of research in the College of Arts &

By Nick Harling

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences has named the first recipients of its Inclusion Fellows program, an initiative for faculty interested in actively orchestrating and advancing efforts to build a more inclusive campus.

Fellows can develop and implement scholarly, community-building, pedagogical, mentoring and networking events, initiatives or programming. The fellowship period serves as a professional development opportunity for the fellows, as it enables them to enhance their responsibilities and bring forth new ideas and measures that will positively affect students.

“The overall goal of the Inclusion Fellows Program is to draw on and support faculty to create sustainable change to enhance inclusivity within the college,” Cristina Alcalde, associate dean of inclusion and internationalization, said. “Over the course

By Nate Harling

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences is entering the eighth year of its Passport to the World initiative, a yearlong exploration of the culture and history of different areas of the world and interdisciplinary topics. This year’s program explores the role migration has played and continues to play in shaping societies across the globe, and here at home.  

“Migration has played a crucial role in human history, and in shaping contemporary societies, and we want to emphasize and critically examine interconnections among world areas and people across the globe, as well as how migration is central to our societies,” said Cristina Alcalde, associate dean of inclusion and internationalization in the college, and one of the

By Whitney Hale and Jenny Wells

More than 45 of the University of Kentucky's students and recent graduates had the world's most prestigious scholarship, fellowship and internship organizations take note this year. The newest class of highly regarded scholars include UK’s 14th Truman Scholar and first Pickering Fellow.

Helping prepare these UK students and recent alumni to compete for and win such honors is the mission of the UK Office of Nationally Competitive Awards. Under the guidance and leadership of Pat Whitlow, the office identifies and works with young scholars on the application process for large scholastic prizes awarded by regional, national and international sources.

This year UK students and alumni were recognized with the following awards:

By Trey Melcher

Virginia Carter, who led the Kentucky Humanities Council for more than two decades, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from the University of Kentucky at its December Commencement ceremonies. The UK Board of Trustees approved the recommendation of Carter at its last meeting. UK's honorary degrees pay tribute to those whose life and work exemplify professional, intellectual, or artistic achievement and have made significant contributions to society, the state and the University of Kentucky.

Growing up in Lexington, Carter developed a deep appreciation for nature, the great outdoors and adventure at an early age. After earning a fine arts bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and an art history master's from UK, Carter taught at the University of Northern Iowa. Later, she returned to UK to earn a

By Whitney Hale

University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that four recent UK graduates and one doctoral student have been offered Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among approximately 1,900 U.S. students who will travel abroad for the 2018-19 academic year.

Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 160 countries.

The UK students awarded Fulbright grants are:

By Stephanie Swarts

The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced alumna Elise McConnell was awarded the Academy of Urban School Leadership: Chicago Teacher Residency for the 2018-19 academic school year.

The Chicago Teacher Residency, founded in 2001, is a teacher training program operated by Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL), a nonprofit organization partnering with 31 Chicago public schools to give prospective teachers the ability to earn their master’s degree and gain experience in some of the highest needs schools in Chicago. Named the largest teacher residency in the country, selected applicants spend one academic year training

The extreme topography and resulting compacted ecology of the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona provided Native Americans with a diverse environment and equally varied food sources. In a bid to maintain food sovereignity modern tribes, such as the Havasupai, Navajo, and Hopi, employ many of the sustainable agriculture and foraging strategies that their ancestors practiced for a thousand years. The purpose of this internship is to introduce students to the Native American agro-food systems utilized in the arid Southwestern United States, by identifying archaeological remains associated with agriculture and foodways, and by visiting modern Native American reservations to examine current strategies for ensuring food sovereignity.

Travel costs are partially underwritten by a Food Connection

By Gail Hairston

(Left to right) Dan Reedy, Karl Raitz, Dean Mark Kornbluh, Martha Rolingson, Charles Grizzle and Tom Spalding.

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences celebrated its Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, Oct. 6, at the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building.

This year's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Reception honored alumni Charlie Grizzle, Martha Rolingson and Tom Spalding, and College of Arts and Sciences faculty members Karl B. Raitz and Daniel R. Reedy. For more about each honoree, see their brief biographies below.

Alumni Inductees

Charlie Grizzle, English, bachelor’s degree, 1973 

Charles "Charlie" L. Grizzle, a native of Argillite, Kentucky, in Greenup County, earned his bachelor

By Jennifer Sciantarelli and Whitney Hale

This summer, a team of University of Kentucky archaeologists explored two previously unknown archaic Greek sites in Calabria, Italy’s southernmost region, one of which may be the largest Greek mountain fort yet uncovered in this area of the country. These findings deepen scholarly understanding of Greek territorial organization in the toe of Italy, and of the interstate conflicts that occurred across the region throughout the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

George Crothers as geophysical survey was in progress in Calabria.

The team of researchers, directed by George Crothers, associate professor of anthropology and director of the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology at UK’s 

By Gail Hairston

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, Eugenie C. Scott, a nationally recognized physical anthropologist and an expert on evolution and creationism, will deliver the preliminary address for the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ series “Year of Civics and Citizenship in the 21st Century: Keys to our Common Future.”

The title of her lecture is “Evolution and Creationism in Kentucky.”

Scott is a former UK professor of physical anthropology and an educator who has been active in opposing the teaching of young earth creationism and intelligent design in schools. She also taught at University of Colorado and California State University system.

Scott’s lecture is scheduled for 7-8 p.m., Sept. 13, with extended discussion planned 8-9 p.m., in Room 121 of the Don & 

By Megan Foltz

Mark P. Whitaker, a professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology, was awarded multiple grants to assist in funding an ethnographic workshop on innovative religiosity in postwar Sri Lanka that took place this summer. Whitaker received grants from both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Wenner-Gren Foundation in support of his work. The workshop brought together 17 anthropologists and religious studies scholars at the campus of the Open University of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Whitaker’s Workshop on Innovative Religiosity posed the question: “Why have innovative religious practices and institutions in Sri Lanka and its diaspora achieved a new prominence since the end of its inter-ethnic civil war in 2009?”

“This gathering of scholars of Sri Lanka’s many politically and sociologically significant religions —

By Gail Hairston

The sweet strains of traditional mountain music still drift on the summer breezes of the Appalachians, reflecting off the hills and flowing through the valleys. 

But before Appalachian mountain music was first preserved on wax discs — as the arid winds of the Dust Bowl blew and the soup lines of the Great Depression grew — the musicians played on handmade fiddles, dulcimers, zithers and mandolins, and heard with the hearts of generations.

Until the mid-19th century, the vast majority of musical instruments responsible for the sound of mountain music — dulcimers, guitars, violins or fiddles, banjoes, zithers and mandolins — were handmade and passed down from one generation to the next. The tunes and musical traditions were the inheritance of a melding of English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish ballads with the customs of Germany,