From the age of 15 I knew that I wanted to study German. However, I didn’t know what I wanted to do professionally until six years later. The Modern and Classical Languages Department has supported me every step of the way throughout my educational career and helped me make important decisions about my future. From writing countless letters of recommendation to one on one meetings discussing my future educational and career goals, the members of the MCL Department made it their priority to help me achieve my goals.

I know that the MCL Department wants every student to succeed and enjoys hearing such success stories because the professors in this department take pride in their students. This month I finally achieved my next educational goal. I have been accepted to Kent State University to complete my

By Gail Hairston

(March 11, 2015) — Excerpts from Doug Slaymaker’s translation of Furukawa Hideo’s latest book “Horses, Horses, in the Innocence of Light” will be published on the online journal Words Without Borders today and Thursday.

The publication is in commemoration of the 3.11 earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disasters four years ago today. The book is the account of how one man, one nation endured an unbearable tragedy. Written in reverse chronology, it begins exactly one month after the magnitude 9 underwater earthquake spawned deadly tsunamis and a nuclear power plant meltdown. It is the distillation of a witness’s narrative of a disaster that killed nearly 16,000, moved the main island of Japan eight feet eastward, and shifted the Earth on its axis as much as 10 inches.

By Gail Hairston and Doug Slaymaker

(March 6, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Japan Studies Program presents the documentary 『ほんとうの歌』 ("True Songs") March 11. The event coincides with the fourth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake/tsunami/nuclear power plant meltdown in Northern Japan.

The documentary will be screened with free admission at 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Kentucky Theatre on Main Street, downtown Lexington. 

“True Songs” follows the performances of a dramatic reading of the late Kenji Miyazawa’s “Milky Way Railroad” by several of Japan’s outstanding artists. These include the novelist

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 27, 2015) — Thirty-five students from Lafayette, Scott County, Atherton and Eastern high schools visit the University of Kentucky campus on Saturday to immerse themselves in the Japanese culture and to compete in the Kentucky Japan Bowl®.

The Japan Bowl is a franchised quiz competition for high school students studying Japanese. The competition challenges the students’ knowledge of the Japanese language and culture.

“We are hoping that students will enjoy this event and get motivated to study Japanese even more,” said Atsushi Hasegawa, assistant professor of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

Hosted by UK Japan Studies, the Kentucky Japan Bowl is the regional version of the national

By Yan Wang

(Feb. 23, 2015) — A panel discussion about Cuba and U.S. relations will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the UK Athletics Association Auditorium in Young Library.

“We have such an incredible variety of perspectives and areas of expertise across the UK community, and the shift in US-Cuba relations is an ideal opportunity to let faculty, staff and students benefit from that expertise,” said Susan Carvalho, associate provost for internationalization, interim associate provost and dean of the graduate school and moderator of the panel discussion. “I know that the discussion will be enlightening for all of us, as we re-examine our own views, as well as broaden our understanding of alternative viewpoints.”

The panel discussion will focus on Cuba and U.S. relations and the U.S. Cuba embargo. Panelists include:

By Gail Hairston

(Feb. 19, 2015) ‒ The University of Kentucky Muslim Student Association, an organization with a sustained 43-year history on campus, was honored last week at a reception hosted by President Eli Capilouto at Maxwell House, the university president’s official campus home.

“The idea behind the reception was to make a statement to the Muslim students and faculty at UK that they are welcome here and also to make a statement to the UK community that UK's commitment to diversity includes Muslims,” said the student organization’s faculty adviser Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

In December, UK President Eli Capilouto contacted Bagby, an expert on the American Muslim community,

By Whitney Hale

(Feb. 12, 2015) — An exhibition and symposium at the University of Kentucky will explore the experience of Jewish refugees in China. The traveling exhibit, "Jewish Refugees in Shanghai (1933-1941)," which is on display through March 4 in William T. Young Library, chronicles the story of thousands of European Jews who fled to China to escape Nazi persecution before and during World War II.  An opening reception for this free public exhibition will be held noon today (Thursday), Feb. 12, at The Hub in Young Library.

"It's a great opportunity for us to be able to host this historically significant exhibit," said Jeremy Popkin, the William T. Bryan Chair of History and faculty member of UK's Jewish

by: Gail Haiston

(Jan. 28, 2015) — Today, a unique group of University of Kentucky professors and Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Joel Pett are leading a discussion of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

The public forum, organized by faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Program of French and Francophone Studies, is slated at 3-4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the east end of the Student Center, Room 211.

The discussion will focus on the recent deadly attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Parisian kosher market, as well as provide context for the social and political debates that continue to emerge in the wake of the attacks.

Pett, political cartoonist for the Lexington Herald Leader since1984, is a

by: Whitney Hale

(Jan. 21, 2015) — University of Kentucky Confucius Institute and thePatterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce will present a lecture by Craig A. Harton positive and negative dynamics of China-U.S. relations. The talk, which will explore aspects of energy and climate, regional security, trade and rule of law, will begin 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

"Dr. Hart has over a decade of experience working with China both as an attorney advising on energy infrastructure projects and teaching at

by Jenny Wells

(Dec. 17, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Office for Undergraduate Research has presented 17 students with the Oswald Research and Creativity Program awards.

"There is so much high quality research being done by UK undergraduate students," said Diane Snow, director of the Office for Undergraduate Research. "We're very grateful for funding through the Oswald Awards to be able to recognize and reward these exceptional individuals!"

Established in 1964 by then-UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Program encourages research and creative activities by undergraduate students at UK. The objectives of the program are to stimulate creative work by undergraduate students and to recognize individuals who

by Gail Hairston 

(Sept. 30, 2014) — More than an “s” has been added since the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Science was created in 1908 with only seven faculty members. In fact there was a College of Arts and Science even before the institution was named the University of Kentucky; the institution was called the State University, Lexington, Kentucky (previously Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and State College) until 1916.

In those 106 years, several of today’s largest colleges were birthed from the original College of Arts and Science’s former programs, including today’s College of Education, College of Communication and Information, College of Social Work and College of Fine Arts.

The college grew quickly under the inspiration and commitment of President James Patterson, whose statue now graces the plaza next to

by Keith Hautala

(Sept. 24, 2014) — The first English translation of the entire Suda lexicon, a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia, is complete after more than 16 years of collaborative, volunteer-driven work by a diverse group of scholars, including key contributors from the University of Kentucky. 

The translation, as well as the first continuous commentary on the Suda's contents in any language, is now searchable and browsable through the Suda On Line (SOL) database. Conceived in 1998, the project grew to comprise more than 31,000 entries, through the contributions of more than 200 volunteers. 

The project was groundbreaking in more ways than one, providing a new model of open, participatory scholarship. The project organizers state:

"From the beginning, the idea

by Abigall Shipp

(Sept. 23, 2014) — Chinese involvement in Africa and female drug dealers in Chinese prisons are the topics of this fall’s Distinguished Scholar Series, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute (UKCI).

Ching Kwan Lee, a sociology professor at University of California, Los Angeles, launches the series with “The Specter of Global China: Contesting the Power and Peril of Chinese State Capital in Zambia,” which explores China’s role in copper and construction in Zambia.

Sheldon Zhang, a sociology professor at San Diego State University follows

by Jenny Wells

(Sept. 17, 2014) — University of Kentucky Education Abroad (EA) will hold its annual fall fair today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

From A to Z, the Education Abroad Fair showcases every international education opportunity available at the University of Kentucky.  Students will find a range of options, including study, intern, research, teach, and service abroad programs.  In addition, campus offices involved in the education abroad planning process, such as Financial Aid, the Stuckert Career Center and others, will be available to answer questions. 

"To meet the diverse academic needs of UK's study body, we

by Jenny Wells

(Aug. 26, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence honored its newest class of Chellgren Fellows this past weekend.  Benefactor Paul Chellgren, along with Chellgren Endowed Chair Philipp Kraemer, recognized and congratulated the students on being named Fellows.

The Chellgren Fellows Program is for students with exceptional academic potential and aspirations, who are eager to participate in a special learning community designed to cultivate extraordinary achievement. Outstanding faculty members from across campus serve as individual mentors for the Fellows.

The students selected as 2014-15 Chellgren Fellows include:

by Heather Chapman

(July 24, 2014) — When in Lexington, do as the Romans do — at least if you're attending the Conventiculum Latinum Lexintoniense, a week-long conference on the University of Kentucky campus where participants from all over the world are immersed in the Latin language.

How immersed? UK Latin Professor Terence Tunberg, who has directed the conference since its inception in 1996, says all participants must sign a contract promising to speak only Latin until the end of the conference on July 28.

And they do. Sitting in a quiet corner of the Blazer Hall cafeteria around lunch time this week feels like a field trip to the Roman Forum. Even while eating their lunch, conventiculum attendees strictly adhere to

by Keith Hautala

(July 15. 2014) — The University of Kentucky has entered into an agreement with a major Chinese petrochemical conglomerate to develop technologies to capture, utilize and store 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year from a coal-fired power plant in Dongying, Shandong, China.

The agreement, between UK's Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) and the Sinopec Corporation's Shengli Oilfield Company and Petroleum Engineering Construction Corporation, is a project of the joint U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) as part of its Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS) initiative. Preliminary work on the project began in 2012, and work is scheduled to continue through 2017.

The purpose of the project, with an estimated total investment of $320-400 million, is to develop a series of technologies to capture, transport, store

by Zachary Dodson

(July 7, 2014) — When University of Kentucky student Erica Mattingly enrolled in one of Andrew M. Byrd’s linguistics courses, she had no idea she would be rewriting history — or at least re-speaking it.

Byrd, assistant professor of linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and his students have drawn national attention for their groundbreaking work to reconstruct and understand prehistoric languages.

Byrd has devoted much of his research time translating the language known as Proto-Indo-European (PIE). The language is thought to have been first used over 7,000 years ago, with some suspecting it was spoken even earlier. Byrd’s work focuses on the sounds and structure of the PIE

by Benjamin Kandt, photo by Kiran Lannagadda

(June 13, 2014) - The University of Kentucky is proud to host a Confucius Institute (UKCI), a center dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of Chinese culture throughout the University of Kentucky and the Lexington community. UKCI’s offerings include Chinese language classes and cultural outreach events. It also serves as a bridge for the University of Kentucky to make connections with institutions