By Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2021) — UK alumna Jamie Zimmerman’s passion for gender equality and interest in financial inclusion began early. 

She grew up surrounded by strong women in Lexington, Kentucky, where many families, including her own, “teetered at times on the brink of financial uncertainty.”

Zimmerman graduated with a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages and international economics from the UK College of Arts and Sciences in 2002. Immediately after, she enrolled in the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and earned a master’s in international political economy with a concentration in international development in December 2003.

Today, she helms the 

By Carl Nathe and Kody Kiser

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2021) — Students often are figuratively encouraged to ‘reach for the stars’ — yet, there are those who actually follow this aspirational goal in a very literal way.

For example, longtime University of Kentucky Professor Gary Ferland, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, recently received a very rare honor for his work in blazing new trails in his chosen field.

On this episode of "Behind the Blue," UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications’ Carl Nathe talks with Ferland about his life, his career, and why he loves working with students.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a

By Richard LeComte 

Anna Hansen’s path to an M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky is taking her into the rural areas of Kentucky, where she is investigating issues surrounding pregnancy and birth. She’s working between her second and third years of medical school to earn a doctorate in sociology – quite an unusual undertaking for a would-be clinician studying in the College of Medicine. 

“The College of Medicine gives students the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. in any department that they want, as long as they can make a good argument for it,” Hansen said. “Most other universities require that a student gets a Ph.D. within the college of

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2021) — Throughout the month of March, the University of Kentucky will recognize Women’s History Month with a series of events and special programs.

Women’s History Month is about honoring the achievements and contributions women have made across the U.S. and throughout the world. The UK Martin Luther King (MLK) Center will host a variety of programs, in collaboration with its campus partners, in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, the UK Women’s Forum, the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and other campus organizations.

Many programs will honor UK women throughout the institution's history.

“This institution has an impressive history of women leaders who have shaped our identity as Kentucky’s university,” said UK

By Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 1, 2021) — While debate on immigration policy rages on across the country, the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Passport to the World initiative will explore the topic of xenophobia with a lecture by historian and award-winning author Erika Lee. The free public talk, “Immigrants Out: The History of American Xenophobia,” will be presented 4 p.m. Thursday, March 4, via Zoom. 

Lee’s talk, which is also being presented as part of UK's Women’s History Month programming this March, is based on her 2019 book “America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States,” an American Book Award winner and

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 1, 2021) — The new Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies (CIBS) at the University of Kentucky will host its official launch event this week with an address by American literary critic and scholar Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr.

“An Evening with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.” will take place 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, on Zoom. The event is free and open to the UK community and the public, though advanced registration is required.

“Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is an exceptional scholar, historian and teacher,” said George Wright, interim vice president for institutional diversity at UK. “

By George Wright

One of the most rewarding parts of my role as chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion implementation plan, is that I continue to meet outstanding individuals from UK who are devoted to their community – Dr. Anastasia Curwood is one of those leaders.

Where are you from and what is your background?

I am from Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up going to the Cambridge public schools until I went to college, which was at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania – an all-women’s institution. That was where I became devoted to scholarship.

When I went to graduate school at Princeton for history, what was important to me was having a vibrant community of Black scholars. My advisor was Nell Irvin Painter, the great historian, and she had a very talented group of students,

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 22, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center will showcase the work of student researchers through its Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress series this semester.

This series will feature presentations from graduate and undergraduate students covering topics ranging from poetry to cancer research to education to local foods. 

The presenting students are supported through the center’s James S. Brown Graduate Student Awards for Research on Appalachia and the UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Awards.

“We are excited to be able to help fund important interdisciplinary

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 17, 2021) — Nathaniel Stapleton, an assistant professor of mathematics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a 2021 Sloan Research Fellow by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The award honors early-career researchers.

Stapleton is one of 128 researchers across the U.S. and Canada “whose creativity, innovation and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders,” according to the foundation.

"I am honored and very thankful to have been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship," Stapleton said. “I'm grateful for the recognition of my hard work and dedication to mathematics research. However, mathematics

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 9, 2021) — Gary Ferland, a professor in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been named a fellow by the American Astronomical Society (AAS).  Ferland is one of 31 members recognized by the organization for his innovative and significant contributions to astronomy.

Ferland was honored for his work in developing and applying “Cloudy,” a special computer code that studies how light from distant celestial bodies is produced.

“This award is a great honor, and is as much to UK as to me,” Ferland said. “Over the last 40 years, several dozen UK undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs have developed Cloudy into one

By Angela Garner and Facundo Luque

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 5, 2021) — A partnership among The Graduate School, International Center, the Center for English as a Second Language, and the Graduate Student Congress at the University of Kentucky produced a robust seven-week virtual program during Fall 2020 for international graduate students planning to begin their studies on campus in Spring 2021. 

The program, called GradCATS (Graduate Community and Academic Transition Series), introduced new graduate students to UK and the Lexington area, built a sense of community among incoming

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, KY. -- One member of the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences is contributing to the cultural life in Lexington during the COVID-19 pandemic with a colorful painting at a local gallery. 

“Change is in the Air,” an artwork by Jennifer Hunt, associate professor of gender and women’s studies, is on display at the Living Arts & Science Center, 362 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Lexington. The work is part of “Black Lives Matter: The Call for Positive Change,” which is on display through March 26. The exhibit, including Hunt’s painting, can be viewed 

By Meredith Weber

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 29, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Alumni Association Lyman T. Johnson African American Alumni Group, in partnership with the UK Office for Institutional Diversity, will host the 30th annual Lyman T. Johnson Torch Bearer and Torch of Excellence awards via Facebook Live at noon Monday, Feb. 1. The program honors and celebrates African American students and alumni from each college who epitomize the ideals of Lyman T. Johnson.

UK’s academic colleges select alumni whose faith, hard work and determination have positively affected the lives of people on the UK campus, the city, state or nation. These individuals receive the Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award. These colleges also choose students within their respective college whose academic achievement and

By Lindsey Piercy 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 20, 2021) — Today, Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, and Kamala Harris will become the first woman to serve as vice president.

At noon, a formal ceremony will mark the start of the new presidency. While key elements will remain steeped in tradition, many events won’t look like those of the past. Instead, they have been “reimagined” as the United States continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a tumultuous year in politics, how will this inauguration go down in the history books?

Tiffany Barnes, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences 

By Carl Nathe and Kody Kiser

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 8, 2021) — What will the future of energy storage look like? Whether it be batteries for electronic devices like cell phones, laptops, tablets and smart watches, or for electric cars and hybrid vehicles, or for units that play an integral role in the operations of major power plants, researchers at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) are working to speed the development of the next generation of more efficient and safer battery technology.

The CAER investigates energy technologies to improve the environment. Researchers contribute to technically sound policies related to fossil and renewable energy.

Staffed by professional scientists and engineers, CAER

In light of the recent developments in Washington, D.C., a WKYT journalist interviewed Clatyon Thyne, chair of the Political Science Department; as well as Michael Zilis and Stephen Voss, associate professors of political science. Zilis and Thyne discuss the Electoral College vote in Congress and the invasion of the U.S. Capitol, and Voss looks at the Senate runoffs in Georgia. You can see all three interviews

Tiffany D. Barnes, associate professor of political science in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts & Sciences, has co-written an article for Ms. magazine on Janet Yellen the former chair of the Federal Reserve who is President-elect Joe Biden's choice for treasury secretary. Her co-author is Diana Z. O'Brien of Rice University.

"The selection of Janet Yellen as the first woman to serve at the helm of Treasury and oversee the biggest economy in the world is noteworthy," the article states. "But Yellen’s appointment is in keeping with research that shows women are especially likely to be selected for leadership in the middle of crises. Is she being set up to fail?"

You can read the article here. 

By University Press of Kentucky and Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 5, 2021) — Simon Girty was one of the most hated men in early America. The son of an Irish immigrant, he was raised on the western Pennsylvania frontier and captured by the Senecas as a teenager, living among them for several years.

Today, this frontiersman might be viewed today as a defender of Native Americans. But in his era, he was branded as a traitor for siding with First Nations and the British during the American Revolutionary War. He fought against Continental Army forces in the Ohio River Valley and won the bloody Battle of Blue Licks.

Written by University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences graduate

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 6, 2021) — University Press of Kentucky author Crystal Wilkinson's novel, "The Birds of Opulence," has been selected by Kentucky Humanities for the 2021 Kentucky Reads.

The novel will be at the center of statewide conversations on the dynamics of family and community, the strength of women and stigmas surrounding mental illness. Kentucky Reads will offer 25 scholar-led discussions of “The Birds of Opulence” to community organizations throughout the Commonwealth.

“Mental illness continues to be one of our greatest societal ills and the stigma surrounding it is as concerning as the disease itself,” Wilkinson, an associate professor in the 

By Richard LeComte 

An overwhelming number of conflicts seem to be breaking out all over the world. They range from the Syrian civil war and the rekindled war between Armenia and Azerbaijan to protests over police actions in the United States. Enter Jesse C. Johnson, director of the Peace Studies Program in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences. The idea of bringing resolution – and peace -- to hostile environments spurs a host of topics for classes and research.  

“The purpose of the Peace Studies Program is to introduce