By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky’s Aleksey Graboviy, an accounting sophomore, and Nolan Jackson, a political science junior, have been awarded two Henry Clay Internships presented by the Kentucky Society of Washington. The public policy internships will allow Graboviy and Jackson to work in an office of a member of the Kentucky congressional delegation or an office of the executive branch.

The Kentucky Society of Washington awards a limited number of internships to qualified Kentucky college students. Each intern receives a stipend of $3,000 for living expenses in

By Whitney Hale

University of Kentucky social work junior Jillian Harris has been named a finalist and will interview for the prestigious Truman Scholarship, which recognizes college juniors with a commitment to public service.

"Even being at finalist status puts me in a really elite group of individuals across the country," Harris said. "I’m really humbled to be even in the top 200 for consideration of this scholarship."

Named in honor of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving college juniors who show commitment to public service and potential to continue that service beyond graduation. Recipients of the scholarship are awarded up to $30,000 for graduate study in public service fields and leadership training.

This year, the 

By Erin Holaday Ziegler, Sarah Geegan

From the halls of Congress to the streets of downtown Lexington, America might not agree much, but the majority of its citizens can see the disparity in the economic fortunes of rich, poor and middle class American families.

The myriad reasons behind economic inequality range from the decline of unions to the decline of the progressive income tax, but the outcome is undeniable: those at the very top of the income ladder have emerged as the biggest winners in a huge transformation of the American economy. 

As an interdisciplinary body striving to improve policy and government performance through the production and distribution of world-class scholarship, The University of Kentucky’s Quantitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research (QIPSR) wants to join the

By Keith Hautala

Sen. Rand Paul will deliver a public talk March 2 at the University of Kentucky, titled "A Year in the Senate: Discussion and Reflections." 

Paul's talk will take place at 4 p.m. Friday, March 2, in Room 106 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's central campus.

Paul, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist and son of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas, was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2010, succeeding Sen. Jim Bunning. He has Senate committee assignments in energy and natural resources; health, education, labor and pensions; homeland security and governmental affairs; and small business and entrepreneurship.

The event is part of the Leaders in Public Policy Series, sponsored by the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration. Paul's talk is co-sponsored by the Gatton College of Business and

By Sarah Geegan, Jonathon Spalding

It started with a simple question, then grew into a large online survey with responses from over 1,000 people from across the U.S. and abroad. A new book by Ellen Riggle and Sharon Rostosky, “A Positive View of LGBTQ: Embracing Identity and Cultivating Well-Being," explores what’s positive about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identities.

“It is the right question at the right time. People want to share their positive experiences,” said Riggle, UK professor in the

By Jessica Powers, Gail Hurston

Every student looks for their niche in college, and often a club exists to unite them with other students who have the same interest. Lodz Pierre, a Haitian native, recognized the minority she represented at the University of Kentucky and decided to create a student organization to unite others with similar heritage and an interest in Caribbean culture by forming the Caribbean Student Association (CASA).

"UK's student population is increasing in diversity, but most of the students are not of Caribbean ancestry. The Caribbean student population at UK is probably one of the most underrepresented minorities on campus," said Pierre, president of CASA. "But despite its small percentage, I believed that the number was great enough to create a club in

By Jay Blanton, Amy Jones, Kody Kaiser

To see a text trancription of the video, click here.

Jen LeMaster wanted to go to college. But as a young girl growing up in Ashland, she learned early that it wouldn’t be easy financially. Her family couldn’t simply write a check for tuition and books.

So, LeMaster started looking at community colleges and other options that might not cost as much – that is, until she received a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Kentucky.

Now, more than 10 years later, standing in a premium luxury box at the

By Katy Bennett, Chelsea Melchor

Obamacare is a highly debated issue seen in the news and on the floor of Congress that leaves many Americans scratching their head in confusion on just what this controversial bill is about. Come hear the two opposing cases about Obamacare 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Worsham Theater. This event is free and sponsored in collaboration by the Student Activities Board and the Student Government Association.

"Obamacare: You May Love It, You May Hate It, But Do You Know Why?"will present two speakers of opposing views to the new health care law. Stephen Voss will present the case for Obamacare and Davida Isaacs will present the case against it, ultimately addressing the main question, "Is the individual mandate constitutional or not

By Keith Hautala

Two faculty members and 12 students from the University of Kentucky were inducted into the Nu Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national leadership honor society, at a banquet and ceremony held on Dec. 4.

Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution, was recognized for service and leadership at the university, worldwide service as a U.S. ambassador and advisor, professional accomplishments, and devotion to developing international leaders.

Buck Ryan, director of the Citizen Kentucky Project at the UK Scripps Howard First Amendment Center and associate professor of journalism, was recognized for service and leadership at the university, worldwide service to professional journalism, dedication to the education of

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.

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

A visiting Fulbright Scholar will give an insider's perspective on the past, present and future of Iraq at the University of Kentucky tomorrow.

Mohammed Saeed, a Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Statistics pursuing a master's in public health in UK's College of Public Health, will discuss the "Recent History of Iraq, U.S. Involvement and War and Current Issues" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the William T. Library. There will be a reception in the Keeneland Room after Saeed's talk.

Saeed was born and raised in Baghdad and arrived at UK in 2010 after receiving a Fulbright scholarship. 

The visiting scholar plans to discuss the Iraq-Iran War; the Gulf War; life under Saddam Hussein's

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

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

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

When University of Kentucky freshman Gareth Voss was a student at Lexington's Dunbar High School and was tasked with finding a UK professor to work with on a Math, Science, and Technology Center (MSTC) senior project, he never thought that a common email mix-up would have such a lasting effect on his scholarly trajectory.

At the time, Gareth Voss's dad, UK political science Professor Dennis Stephen Voss, happened to receive quite a few emails by mistake pertaining to the work of UK biology Professor Stephen Randal Voss. The unrelated email addresses are unavoidably similar.

When Gareth Voss

By Whitney Hale

The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities will present the 2011 Bale Boone Symposium in the Humanities Oct. 10-12 on the topic of religion. The free public symposium, "Religion in the 21st Century," will give the public an opportunity to explore the connections between religion and such topics as history, science and politics.            

Three presentations on religion are scheduled for the 2011 Bale Boone Symposium. The event will open with the session "Are Faith and History Compatible?" featuring speakers Bart Ehrman, the James A. Gray Professor at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and 

by Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences has chosen the following professors as new department chairs: associate professor Deborah Crooks, Department of Anthropology; associate professor Jeff Clymer, Department of English (to begin spring 2012; associate professor of English Marion Rust will be interim chair of the Department of Anthropology for the fall 2011-2012 year); associate professor Karen Petrone, Department of History; professor David Leep, Department of Mathematics; professor 

Given the appalling consequences of civil wars, why are the competing actors within a state unable to come to a settlement to avoid the costs of conflict? How might external parties affect the likelihood that a civil war begins? How do their actions affect the duration and outcome of civil conflicts that are already underway? How International Relations Affect Civil Conflict draws on three main approaches—bargaining theory, signaling theory, and rational expectations—to examine how external actors might affect the onset, duration and outcome of civil wars.



Signals from external actors are important because they represent a potential increase (or decrease) in fighting capabilities for the government or the opposition if a war were to begin. Costly signals should not affect the probability of civil war onset because they are readily observable ex ante, which

UK professor of Political Science Mark Peffley's most recent publication, "Justice in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites" was awarded the Robert Lane Award from the Political Psychology Section of the American Political Science Association. Available from Cambridge University Press, the book is co-authored by Professor Jon Hurwtiz of the University of Pittsburgh.

Peffley & Hurwitz's research uses innovative survey experiments to uncover how whites and blacks formulate and use their widely differing views of the fairness of the

Richard Waterman, professor in the Department of Political Science, has penned a novel entitled "The Oracle: The Succession War." The novel is a science-fiction take on politics, ambition, and the complex relationships that arise in the context of shifts in political power. 

The novel was released in 2010 by Otherworld Publications, a publishing firm in Louisville, Kentucky. The cover and illustrations for "The Oracle: The Succession War" are by Sendil Nathan. 

Waterman's blog about the book release can be found here.

The University of Kentucky Arts Administration Program is issuing a call for proposals for the Social Theory, Politics and the Arts (STPA) Conference to be held Oct. 13-15 at the university. The theme of the conference is "Arts Management in the 21st Century: Changes and Continuities." Proposals for the conference will be accepted through April 22. The UK Arts Administration Program serves as host of the 37th annual international conference.

As the first decade of the new century has come to a close, it is clear that the new century will likely bring realignment in arts and culture infrastructure. The conference hopes to address a number of questions. How will the arts adapt to a new reality? How will policy decisions affect the arts and