By Trey Conatser

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 3, 2021) — Of its many effects, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about rapid innovations in teaching. Courses were redesigned for a range of delivery modes to in-person and remote students (often at the same time) and the conversation about active learning, class community and belonging took on new urgency as the challenges of the pandemic amplified the barriers — systemic and discrete — to student engagement, motivation and success.

Cohort members include Ruth Brown, senior lecturer Hispanic Studies; Anushka Karkelanova, lecturer, Statistics; Katherine Paullin, lecturer Mathematics; Elizabeth Williams, assistant professor, Gender and Women’s Studies; and Heather Worne, assistant professor, Anthropology. 

Innovation, of

By Richard LeComte

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- In March 2020, Sarah McCurrach was asleep in Heidelberg, Germany, as messages crammed into her cell phone. When she awoke, she found out that a virus rampaging across the world was about to interrupt her education-abroad studies through the University of Kentucky.

“It was the 11th of March, and I looked at my phone and it  was off for some reason,” said McCurrach, a UK College of Arts & Science student who’s graduating in August because the Heidelberg second semester runs from April to July rather than through May. “I turned it back on, and my phone exploded with messages from the UK Education Abroad & Exchanges office on my Instagram and my Twitter. They were like, ‘Where are you?’ ‘Get on an airplane! Do you know what is happening in the world?

“So I naturally panicked a little bit, and I called my mom, and I

By Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 17, 2021) ­— The University of Kentucky honored two winners for the Otis A. Singletary Outstanding Senior Award, Auburn Mattingly and Ngoc Phan, and two finalists, Lily Hurt and Courtney Wheeler, along with many other students and staff members during the hybrid Lead Blue: Student Organizations Celebration and Award Ceremony on April 28.

The Otis A. Singletary Outstanding Senior Award was established in 1978 as the first award recognizing overall student leadership at UK. The award is named after former University of Kentucky President Otis A. Singletary.

Students nominated for this award have displayed outstanding leadership while attending the University of Kentucky, made significant contributions to academics and are dedicated to service through

By Alicia Gregory

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 4, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees at a May 4 meeting announced that two College of Arts & Sciences faculty members have received University Research Professorship Awards.  These awards recognize excellence in research and creative work that addresses scientific, social, cultural, economic and health challenges in our region and around the world.

The faculty members are Anne-Frances Miller, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Carol Mason, professor of Gender and Women's Studies and English.

The University Research Professorships were established by the UK Board of Trustees in 1976 to recognize outstanding

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will induct six new members into the A&S Hall of Fame next week as part of its 2020 class of inductees.

For the first time in 21 years, the Hall of Fame ceremony will take place virtually, offering the campus community and the public the opportunity to watch the induction ceremony and celebration. The ceremony had to be delayed last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Those interested in attending must register at https://forms.as.uky.edu/hof-rsvp and can tune in at 7 p.m. EDT Friday, April 9, at www.as.uky.edu/hall-fame-live.

The 2020 alumni inductees include:

Ouita Papka Michel (

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

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 here.  

Hunt majored in art along with psychology as an undergrad. Her academic research involves 

By Richard LeComte 

Five recently hired faculty members associated with the African American and Africana Studies interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts & Sciences are broadening the range of diverse and inclusive course offerings to University of Kentucky students. The five new hires are JWells, Vieux Touré, Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Brandon M. Erby and Aria S. Halliday. 

“It is important to hire Black faculty in these areas and all areas, because their individual and collective research expertise is essential to the mission of the University,” said Damaris B. Hill, interim director of the African American and Africana Program.  “This kind of research is essential because we, at the University of Kentucky and beyond in our global community, cannot understand where humanity has been

Aria S. Halliday, assistant Professor in the department of gender and women’s studies and in African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky,  participated recently in "The future of America, according to 7 teachers," a feature on the NBC "Today" show.

"The future of America is a diverse, people-centered and people-led democracy that actively works to end white supremacist capitalist patriarchy and its effects (racism, colorism, fatphobia, xenophobia, etc.) in policies and cultural landscapes," Halliday said on the NBC website. 

You can take a look at more of what she has to say here. 

Among its many other impacts, COVID-19 has disrupted opportunities for University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences faculty to teach abroad.

In previous years, A&S faculty have taught short courses in China through partnerships facilitated by UK's Confucius Institute. For example, Rita Basuray, senior academic coordinator in A&S, has taught courses at Jilin University in Changchun, China, for six summers. Unfortunately, she was interrupted in 2020 by the pandemic.

She said she kept going back to Jilin because of her many positive experiences and her connections with the faculty and students. 

"Early on, it became obvious that it wasn’t just teaching, but exchanging active teaching ideas, fostering relationships over dinner or outings, and much more," Basuray said. "Not only did I develop long-term relations with teachers, but with

By Lindsey Piercy

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, children across the country are facing social isolation. With many school districts in the U.S. choosing remote learning, students are likely to consume more mass media.

You might be wondering, should parents be concerned?

“Media images will outnumber — and may outweigh — real-life interactions with children their own age,” Christia Spears Brown, a professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, said. “Though boys and girls consume the same amount of media, that extra dose of media exposure may have very different consequences — slowing down ongoing progress toward gender equality.”

Spears Brown

Jiali (Kira) Ma, Gender & Women's Studies and U.S. Culture & Business Practices Major is featured in this month's International Check-In newsletter.  You can read the full newsletter here

New and returning students have been inundated with messages about the “new normal” at UK, talk of face-to-face instruction, and using terms that students may not be familiar with, like “hybrid,” “distance learning,” “synchronous,” and “asynchronous.” It is understandable, then, if you are feeling apprehensive or confused about what it will be like to take courses this semester.   

In GWS, many of our courses will be offered fully online.  Other classes will utilize a hybrid format, meaning that in order to minimize possible exposure to COVID-19, some parts of the course will take place online.  A hybrid class may include attending a discussion or interactive session in a classroom, and also will include online learning activities such as watching films or visiting a virtual exhibit. 

For courses that are fully online, some will run

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 26, 2020) — The International Center at the University of Kentucky has announced its first cohort of UK Global Impact Award winners. Among them is Srimati Basu, professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, College of Arts & Sciences

Recipients comprise faculty, staff and alumni who have significantly contributed to the university’s global engagement through education, research and service, as well as fostered a culturally diverse, welcoming environment that is conducive to comprehensive campus internationalization.

“Global engagement activities by faculty and staff are often seen as something extra,” said Sue Roberts,

By Madison Dyment

Aria Halliday, who will be joining the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and the African American and Africana Studies program in the fall, has been named a 2020 Career Enhancement Fellow by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The department is part of the College of Arts & Sciences.

The fellowship program attempts to encourage minority junior faculty members and others dedicated to eradicating racial disparities in the arts and humanities. Halliday was awarded the year-long fellowship through this program. The grant is $30,000 over one year with an additional $1,500 for research or travel, a mentor and attendance at a conference connecting all fellows and mentors.

Halliday, born in Indianapolis and raised in Durham, North Carolina,  received a B.A. in Africana Studies from Davidson College, a M.A. in American

The Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women (OPSVAW) in the College of Arts and Sciences announced today the selection of four graduate students to receive three named graduate fellowships and one named research assistantship during the 2020/2021 academic year. The students were selected following a competitive proposal process the OPSVAW holds each year.

“Support of graduate students is among our highest priorities,” said Carol E. Jordan, Executive Director of the OPSVAW. “The annual graduate student support program gives us a substantive opportunity to advance scholarship in the field of gendered violence in the short term, and by what these young scholars do in their future careers, to meaningfully contribute to ending gendered violence in the long run,” said Jordan.

“We are particularly enthusiastic about the four students we selected this year for

By Gabriela Antenore

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 gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK’s campus. The Gaines Center is designed to enrich the study of the humanities at the

By Richard LeComte

Melissa Stein’s online Health, History, & Human Diversity class this spring took on an unwanted yet vital relevance with the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, many aspects of past pandemics and other health issues the class studied had become alarmingly current.

“A lot of the material in the class turned out to be eerily on point,” said Stein, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. “The unit that my students were going to take up after spring break is called ‘Global Health Challenges,’ so I modified the assignment to take into account the things we were all thinking about. There was no way people were going to go through that assignment without thinking about what’s happening right now.”

Stein designed the class

By Madison Dyment

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A prominent goal of any institution is rewarding and enhancing student success – and the new Tomasky Leaders Scholarship Fund will help the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies achieve this goal. 

Named for Susan Tomasky, a College of Arts & Sciences alumna (BA, Topical Studies, ’74) who established the fund, the Tomasky Leaders Scholarship program serves to encourage students to become involved in politics, pursue higher office and live a life of activism. The fund covers all fees for recipients to attend events such as activism training, conferences and seminars, and participating in internships. 

“My undergraduate education at UK was shaped by several influential professors who helped me understand the relationship between intellectual growth as a student and personal growth as a

“It is a great honor to be recognized by my peers for my research contributions,” she said.

APA is the leading professional and scientific organization representing psychology in the United States. The APA currently has 118,000 members consisting of psychologists, clinicians, consultants, educators, scientists and students.

Those awarded APA Fellow