I recently stepped in on a planning session between Professor Mark Watson and the Community and Education Coordinator of Lexington’s Explorium, Katherine Shaw.  Preparing for the Explorium’s second annual week-long Chemistry Summer Camp, Watson and Shaw talked lightheartedly about what gets young kids excited about learning about concepts such as viscosity, electrolysis and recrystalization.  They both agreed (without a doubt) that science really is fun for young kids. The challenge is keeping third and fourth graders engaged throughout their academic career. “We do not have to build an interest in science, just not squash it,” Watson said. 

As the kids competed with experiments that require slimy tadpoles and growing fish, Watson shared a few lessons he has learned as an educator and a father. According to his experiences

UK Paved the Way

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/original.mp3

Jeffery Burch is a graduate from the University of Kentucky. He currently serves as president of the Atlanta Alumni club in Georgia, volunteers as a student recruiter in the Atlanta area, and is an avid UK sports fan. His experiences at UK paved the way for the rest of his career.

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All students at the University of Kentucky have to take multiple classes in the College of Arts and Sciences to fulfill their general education requirements.

But in today’s increasingly specialized world, some people question the practicality and benefits of classes in the liberal arts: sure, studying English is quaint, but unnecessary; history is a good hobby, but nothing more; a foreign language is interesting, but that’s all.

They beg the question, who needs the liberal arts?

Ask UK A&S graduates, however, and they will readily tell you that their education in the liberal arts greatly rewarded them both professionally and personally.

Their answer: everyone needs the liberal arts.

“Arts and Sciences offers the courses that are foundational for any educated person,” said Anna Bosch, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the College. “We

Tonya and Jackie Jones giggle like best friends over the remnants of a casual lunch. You almost feel like you're intruding in attempts to capture their attention. Mother and daughter never seem to tire of each other's company, especially considering they live together in the Jones family home in Lexington and both work part time at the Inn on Broadway downtown.

"We do everything together," Jackie Jones laughed. "And this is no different."

In this instance, Jackie is alluding to her impending May Commencement Ceremony, where she will graduate with a degree in history. Tonya Jones will have a front row seat for her daughter's graduation, as she is receiving a degree in history from UK as well.

"I refused to let her graduate before me," joked

Graduate Student

By Megan Neff

Photos by Mark Cornelison

Natalie Glover bears no material resemblance to Wassily Kandinski.

But the 23-year-old psychology graduate student has dealt with the abstract in ways that parallel this Russian abstract painter and art theorist.

The most obvious parallel is that Glover is a painter too. And like Kandinski, she realizes the intrinsic value of art in dealing with matters of human nature; of reflecting not only what is aesthetically pleasing, but also what is internally revealing.

“The older I get, the more I study, the more confident I become,” said Glover. “And I find that in my art. More and more I’m starting to do original work, most of it abstract. I’m starting to trust in my abilities more.”

Though Glover’s path did not lead to pioneering a new school of art, it

A&S Ambassador - Cameron Hamilton

https://www.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/hamilton.mp3

Cameron Hamilton serves as a K Crew Coordinator for UK's K Week for incoming students, as well as serving as an A&S Ambassador. Hamilton discusses new initiatives that  the K Crew Coordinators are working on, as well as the personal and professional benefits of being a K Crew Coordinator and A&S Ambassador.

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"Back home … there's nothing like it."

To say that University of Kentucky biology graduate Kellie Farthing loves Eastern Kentucky is an understatement.

Farthing is as proud of her accent as she is her hometown. She's proud of her sister, who graduated from the University of Kentucky last year with a 4.0 GPA in psychology. There's also her mom and three other siblings and the nieces and nephews, many who have remained in Martin, Ky.

"Martin probably has a couple thousand people. I graduated high school with a class of 83, to put it in perspective," Farthing said. "I say that I'm halfway between Pikeville and Hazard… people usually know one place or the other."

Farthing will gladly be moving back in with her mom after graduation, having accepted a two-year contract with Teach for America in its inaugural

Rebecca Street Undergraduate Student by Amber Scott photos by Mark Cornelison

Rebecca Street grew up in Clemson, S.C., a town known for being the home of Clemson University, for historic houses and for thick Southern drawls. Also for neighboring Greenville, S.C., home to BMW's North American Headquarters, and it is this latter fact, oddly enough, that set Street on the path to studying linguistics at the University of Kentucky. "In high school, I did an exchange program in Germany that was sponsored by BMW since my high school had one of the best German language programs in the state," she said. "It was my first time being abroad, and it really got me interested in what life is like in other places. That was my inspiration for deciding that languages and other cultures were what I was interested in." Drawing on that newfound interest and an off-the-cuff suggestion from

When the University of Kentucky established the Committee on Social Theory in 1989, it was one of the first of its kind.

The committee, in the College of Arts and Sciences, provides one of the most engaging teaching, research and learning experiences at UK, including 75 affiliated faculty from 17 departments and schools across campus. 

 "The program is premised on the belief that major social questions and problems, issues of our time and of earlier periods, that touch all of us, can be investigated constructively across disciplinary and theoretical divides, between scholars and intellectuals, particularly of the humanities and the social sciences, as well as, we believe, the physical and life sciences,” said Social Theory Director and French Professor

When the University of Kentucky established the Committee on Social Theory in 1989, it was one of the first of its kind.

The committee, in the College of Arts and Sciences, provides one of the most engaging teaching, research and learning experiences at UK, including 75 affiliated faculty from 17 departments and schools across campus. 

 "The program is premised on the belief that major social questions and problems, issues of our time and of earlier periods, that touch all of us, can be investigated constructively across disciplinary and theoretical divides, between scholars and intellectuals, particularly of the humanities and the social sciences, as well as, we believe, the physical and life sciences,” said Social Theory Director and French Professor

There’s more than 4,300 miles separating Morehead, KY and Berlin, Germany. For Ben Williams, it was a gap that would be bridged thanks, in part, to his experiences at the University of Kentucky.

Hailing from Morehead, Williams graduated from Rowan County Senior High. From there, he went to the University of Kentucky, followed by a graduate degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. His parents still live in Morehead, where his mother works in the Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop and his father as a professor at Morehead State. His two sisters live in Lexington.

Inspiration

When studying at UK, he was inspired by two professors: Theodore Fiedler and Jeff

By Colleen Glenn