LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 19, 2022) — The University of Kentucky Department of Sociology and the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program will welcome Aaron Thompson, the president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3.

Thompson’s lecture, “Making Higher Education Matter to Kentucky,” will take place at Gatton Student Center Room 331. The lecture will be presented online as well. To join virtually, register at https://uky.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x2oeM49eQ5OZ9kEum0b10g.

Thompson will be sharing his

By Kate Maddox

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement are excited to announce that the AppalachiaCorps program will be continuing in Summer 2022.

ApppalachiaCorps connects students with organizations in Eastern Kentucky and the greater Appalachian region, providing them a summer internship opportunity concentrating on their career goals. Participants will obtain valuable leadership and networking skills during this internship, preparing them for future jobs and placements.

Students in the past have interned at organizations such as Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Highlands Museum & Discovery Center, Pikeville

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Appalachian Studies program and the UK Appalachian Research Community (formerly the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community, or GARC) are inviting students to submit proposals for the upcoming UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase.

The symposium is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines from all colleges and universities doing work pertaining to Appalachia. Students without previous presentation experience, undergraduate students, students seeking feedback on ongoing research and students creating performance or visual artworks related to Appalachia are strongly encouraged to

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 10, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center is offering awards and funding opportunities for students involved with work and research in the Appalachian region.

Applications for the 2022 James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and applications for the 2022 UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Award are both due Feb. 15. 2022.

Graduate students are eligible to apply for the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and both

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center will showcase the work of student researchers through its Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress series starting next week. The series will run through the Spring 2022 semester.

Many of 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.

The presenting researchers represent four colleges and seven departments from across UK’s campus.

“We look forward to learning from these

By Ryan Girves

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2021) — Firsts can be scary. The first time riding a bike or learning how to drive, or a first job — all scary. Being the first in your family to do something — even scarier. 

Austin Huff, a first-generation University of Kentucky senior from Topmost, a small town in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, knows this all too well.  

With a dream of making a change in his small town, Huff came to UK to make his dreams reality, despite his hesitations.

“My hometown has some of the highest poverty rates in the nation, and some of the worst health conditions in the nation,” Huff said. “My inspiration for coming to college was making a change for the place I call home. After graduation, I want to attend law school and I want to return to my community and

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2021) — This Saturday, the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and the Sunup Initiative will present a virtual panel titled “Advocacy in Southeastern Kentucky.” The event is in recognition of the anniversary of the 1919 expulsion in Corbin, Kentucky.

Advocates from various locations around the Corbin region will gather to share tips and discuss the challenges and successes of being an effective advocate.

The panelists include Sherry Tinsley from Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Venus Evans from Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, John Stewart from Williamsburg

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 25, 2021) — The University of Kentucky will welcome Emily Hudson, community activist and founder of the Southeast Kentucky African American Museum and Cultural Center, to campus next week as part of the Appalachian Forum series.

The lecture, titled “Yes, You Can Come Home Again,” will take place 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1, in the William T. Young Library UK Athletics Auditorium, and on Zoom. The presentation is sponsored by the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program, African American and Africana Studies (AAAS), and the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies (CIBS) at UK.

Hudson will share excerpts from her book, “Soul Miner,” and discuss her journey in search of her identity as an Appalachian and an African American. She will discuss

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program will welcome Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold to UK next week as part of the Appalachian Forum series.

The lecture, “Beyond Extraction: Stories, like resources can be extracted from communities — how do we break the paradigm?” will take place 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, on Zoom. Those interested may also watch the talk live from the Appalachian Center at 624 Maxwelton Court.

Griswold is the author of the award-winning book “Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America.” The book follows a mother and her children for seven years as they wage a battle against the oil and gas

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program invite all undergraduate and graduate students from and/or interested in the Appalachian region of Kentucky to a “Gathering on the Porch” this week on campus.

Drop in and “sit a spell” to meet others and learn more about Appalachian studies and research opportunities and activities available through the Appalachian Center.

The outdoor event will take place rain or shine, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 624 Maxwelton Court. Yard games and refreshments will be provided. Students should bring a mask (in case some conversations need to be moved indoors).

Among those invited are students from the Appalachian Studies minor and certificate programs, interns from the AppalachiaCorps program, Robinson

By Jesi Jones-Bowman

UK undergraduate researchers Bridget Bolt and Gretchen Ruschman. Students are encouraged to explore undergraduate research opportunities at the Research + Creative Experience Expo.

At the University of Kentucky, undergraduates have access to outstanding research and creative work activities led by world-class faculty and staff that promote self-discovery, experiential learning and lifelong achievement.

Explore exciting undergraduate opportunities at the first annual UK Research + Creative Experience Expo 3-5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13, around the Gatton Student Center’s Social Staircase.

“The goal of the Research + Creative Experience Expo is to introduce undergraduates to the diversity of research and creative work conducted at UK,” said Chad Risko, faculty director of the

In retrospect: a perspective on how the state legislature performed on social, criminal justice issues | Depth of Field series: Country music and people of color | UK's new course on moonshine and the elixir's role in Appalachian economic development | The Appalachian Plays of Maryat Lee

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 27, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center has honored eight students with its annual research awards. Three graduate students received the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia, and four graduate students and one undergraduate student received the center's Eller and Billings Student Research Award.

“The Appalachian Center is again excited to support a wide range of student research,” said Kathryn Engle, director of the Appalachian Center. “From history to social science to health to the natural sciences, our students are doing groundbreaking work in the region.”

The James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia is given to honor the

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagment are set to launch an internship program, AppalachiaCorps, this summer.

The two-four month internship program is designed to pair service-oriented, driven students with opportunities for experiential learning and research in Eastern Kentucky and the greater Appalachian region.

"We are excited to provide paid internship opportunities for students to be able to partner with community organizations in the Appalachian region," said Kathryn Engle, associate director of the Appalachian Center. "The AppalachiaCorps program

By University Press of Kentucky and Danielle Donham

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 30, 2021) — The University Press of Kentucky is debuting its newest series, “Appalachian Futures: Black, Native, and Queer Voices,” edited by Crystal Wilkinson, niversity of Kentucky faculty member and Kentucky's recently named Poet Laureate, alongside Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle and Davis Shoulders.

This book series gives voice to Black, Native, Latinx, Asian, queer and other nonwhite or ignored identities within the Appalachian region.  

“This series reminds us that Appalachian literature is an ever-changing, complex organism with ancient bones and a

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 15, 2021) — To mark Women’s History Month, the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and the UK Lewis Honors College will host a virtual screening and discussion on a film about writer and social justice advocate Lillian Smith.

“Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence” will be available to the UK community and the public to watch March 17-24 here: https://lilliansmithdoc.com/private-screening-kentucky.

In addition to the film, a Q&A session and discussion will take place 3-4:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, on Zoom, featuring the filmmaker Hal Jacobs and actor Brenda Bynum.

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 Jessica Bowman-Jones

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2020) — Ten University of Kentucky undergraduate student finalists recently competed in the final round of the third 5-Minute Fast Track Research Oral Competition.

The competition included two virtual preliminary rounds, with the top 10 students advancing to the final championship competition. This year’s final round was hosted in the UK's Worsham Cinema and livestreamed to a virtual audience.

Cultivating students’ presentation and research communication skills, competitors were challenged to present their research in five minutes, using only one static slide, in front of a panel of three judges and a virtual audience.

The top three winners are:

Click here to read the full article.

By Jenny Wells-Hosley

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center is currently offering awards and funding opportunities for students involved with work and research in the Appalachian region.

Applications for the 2021 James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and applications for the 2021 UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Award are both due Feb. 15. 2021.

Graduate students are eligible to apply for the James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply for the Eller & Billings Student