Jenny Rice is an assistant professor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media at the University of Kentucky. Her book, Distant Publics: Development Rhetoric and the Subject of Crisis, is published by the University of Pittsburgh Press (2012). Jenny is interested in public rhetoric, especially how people argue with each other about space and place. Her next project looks at the way controversies are treated in physical spaces, such as churches, schools, and homes. She currently blogs at In Closing. 

Reed DeMarco was born outside of Detroit, MI and earned his B.A. in Classics from Wayne State University in Detroit in 2007. He was then awarded a teaching assistantship for his graduate studies at the University of Kentucky, finishing his degree in 2009. After Kentucky, Reed moved back to Michigan to pursue a teaching certification at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids. Upon finishing all the necessary certifications and exams, Reed was happy to accept a position teaching solely Latin at an all boys’ Catholic high school, Brother Rice, in Bloomfield Hills, MI, close to his hometown.

Reed has been teaching at Brother Rice since 2010 and finds it a great fit for him. He started an active Junior Classical League chapter and is proud to have his 45 members act as hosts for the Michigan Junior Classical League’s spring convention in April 2012. Currently there are two

On Sunday, December 4, English professor and Director of the African American and Africana Studies Program Frank X Walker spoke with hosts Lezell Lowe, Andrea James, and Dr. Sonja Fiest-Price of Groovin 1580AM Lexington. Professor Walker spoke about the Lyric Theater series, "S.T. Roach Community Conversations: Rebuilding the Block". The series is committed to celebrating black male leadership and excellence. Listen to the full interview below.

When my students ask me why I became a Latin teacher, I often tell them it was fate. This, obviously, is the short answer I give during class time when they have asked an off-topic question to avoid conjugating deponent verbs or learning about gerunds and gerundives. The truth of the matter is that I have grown to love the Latin language and couldn’t imagine my life without it. I was introduced to the wide world of Latin in college, continued my education until I was satisfied with my level of learning, and then  entered into the teaching profession at a college preparatory school.

The long and the short of it:

My first day on Western Washington’s campus for freshman orientation was bright and sunny. Naturally, I accessorized with short, hot-pink hair and old army fatigues I had found at the Army Navy supply for cheap. I walked over to my assigned classroom and sat

By Kathy Johnson

Nikky Finney, University of Kentucky English professor and winner of the National Book Award for poetry, was the guest on yesterday's "UK at the Half," which aired during the UK vs. Loyola game that was broadcast on radio.

"UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing.

To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click here. To view a transcript of the "UK at the Half" interview, click

By Whitney Hale

The LGBT community is quite diverse in Lexington. In hopes of representing and celebrating the population's various differences, University of Kentucky Gaines Fellow and knitter Catherine Brereton has launched the Diversity Project, which seeks to create a visual representation of the community through a large piece of yarn-art. One stitch at a time, Brereton hopes the Diversity Project will create unity.

To finish the final product, a blanket made of 144 squares, Brereton is asking the public to take part in the initiative. There are various ways to participate in the project including a knitting event this weekend beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at Great Bagel, located at 396 Woodland Avenue in Lexington. For more information on this event, visit Facebook at 

By Colleen Glenn

After graduating from UK in the spring of 2011, James Chapman wasted no time in getting started on his career path. A dual Political Science and International Studies major at UK, Chapman continued doubling up on his studies in graduate school: he is now pursuing a joint law degree and Middle East policy master's degree at George Washington University.

“I would like to be involved with both law and policy in some manner, perhaps for the United Nations or the U.S. Department of State,” said Chapman. “I could also see myself working for a private law firm with an office in the region or a group that works in issues concerning the Middle East.”

Chapman got hands-on experience in learning about Middle East policy when he studied abroad in

RJ “Publius” Parsons came to the University of Kentucky after several years in which he taught high-school music and Latin in Miami, Florida, and Glendale, California. He has done extensive research into impressionistic music theory, medieval polyphony, and renaissance counterpoint most recently creating a musical score of sacred motets written by the sixteenth-century Flemish composer Noe Faignant. Throughout his musical tuition RJ has enjoyed employing texts that were written entirely in Latin, as for centuries it was the language of scholarship in all disciplines and especially music. He took so much pleasure in using the Latin skills he had obtained in school that he decided to teach it!

At the American Classical League convention’s spoken Latin seminar held at Loyola Marymount University, RJ first met Drs. Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg and although he

Jonathan Meyer studied classics and religion at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) and Yale Divinity School before coming to the University of Kentucky. He has also participated in the summer Latin program directed by Reginald Foster (OCD). He has taught students in Latin and Greek at the high school and college levels and has assisted in graduate courses dealing with biblical studies, religious history, and ancient Greek history. At the University of Kentucky, he has taught courses in beginning and intermediate Latin and Greek. In 2011 he received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences.

His research interests include the epic tradition, ancient religion, and neo-Latin literature; his translations of selections from Homer’s Odyssey and the Legenda Aurea have been published and will appear in the forthcoming The Gospel of Judas

Hailing from Carmel, CA, William Little completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University in 2010 and subsequently earned a Master’s Degree in Medieval Studies at Fordham University, where he wrote a thesis exploring the practice and use of Biblical exegesis at the eleventh-century court of Matilda, Countess of Tuscany.  His interests lie in the intellectual and literary history of the Latin Middle Ages, in particular Biblical exegesis and the reception of classical texts (especially poetry).  Seeing as such areas of inquiry demand a deep familiarity with the Latinity of many different times, places, and genres, the program in Classics at the University of Kentucky immediately appealed to him on account of its openness toward the entirety of the Latin patrimony, approaching texts from classical antiquity and those of the Middle Ages and beyond with the same level of

Donald Handshoe, a senior and a double major in Classics and Anthropology, divides his time between his studies and his work, both of which as it turns out have to do with archaeology, his passion.  His recent studies have included Latin, Greek, and Italian, but also courses in ancient geography, the history of the Roman Empire, and masterpieces of classical literature.  All of this is impressive enough, but what is especially noteworthy is his contribution to the excavations directed by UK professor Paolo Visonà at Monte Palazzi in southern Italy.

Because only 10% of the site had been excavated, Professor Visonà contacted the University of Kentucky's Archaeological Research Facility to inquire about geophysical testing, and in the summer of 2010 Donald traveled to the site to conduct electrical resistance and fluxgate gradiometry testing.  The

This is how Joey Bradley, a UK alumnus with a major in Russian, tells about the impact of Russian Studies at UK on his life.

In the words of the late Steve Jobs, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." In retrospect, it may seem odd that a Russian degree received from UK in 2001 led me to software development. However, the instruction at UK prepared me to think different. In my opinion, writing computer code required the same thought process as communicating in Russian.

Currently I work as a software developer in Washington DC for the Department of Labor. I previously worked with the Office of Personnel Management, the National Park Service, Defense Information Systems Agency and Telecommunications Industry Association. In 2006 I co-founded a software company called Odology, which built easy to use applications for

Hannah Arthur Bell graduated in 1999 from the College of Arts & Sciences with a major in English and a minor in Russian Studies.  During her sophomore year, Hannah traveled with her father to St. Petersburg, Russia, to see one of his plays performed at the University of St. Petersburg.

Hannah had no prior knowledge of Russia, but immediately fell in love with the art and culture of St. Petersburg; so much so that she talked her mother and grandmother into returning with her on a group tour that next spring.  

Hannah quickly became determined to focus the last 4 semesters of her college curriculum to "all things Russia".  It was during her 2nd language course, headed by Professor Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby, that she decided to spend the summer in Vladimir to attend the KORA exchange program at the State University.  Two

Marcello Lippiello earned his MA in Classics and the Graduate Certificate in Latin Studies at the University of Kentucky, both in 2005.  Highlights included the opportunity to prepare an original Latin translation of Plato's Lysis (under the excellent guidance of Professor Minkova) as part of his MA exams, as well as a number of experiences teaching introductory level Latin and leading group discussions for Professor Rabel's Ancient Stories and Modern Film course.  Marcello's experiences in the Institute for Latin Studies and in teaching during this time helped him to discern a calling to a career as a teacher of the Classics.

More opportunities to teach would follow at Duke University, where Marcello enrolled as a doctoral student in Classical Studies in 2005.  While at  Duke, he taught Introductory Latin, Intermediate Latin (

Antoine Haaker was born in Boulogne-sur-mer (France) and did his undergraduate studies in Classics at the University of Lille. During the summer, he once travelled to Rome in order to attend the Latin course of Father Reginald Foster. Father Foster is a Carmelite who used to work in the Vatican at the Latin letters office where official documents of the Church are written in or translated into Latin. For Father Foster Latin is still a living language, and this is how he teaches it. He speaks it in front of his students and proposes to read passages from the whole range of Latin literature, from antiquity down to the twentieth century.

“My professors in France hardly read aloud the texts we were translating in class, let alone speak Latin. Besides, they only dealt with strictly ancient Roman literature. So, going to Rome and meeting Reginald Foster was an eye-opener.”

Rachel Philbrick was born and raised in Cambridge, Mass., and attended high school at the Commonwealth School, a small, private institution in Boston’s Back Bay. Commonwealth’s small size fostered a stimulating intellectual environment, encouraging interactions between students and faculty. It was here that Rachel first encountered Latin, studying it for four year and travelling, in her junior year, to Italy with her Latin class.

From there, Rachel entered Cornell University as a biology major. In her sophomore year, she added Latin as a second major under the mentorship of Prof. Michael Fontaine and, in May 2007, completed degrees in both Latin and Biology & Society. She spent the summer of 2006 in Rome, Italy, studying at Fr. Reginald Foster’s Aestiva Romae Latinitas, where she encountered a vibrant intellectual community akin to that she had enjoyed in high

By Kathy Johnson

Jonathan Golding, University of Kentucky psychology professor who was recently named Kentucky Professor of the Year, was the guest on Saturday's "UK at the Half," which aired during the UK vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga game that was broadcast on radio. 

"UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing.

To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click here. To view a transcript of the "UK at the Half" interview, click

by Robin Roenker

photos by Mark Cornelison

For associate professor Mark Watson, as exciting as creating new materials is, one end-product is even more fundamental.

“When you think about research and teaching, of all our products, the most important ones are our students,” he began.

“In the end, whether they go on to be chemists in any professional sector (private, public, government, or academic), or executives, patent agents, technical sales reps, or whatever their career, we’ve empowered them for that future by providing an environment for their continued growth as independent researchers and problem solvers,” said Watson, who was awarded this year’s Young Investigator Award by the Kentucky Academy of

By Alicia P. Gregory

photo by Lee Thomas

You know the chorus from that old Irving Berlin song: “Anything you can do I can do better. I can do anything better than you.” It pretty much sums up UK chemist John Anthony’s challenge to silicon-based technology. His goal is to take anything you can make with silicon (think ceramics) and make it cheaper and greener with carbon (plastics).

Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs are the hot HDTV sets) and radio-frequency identification (RFIDs are tiny white tags that already appear on some products and will one day replace barcodes) are made from pricey and brittle silicon. But Anthony is tweaking carbon-based molecules to do these things and more. Anthony, an effusive teacher who says his goal is to get his students

By Jennifer T. Allen

Most people don’t worry about their drinking water causing cancer, brittle bones or neurological diseases. Not many suspect that it could contain arsenic, mercury or lead. Even fewer know that efforts are underway on the third floor of the Chemistry-Physics building to remove these and other contaminants from water.

Since 2000, chemistry professor David Atwood and his student researchers have been working to remove elemental contaminants from water — and they have been successful.  

“Most people don’t realize their direct effect on the quality of our water and our air,” said Lisa Blue, a chemistry graduate student working in Atwood’s lab. “We have certain things we can’t live without, such as water and air, and I want to be part of the solution