A new book, "The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition," edited by Thomas Zentall of the University of Kentucky Department of Psychology and Edward Wasserman of the University of Iowa, suggests that we might fruitfully explore and understand alien intelligence right here on Earth.
Dear Friends,
As the 2011-12 academic year comes to a close let me thank you for all the incredible work, dedication and commitment you have exhibited throughout the year. Without a doubt, our faculty and staff rival those at the most prestigious institutions in the country.
Over the last year we have welcomed and educated a record-number of new students; we have successfully launched a new general education curriculum (UK Core) and a new residential college (Wired); we have made progress on shortening time-to-degree through our online and summer school initiative; we have greatly expanded our international efforts through faculty exchanges, short-courses, new education abroad programs, and our passport to the world initiative (Year of China); among many, many other successes.
Our faculty and staff have been recognized by countless national organizations and agencies, as well as by the University community. The following are just a handful of the many successes achieved this year:
Drugs and the Brain Listening to the news, reading the newspapers, or talking to friends, we hear about drugs almost daily. This discussion will include some of the recent data about how the drugs that change the way we feel affect the brain. We will talk about why some drugs are so addictive relative to other drugs, why adolescence is such a vulnerable time for drug use and some novel approaches and medications that may have real potential for treating drug addiction and other brain disorders
UK Biologist Randall Voss is studying salamander regeneration—something that may one day help people with spinal cord and limb injuries.
Did you know that the Bluegrass used to be like the Bahamas? A few hundred million years ago, our region was a tropical seascape. Frank Ettensohn, a professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at UK, offered a geology tour of the region to share the details with Earth Day celebrants.
In room 33 of the Chem-Phys building, you’ll find UK’s laboratory for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR). The facility's director is Anne-Frances Miller, an associate professor of both Chemistry and Biochemistry.
T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. Professor of History and Director of Jewish Studies Jeremy Popkin was recently appointed a fellowship by the National Humanities Center
Sarah Schuetze, a Ph.D. candidate in the English Department, recently recieved the prestigious Mellon Fellowship from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies in Philadelphia. The fellowship is a 14-month research grant that allows scholars access to the center's and surrounding areas prodigious libraries of early American documents. In this podcast, Sarah describes her research focused on Early American narratives about disease and illness and how she felt recieiving the Mellon fellowship.
Susan Bordo writes "When Fictionalized Facts Matter" for The Chronicle of Higher Education
Justin Wedeking studies dynamics within the courtroom - from how Supreme Court decisions are made to how useful confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominess are. Wedeking is a professor in the Department of Political Science, and is currently involved in research to determine whether or not televising court proceedings will affect the legitimacy of court decisions.
