Last week, 15 UK faculty taught students at Shanghai University in China through the UK Confucius Institute’s “UK Faculty China Short-Term Teaching Program.”
Among those who made their way east were College of Arts and Sciences members Ernest Yanarella, chair of the Department of Political Science; visiting lecturer Dr. Rita Basuray; and Associate Professor Julia Johnson of the English department.
Like everyone who went on the trip, these three were presented with experiences both unique and profound that will certainly impact their teaching back home at UK.
In this podcast, we explore the trip through their eyes and talk about some of the moments that made the trip something they will never forget.
Visiting Lecturer Dr. Rita Basuray teaches a course on the history of alcohol, and how the processes of fermentation and distillation tell the story of humanity. Watch as we take a video tour of the Alltech Lexington Brewing Company in Lexington, Kentucky to talk with the Master Brewer Ken Lee and Master Distiller Mark Coffman as they show off exactly how beer and bourbon are made.
Creative expression and disease aren't two topics that are often juxtaposed, but UKC 310: Art and Epidemics, will explore five diseases from a creative and technical angle: tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, alcoholism, and the plague - through a variety of creative lenses, including film, short fiction, poetry, and art. Rita Basuray and Katherine Rogers-Carpenter will co-teach the fall 2013 course, looking at the parallels between scientific and creative writing, and where these forms diverge.
The fluids we drink can hold cultural and historical significance -- but what about the way they affect our physiology? A new course, A&S 100-024, The Science Behind What We Drink, is professor Rita Basuray’s fusion of the two. By examining the role of water, beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola in terms of historical significance and the ways in which they interact with the human body, the class will connect science and the humanities. Basuray’s class is also bridging the gap between campus and community by bringing in local businesses such as Mon Tea and campus organizations like the UK office of Substance Education & Responsibility to the course.
For more information about the course, contact Rita Basuray: rita.basuray@uky.edu. To enroll, please contact your academic advisor.
