by Guy Spriggs

UK Sociology associate professor Shaunna Scott was recently named editor of the Journal of Appalachian Studies (JAS). Scott is a former president of the Appalachian Studies Association – which publishes the journal – and becomes the second sociologist from UK to serve as editor of JAS.

“Being the editor of the journal has been one of my career goals for a long time,” Scott said. “I am very gratified that my colleagues in Appalachian studies have entrusted me with this important position.”

Scott is a long-time contributor to JAS and served on the steering committee that implemented the change from publishing conference proceedings to a peer-

The James S. Brown Award is given to honor the memory of Professor James S. Brown, a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Kentucky from 1946 to 1982, whose pioneering studies of society, demography, and migration in Appalachia (including his ethnography of “Beech Creek”) helped to establish the field of Appalachian Studies at U.K. and beyond.

The Award supports graduate student research on the Appalachian region. To be eligible, students must be actively enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program at U.K. The Award must be used to meet costs of doing research relevant to social life in Appalachia including travel, lodging, copying, interviewing, ethnography, data collection, archival research, transcribing, and other legitimate research expenses. Except under special circumstances, awards will not exceed $1,500. The award does not cover registration or travel

This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.

When you hear the phrase “Crime and Punishment,” you may think of the famous novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – or, if you’re a student at the University of Kentucky, you may think about a unique course developed by Cynthia Ruder and Janet Stamatel. The course, titled “A&S 100-401: Crime and Punishment in Russia’s Realms,” will examine issues of crime and punishment from literary, social science, and creative perspectives in Russia and surrounding countries from the 1920s to the present. 

By Mack McCormick, Amanda Osborne, Whitney Hale

Outwardly, it would appear that Arab and Jewish immigrants comprise two distinct groups with differing cultural backgrounds and an adversarial relationship. Often ignored, however, are the similar immigrant paths these two groups face in the United States, particularly in non-urban areas lacking established immigrant or ethnic populations. In regions like Kentucky, where Jewish and Arab populations are nearly invisible and established cultural or immigrant circles are not prevalent, both groups must negotiate complex identities and often find that their new locations illuminate more similarities between them than differences.

In "Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky: Stories of Accommodation and Audacity,"

In this recent Huffington Post article, Daniel Little, a Professor of philosophy and Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

By Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will present the Distinguished Professor Lecture, featuring History Professor Ron Eller at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 12 in the William T. Young Library auditorium.

Eller's lecture, "Seeking the Good Life in America: Lessons From the Appalachian Past," will discuss what the future holds for Appalachia, using the history of the region as a foundation.

Eller, a professor in the Department of History, is originally from West Virginia. Having  spent more than 40 years teaching and writing about the Appalachian region, he also served as the director for the UK Appalachian Center for 16 years. Eller has also served as

By Ann Kingsolver, Sarah Geegan

Author bell hooks will give the final lecture in the "Place Matters" series, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program. The lecture, "Reclaiming Place: Making Home," will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the Worsham Theater, with a reception following at the Appalachian Center (624 Maxwelton Court).

Writing as bell hooks, Kentucky-born Gloria Jean Watkins received her doctorate in literature from the University of California Santa Cruz and has taught at a number of universities across the country. She has published more than 30 books; her forthcoming book of poetry, "Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place," will be

By Sarah Geegan

Students in professor Randolph Hollingsworth's research seminar expanded the boundaries of a typical history class as they examined the complexities and influences of Kentucky civil rights era women. By participating in digital dialogues, contributing to online databases and engaging in community service, the students experienced history by thinking outside the book.

"We don't have many scholarly books covering the wide-ranging history of women in Kentucky," Hollingsworth said. "One thing that we've found is that women are simply absent in many historical records. Sometimes it's a willful absence, and people choose not to include them. But then other times, it's just neglect."

The course aimed to begin filling this historical void. Students served as history-detectives,

By Sarah Geegan

The African American and Africana Studies Program at the University of Kentucky will present the 18th annual Black Women's Conference March 22-24.

The conference, titled, "Learning the Ropes: Black Girlhood, Identity and the Power of Play," will center specifically on the lives and expressions of African-American girls. Incorporating expert speakers, performances, panels and activities both on campus and in the community, the conference will reveal the significance of play in the lives of African-American girls.

By Sarah Geegan, Kami L. Rice

Baishakhi Taylor and Darina Lepadatu became fast friends when their paths converged at the University of Kentucky nearly 10 years ago. The two women, from India and Romania respectively, were among the few international students in UK’s sociology Ph.D. program.

As Lepadatu notes, they went through the acculturation process together. They even have young daughters who are almost the same age. Both scholars have recently taken on roles at different universities, and they credit the preparation they received at UK for their success.

On first glance, Taylor’s new job doesn’t appear to be the obvious choice for a research-minded sociologist. But Taylor says her sociology background was key preparation for the position she acquired last year at Duke University.

By Erin Holaday Ziegler, Sarah Geegan

From the halls of Congress to the streets of downtown Lexington, America might not agree much, but the majority of its citizens can see the disparity in the economic fortunes of rich, poor and middle class American families.

The myriad reasons behind economic inequality range from the decline of unions to the decline of the progressive income tax, but the outcome is undeniable: those at the very top of the income ladder have emerged as the biggest winners in a huge transformation of the American economy. 

As an interdisciplinary body striving to improve policy and government performance through the production and distribution of world-class scholarship, The University of Kentucky’s Quantitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research (QIPSR) wants to join the

By Sarah Geegan

The University of Kentucky’s Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program will feature a panel discussion about hydraulic fracturing (or “fracing”) as a way of extracting natural gas in Kentucky. The event, part of the Appalachian Forum series, will take place from 7-9 p.m Thursday, Feb. 23, in Room 106 of UK's White Hall Classroom Building.

Panelists at the event will represent a variety of relevant areas of expertise, and after brief introductory remarks by each panelist, Al Cross

By Sarah Geegan

Rich Kirby and John Haywood will present the second lecture in the Appalachian Studies Program’s Place Matters lecture series on Friday, Feb. 17.

The lecture, “Somewheres on the Track: Place, Art and Music in Eastern Kentucky,” will demonstrate Kirby and Haywood's experience with all three – place, art, and music – from Appalachian Kentucky. Their multimedia presentation will take place  from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Center Theater, University of Kentucky Student Center.

Rich Kirby is a musician who founded June Appal Recordings in 1974. For over 30 years –

By Kathy Johnson

The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Appalachian Studies and the Graduate Appalachian Research Community are making a call for papers for the 2012 UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase. The topic of the work must be related to Appalachia, original, and produced in the last three years. 

The deadline for submitting an abstract of work online is midnight Dec. 15. The submission can be made by going to the GARC tab on www.

Two UK Sociology Professors See The Jobs Crisis as a Critical Issue in the Next Decade of NSF Research.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (December 5, 2011)– The National Science Foundation asked researchers around the US to profile the most important issues of the next decade in the social sciences. Myron Gutmann and Amy Friedlander of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Division said that “the response has been astonishing—and formidable.” The 252 response papers were put onto a website for the world to see, and in the last month, NSF published a report on the project called Rebuilding the Mosaic: Fostering Research in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at NSF in the Next Decade.  The one proposal from the state of Kentucky was submitted by Thomas Janoski and Christopher Oliver from the Sociology Department. It is

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences will host a trailblazing American diplomat next week to continue the college's Year of China initiative.

Former U.S. Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch will speak on “Leadership and Education in a Globalizing World: China’s Challenge” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's campus.

Bloch’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the "Passport to China: Global Issues & Local Understanding" course taught by UK sociology Professor Keiko Tanaka.

Ambassador Bloch, the first Asian-American ambassador in American history, has had a broad career in U.S. government service. She is currently president of the U.S.-China Education Trust, a nonprofit

The University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology welcomes renowned political reporter Mark Allen Peterson to campus this week to discuss the struggle between a confident future and controversial history for contemporary Egyptians.

A former political journalist in Washington D.C., Peterson will present the first lecture of the UK Department of Anthropology's Annual Colloquium Series titled "Egyptian Youth in Urban and Virtual Spaces" at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21 in Room 230 of UK's Student Center. His talk is the first colloquium for the 2011-2012 series with the theme "Youth and Urban Space in the Middle

The International Studies program in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Kentucky developed three years ago in response to a recognition that the world and its problems are increasingly interrelated. Whether it's religious beliefs; social or political circumstances; environmental, economic or health outcomes; events in one part of the world today affect those elsewhere.

New International Studies Program Director Carlos de la Torre is accustomed to creative and interdisciplinary work across colleges and continents.

De la Torre comes to UK from his native Ecuador, where he returned in 2003 to direct the creation of a

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

What do you want to be when you grow up? That's exactly what Tricia Dyk, the University of Kentucky's Director of the Center for Leadership Development, asked 4th-8th grade students in a Harlan County 4-H program almost 20 years ago.

Last fall, Dyk approached sociology doctoral student and Community & Leadership Development research assistant Jess Kropczynski about the mass amounts of data she had from her past work in the area.

"Dr. Dyk had the idea that we could follow up with the students she originally surveyed," said Kropczynski, also a sociology

Professor of Sociology Claire Renzetti has been named the recipient of the Lee Founders Award by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP).  The award honors the founders of SSSP, Alfred McClung Lee and Elizabeth Bryant Lee. The Founders Award recognizes significant lifetime achievements in research, teaching, or service leading to the "betterment of human life," and commitment to social action programs that promote social justice. The award recognizes work over a distinguished career that provides understanding and insight for practical application and service at the local, state, and/or national level.

Professor Renzetti joins some notable sociologists who have received this award in the past, including Thomas C. Hood, Irving Kenneth Zola