Skip to main content

Blogs

6 Months, 4 Suitcases, 2 Professors, and 1 Big Adventure in Israel/Palestinian Authority

How does one pack for six months of living in one of the most famous and fought about regions of the world?  This is the question that I’ve been thinking about for the past few days, as I waded through jeans, shoes, books, dresses, and other sundry items trying to figure out what was important enough to warrant space in my one suitcase. It’s not until you have to put your wordly belongings in a suitcase that you begin to realize just how many of them there are, how many you’ve come to take for granted, and how many you so easily can (and probably will) live without, perhaps temporarily, perhaps more enjoyably.  As I sat on the phone with Human Resources switching health plans, AT&T suspending U.S. cell phone service, and assorted credit card companies and  banks putting many of life’s mundane details in order, I started to focus on the daily hum-drum slowly shifting out of its realm and into the liminal space that travel thrusts upon us—the space of wonder, delight, and amazement of that which otherwise we’d fail to take notice of, the simple yet infinite details that make up lived experience in this oh-so-human life.

See What's New in Science

A&S is proud to launch What’s New in Science, a new series designed for science teachers interested in learning more about the most recent discoveries, events, and advances in science today.  The series is held in a casual round table format, with professors from different scientific disciplines and science teachers from Kentucky schools talking among themselves, asking questions, and getting answers about new and emerging knowledge. Each session focuses on a new topic in one of the sciences – there will be four different sessions this spring.

The series kicks off on February 2 with physics and astronomy and a discussion about the Big Bang event, dark energy, and dark matter. Panelists for the first talk include Randal Voss (Department of Biology), Ganpathy Murthy (Department of Physics & Astronomy), Karen Young, (Dunbar High School), John Anthony (Department of Chemistry), Susan Barron (Department of Psychology), and Gene Toth (Lafayette High School). Video of the sessions will also be recorded and uploaded to the A&S website, allowing science teachers across the state to view the discussions and incorporate them into their classes.

Get your Sing on!

All of the Arts and Sciences Ambassadors are very involved on campus and represent our fabulous school through many different outlooks.  One of these is of course, Greek Life.  It's that time of year again, get ready for it, Greek Sing! Greek Sing is a philanthropy event, hosted by Chi Omega Sorority and Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, that raises money for the Make a Wish Foundation.  This greek-wide event includes Greeks dancing together to destroy the negative emotions associated with childhood cancer.  After slaving away for months, practicing for hours, the Greek community is ready to show off its moves! This philanthropy event not only supports an exceptional organization, but bonds University of Kentucky students.  Remember that involvement in various different kinds of organizations, including academic and social groups, will make the most of your college experience.  See you on February 11th in Memorial Coliseum! Keep an eye out for all those grooving Ambassadors!

 

Traveling across colleges

Just because you are an Arts & Sciences student doesn't mean you or completely stuck in that school.

Last year, Dr. Giancarlo of the linguistics department recommended me as a staff member at UK's student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel. My first article was a review of all the hamburger restaurants on campus. The last year and a half has been a whirlwind of articles, meeting new people, and learning AP style!

This year I applied for and was accepted as the assistant features editor. In December I was promoted to Features Editor. It is a really cool opportunity to find stories on campus and learn how the news business works. So regardless of wherever you find yourself at the University of Kentucky, don't let yourself be limited by where you're at!

Sparc-ing Things Up

I recently got invited to Sparcet by A&S. It's a online reward/recognition social network for the work place. I check into my feed on Sparcet and found other Hive members lighting up the board with awards and compliments. The way it works (from what I can tell) is that anyone can give a "medal" to another working for any amount/quality of good work that they think deserves to be recognized, and it shows up in everyone else's feed. I began to read through all the "sparcets" that were given and couldn't believe it! We've got some awesome people at the Hive.

The Hive is a huge and growing entity. We are physically spread out, and often it's hard to keep track of what everyone else is up to. In this way, Sparcet is a great way to keep in touch with work related activity of others. And my favorite part is that it seems to be based off a simple principle: give credit where credit is due. Sparcet is great for this and demonstrates what a cool work environment the Hive has. 

Kudos to all my fellow Hive members for being awesome!

Cool London Transportation Cool.

Here are some photographs that are themed in someway with London’s transportation. Some are photographs that I took a photograph of inside a museum, or photographs that I took while using their transportation, such as the tube system, walking on the streets, riding double decker buses, and coaches, bridges etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon voyage en France!

My name is Katie Baskett, and I am an Ambassador for the College of Arts & Sciences. I am spending this spring in Caen, France taking classes at the Univesity's Carré International (language & culture center for international students). I've spent the last few days exploring my surroundings, and have come to find that the public transportation system is completely awesome and easy to navigate - I don't know why anyone owns a car. It definitely facilitates my wandering around this medieval town. This place is full of beauty and charm, not to mention history! I live with a host family, and I can already tell that my interactions with them are improving my french. My host mom is from Brazil so they actually speak portugese around the house as well. Kind of confusing for me but very cool. Classes start next week - will post again soon!

Eglise Saint-Pierre - centre-ville at night:

Eglist Saint-Pierre

Dang...Comfort Food Just Got Heavy

I am sharing this story not because I want all of us Chocoholics out there to throw down our candy bars or refrain from that cup of hot chocolate in retaliation of this winter weather, but because being an informed consumer is the first step in letting producers know what is important to us (if indeed that it is important to you). I have a healthy addiction to dark chocolate myself, so if you take the cocoa % as an indicator of one's level of participation in this child labor system then I am as guilty as they come unfortunately. So like i said, the goal is not to feel bad but rather, to feel aware. Respond in whatever way you feel fit.

Child Labor in the Ivory Coast

Wanna Learn Some Cool Stuff?

I was looking through some Wired Campus articles from The Chronicle of Higher Education, and I found this one about some resources where you can learn computer programming. I have always wanted to learn more about computers, programming, web design, etc. Last Christmas break I learned HTML and CSS, so this year I think I'm going to delve into Python. I just signed up for the free Stanford University online course on Computer Science, and also the one for Cryptography. I'm pretty excited to start learning about these topics. Anyone wanna join me?

Street Performances!

Salut tout le monde! My ever-exciting blog continues with one of my favorite aspects of travelling to and visiting a big city: street performances! In places like London and Paris (and even places like New York and Chicago!,) street performances can be quite excellent. I say, if you enjoy the show, don't hesitate to donate a little and help the musicians along. I'd like to add that, what I find really cool about a lot of street performances that I've seen in Paris, many of them aren't even bothered by the police. Or, sometimes when they are drawing particularly large crowds as some dancers often do, the police will watch with crowd, allowing the performers to finish before they break the crowd up and shoo the performers away. So go! Enjoy the talents that people are sharing with the world!