By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2020) — Tis the season to be merry and bright, but you may be feeling less than joyful during the "most wonderful time of the year."

Do you experience stress, anxiety or even depression during the winter months?

If so, you're not alone.

Each year, about 5% of adults in the United States experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But will symptoms worsen due to the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, flu season and darker, shorter days?

Matt Southward, a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of

By Lindsey Piercy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 2, 2020) — How do you define success?

As 2020 comes to a close and we prepare to turn the page on the calendar, it’s inevitable to think about what you have accomplished.

Did you live up to your expectations? Or did you fall short?

Some of those answers may depend on how you define success. Benjamin Scales has been chasing his definition for nearly 30 years.

“Although I have attained ‘success,’ some small part of me always felt like a failure,” he said.

It was fall of 1984, and Scales was a freshman at the University of Kentucky extension campus in his hometown of Paducah. At the time, he was a model student — eager to learn and give back. “I was active in volunteer work. And in my sophomore year

By Whitney Hale

Watch the trailer for the 2017 Emmy-nominated documentary "BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez" above.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 7, 2020) — Since the COVID-19 pandemic landed in the United States, organizations have scrambled to maintain their programming while keeping their participants safe and healthy. The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is no different -- it has gone virtual. this year.

Although aspiring writers may not convene in Lexington this fall, they will join online and hear from writers including poet Evie Shockley, author Jami Attenberg, novelist, essayist and filmmaker Bridgett M

By Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 1, 2020) — For the first time in its 42-year history, the Kentucky Women Writers Conference will take place online to ensure the health of its participants and presenters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference will go forward as scheduled Sept. 17-20 with headliner and celebrated poet Evie Shockley. All readings, discussions and workshops will be presented virtually. Several prominent Black writers will be featured as part of the event. 

“Our organization has a long and proud history of lifting up the voices of Black women, from our first conference in 1979 with Maya Angelou, Alice Walker and Toni Cade Bambara, to the establishment of The Sonia Sanchez Series in

By Richard LeComte

National events burst into the curriculum of the University of Kentucky when precautions over the novel coronavirus drove instruction online. As the students of Julia Johnson’s large-lecture core creative writing class in UK’s College of Arts & Sciences saw their lives upended, she felt they needed an outlet to express their fears, emotions, and hopes.

“What we were experiencing being in quarantine and a global pandemic situation was something none of us had ever experienced before,” said Johnson, a poet and professor in the Department of English and MFA program in Creative Writing. “And to be a student during this — that adds another level to the experience.”

The result: Nascent poets and writers in both her undergraduate and graduate classes expressed themselves through haiku and other kinds of poetry. Some students then recorded

By Richard LeComte

Even if students can’t travel to foreign lands this summer, they can extend their knowledge of languages through a series of courses offered online in the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts & Sciences. 

“I think one really big advantage of online learning the lockdown – when students can’t leave their homes – is the ability to travel virtually,” said  Julie Human, assistant professor of French and Francophone Studies in UK’s Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures Department (MCLLC). “You can explore the customs and ways of the Francophone world whenever you’re stuck at home inside your four walls.”

Classes in Spanish, French, German and other languages are offered online through UK this summer. 

“We have all the elementary levels of Spanish – levels 101,

By Richard LeComte

The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research and The Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence are offering the first Virtual Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars. This event celebrates the scholarly and creative works of undergraduate researchers. The virtual showcase will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 28, and runs through May 1.

Among the 104 participants are 49 undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences. The

By Richard LeComte

Melissa Stein’s online Health, History, & Human Diversity class this spring took on an unwanted yet vital relevance with the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, many aspects of past pandemics and other health issues the class studied had become alarmingly current.

“A lot of the material in the class turned out to be eerily on point,” said Stein, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. “The unit that my students were going to take up after spring break is called ‘Global Health Challenges,’ so I modified the assignment to take into account the things we were all thinking about. There was no way people were going to go through that assignment without thinking about what’s happening right now.”

Stein designed the class