In This Issue
contents
04
A Letter from Director Dr. Melynda Price
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Gaines Goes Digital Our Virtual Programming
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Meet the Fellows! Our New Cohort
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Racial Violence in KY Dr. George Wright
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Alumni Spotlight Evan Reynolds
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One Day for UK Support for Gaines
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Bale Boone Symposium 2020 Nikky Finney
LETTER FROM THE
DIRECTOR Last year, we chose "citizenship" as the Center's theme for the 2020-21 school year. We thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on the broad meaning of membership, belonging, and the relationship of individuals and groups to the nationstate, as the country would soon be practicing one of the basic rights of citizenship—voting. For many of our Fellows this would be their first time participating in a presidential election, or even in any election at all. Elections always bring questions and debate about the imagined community of America, with its many iterations in the minds of citizens. For the Fellows we have assembled faculty from history, philosophy, literature, gender and women’s studies, and African American and Africana Studies to guide them through various ideas of citizenship as they process a period of political upheaval unseen in generations. We could not have imagined a global pandemic, the death of a George Floyd in Minnesota, or unprecedented levels of protests in the streets of cities and towns across the US and beyond when this theme was chosen. Discussions of citizenship within this context have taken on a new urgency. We have focused that urgency at the Gaines Center to provide opportunities for both learning and educating the public about how the humanities can inform the current crisis.
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We opened the fall semester with a lecture by Dr. George Wright, a noted historian of racial violence in Kentucky and interim Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UK. Dr. Wright helped to frame the current moment in the context of the long history of the Commonwealth. Next came our annual Bale Boone Lecture, featuring poet Nikky Finney. Finney is a former UK professor, 2011 National Book Award winner, and recent recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Academy of Poets. In reading from her new collection about her life in Kentucky, we were able to see how place can impact who you become as a person and how you belong in the world. These long-planned events spoke to the moment in ways we had hoped—and in ways we could not have expected. Indeed, flexibility has become another theme this year as health and budgetary concerns drive much of the decision-making at the university. So when students began asking questions about the case of former UK student and Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor, we worked with the J. David Rosenberg College of Law to host a webinar on not just the law, but also how we might understand justice in the aftermath of such incidents. This webinar has been viewed more than 1700 times on YouTube. It is not quite a viral audience, but it is more people than we could seat in the large auditorium of the Singletary Center!
The reach of the humanities is broad, and by being nimble in our programming we have been able to amplify for students and the community the continuing relevance of humanities and the Gaines Center in our lives. If you include the 500 live participants in the Zoom webinar on Breonna Taylor, this represents a significant community engagement event and the fruits of some very hard labor. Much of the summer was spent teaching ourselves how to move our programming to a virtual format in anticipation that campus activities might be impossible due to COVID restrictions. The quick move to online programming in the spring gave us some advance notice about what would be needed for the Fellows, but how to do the work of community engagement—an essential part of the Gaines mission—in a virtual world was a completely new question. We worked very hard to create a digital footprint for the Gaines Center beyond existing social media. We began with a video project called Over Yonder, in which Associate Director Chelsea Brislin and I interviewed scholars, artists, and other creatives about their transition to working while social distancing. To disseminate this new project we created a Gaines Center YouTube channel (please subscribe!). This channel has given us a ready repository for videos about the fellowship program, interviews with faculty in the seminar, and all virtual events. It will also become an essential part of our recruitment tools as we select a new cohort in a new way this spring. The success of our digital efforts has led us to commit to continuing the practice of streaming events even after it is safe to gather again. The level of accessibility this offers has been inspiring and allows us to expand our reach in exciting ways.
We have also taken seriously this year the question of how an institution can itself be a good citizen. It became clear early on that certain austerity measures would need to be taken, given the financial repercussions of the pandemic. This meant that many programming budgets for other units were cut for the year, particularly for the colleges that house most of the humanities disciplines. To assist those units and individuals who have long assisted the Gaines Center in our work, I initiated a mini-grant program that awarded nine grants to fund humanities programming on campus. The recipients range from the program in fashion design in the College of Agriculture to the History working group on war and memory in the College of Arts and Sciences. The humanities are at the core of the intellectual life of the university, and we saw this effort as a natural fulfillment of the mission of the Gaines Center. The gratitude of the recipients reflects the widespread thirst for the humanities, even in the midst of the pandemic and dissonant politics. I often wonder what normal will look like when all this has ended. One of the questions we have asked all the participants in the Over Yonder series is what practices which they have developed in response to COVID will they take with them into the future. For us at the Gaines Center, we will take into the future very real lessons in how not only to adapt but also to thrive under challenging circumstances that will surely come again. It is our hope that all of you have found small and large ways to thrive in these uncertain times. Perhaps you might try, as we have, to learn some new technologies of engagement or to offer a helping hand to someone in your community. These are the lessons we hope we have demonstrated to Fellows in this year where other aspects of citizenship are so fraught.
Dr.Melynda Price 5
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Teja Sudhakar PSYCHOLOGY GENDER & WOMEN'S STUDIES CREATIVE WRITING "I hope to learn a lot from the other fellows and be better able to view things through multiple perspectives. I am also excited to get more involved with the Lexington community and see how the humanities can have a tangible impact."
Ellie Kinnicutt COMMUNICATION JOURNALISM "I hope to learn about new concepts and perspectives that cannot be gained in other courses at UK. I would really love to develop new skills and an appreciation for aspects of the humanities that I have never explored before."
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Braden Kirkpatrick INTERNATIONAL STUDIES SPANISH ENVIRONMENTAL & SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES "I hope to find a community and make good friends who encourage me to grow and to express myself. I hope that the experience expands my awareness and helps me to further investigate what I'd like to do in the world after college."
Mary Sherman POLITICAL SCIENCE SPANISH "I hope to become a more wellrounded student. Nearly every class I have taken in college has been to fulfill a requirement; I am excited about the opportunity to learn for learning's sake."
Shelby McCubbin NEUROSCIENCE GENDER & WOMEN'S STUDIES "I hope that being a Gaines Fellow will expose me to a variety of fields in the humanities that I am not already aware of. This past semester I enrolled in a course related to the medical humanities that completely changed my perspective on healthcare, and I have no doubt that other aspects of the world hold the potential to change other perspectives that I hold."
Alex Davis EQUINE SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT PRE-VETERINARY STUDIES "I hope to gain life-long friendships and to expand my comfort zone."
Eva Grossi ARTS ADMINISTRATION THEATRE "More than anything, I'm expecting that both the students and faculty involved in Gaines will be wonderful mentors and motivators, the kind of people that push me to try new things or accomplish more than I thought myself capable of."
Ben Cortas PHYSICS ASTRONOMY MATHEMATICS "As a Gaines Fellow, I am excited to strengthen my interdisciplinary work, bridging the defined gap between the humanities and the sciences. I hope to grow intellectually, develop techniques, and explore subjects that I usually would not be exposed to."
Iyahna Wilson AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION "I hope to gain an experience that will broaden my horizon in my future. I hope to learn from my peers. I hope to gain an experience with people who have a different background than myself. I hope to learn and experience something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
Lexi Gauger SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY FOOD SYSTEMS "I am looking forward to the opportunity to engage intentionally with the humanities on a daily basis. I hope to keep in mind that being a Fellow is not an endpoint, but is an opportunity to engage in a process of growth, and to stay committed to that process."
Olivia Morris-Bush POLITICAL SCIENCE GEOGRAPHY "I hope to gain a deeper understanding of identities and concepts that I may not learn about in a typical classroom setting. In the future, I aspire to find a career that will allow me to advocate for others. Therefore, I firmly believe Gaines will give me the proper skills to advocate for individuals that come from all backgrounds."
Natalie Harrington SECONDARY ENGLISH EDUCATION "I want to come out of this with three things: 1. Something I am proud of— the community engagement project and the thesis, 2. Like-minded peers, colleagues, and friends who are interested in the same level of discourse, and 3. Improved skills of self-reflection, empathy, judgement, and assertiveness."
i n m u l A
SPOTLIGHT
FEATURING EVAN REYNOLDS
Head of Risk Management for Nike Tell us about what your day-to-day looks like in your current job.
Evan Reynolds graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1996 with a BA in English and a minor in History. He went on to attend Harvard Law School and currently serves as the Senior Director of Risk Management for Nike. Evan currently lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, Riley and Mallory.
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Talk about a time to be in the riskmanagement space [laughs]! It’s sort of a field day—every day is a new challenge. It is interesting because enterprise risk management, in a broad sense, is relatively new. It is something that existed in certain pockets, but for a company like Nike it is a very different thing. I was recruited to be the standalone senior director of the program. We have evolved it to take a really strategic approach so that it’s not just those clear and definable risks like cybersecurity, business continuity, or data privacy for a consumerfacing company like Nike, but also what are those risks that are emerging, where the impact on businesses is less clear. US-China relationships is a good example of where we’re spending time these days, or even around risks related to our brand. My job is to think really broadly about all of those issues—I have to think like one of our board members or executives, but then also know how to go deep and talk with subject
matter experts and hear their point of view to develop a consistent approach to sharing insights. It’s been a little bit of an entrepreneurial journey. I’ve been in the role for three years and we had buy-in from the top, but no one else really knew what we were or what we were trying to do. I really appreciated that challenge and also the rewards of building a program, building off of successes, and recruiting a group of talented people who have a passion for it. Tell us a little bit about your time in the Gaines Fellowship. What were some of your favorite experiences or memories from the program? I think what really stands out is the kind of relationships it created. You know, Ray Betts was the director of the program and a mentor to me and it was just something really special. That sort of smaller, true seminar style went beyond just taking in and mastering information, passing a test, or writing a paper, to really engaging in critical questions and inquiry and thinking beyond traditional boundaries. That’s what I look back on and say wow—the Gaines Center did such a great job of cultivating that and helping all of us build those relationships and drive that intellectual curiosity. The faculty loved the idea of a young person who was curious and knew how to push that.
To this day it is so important; Dr. Betts, Jane Gentry Vance, and a number of people who spoke from an interdisciplinary perspective —it really became an inspiration for me and how I approach my career now. Of course, the challenge of the thesis also—how to recreate what I imagine—is a distillation of what a PhD dissertation or master's thesis would look like. I’m not really a procrastinator, but I didn’t like the idea of writing such a long paper. Having to conquer that challenge was really valuable.
DR. BETTS, JANE GENTRY VANCE, AND A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO SPOKE FROM AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE—IT REALLY BECAME AN INSPIRATION FOR ME AND HOW I APPROACH MY CAREER NOW.
How has your experience in Gaines helped you as you have progressed through Harvard Law School and into your career? I think that what a program like the Gaines Fellowship or the Honors Program does is promote these cross-disciplinary or critical thinking skills we need and tie them to a growth mindset. I know this is a buzzword out there right now, but it really is, I think, the skill of the future for careers and personal development: to not just accept the track you’re on. I think at a big school like UK a lot of people probably do just kind of go down a track and that’s great, but are they going to get the full benefit of that in the long run? Maybe less so than people who get to participate in programs like Gaines. Gaines encouraged me to take risks. If you look at the path I was on, I went to law school and thought I was doing what I’ve always wanted to do. I was the Fayette County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney —it could be considered a dream. I eventually just realized, wow, I’m going to become bored with this—maybe this isn’t what I actually want to do. At the same time, I was curious enough about business, so I just said, "I’m going to give this a try." It helped me find a comfort with ambiguity, taking risks, and embracing uncertainty. Without having open-ended explorations through Gaines, I probably would not have been as comfortable taking those risks.
What advice do you have for the current and future Gaines Fellows? Be willing to pause and soak in this period of your life, and experience the moment you're in right now while really asking yourselves the critical questions of what matters most to you. I think the worst thing that can happen to someone in their 20s is to blow by that critical question of what matters to them. There is a lot to be said for stopping and constructing the life you want over just accepting what is there in front of you, fed by your parents, your school, whatever. Life is short, but when you’re in your 20s you have time and freedom to take advantage of the unencumbered state you’re in. Stop, listen to yourself, and be curious.
STOP, LISTEN TO YOURSELF, AND BE CURIOUS.
YENNIF YKKIN
2020
BALE BOONE SYMPOSIUM
FEATURED
SPEAKER
Due to the complications of COVID-19, the Bale Boone Symposium in the Humanities was hosted entirely online this year. However, this did not stop a wide audience from being able to attend the virtual event in order to support our featured speaker and celebrated poet: Nikky Finney. A South Carolina native and National Book Award winner, Finney has become one of the staples of contemporary African-American and American poetry. Her newest publication, Lovechild’s Hot Bed of Occasional Poetry, was published by Northwestern University Press. The University of Kentucky was fortunate to host Finney, first as a visiting writer and then as a creative writing and poetry professor, until 2013.
The 2020 Bale Boone Symposium was organized into two halves, the first being devoted to a poetry reading by Finney, while the second was spent opening up the floor to a Q&A session. Finney began by reading a poem from Lovechild titled “Brother of the Back Way,” which honors fellow University of Kentucky creative writing faculty Gurney Norman. In the discussion, Finney credits Norman with giving her insight into the complexities of Kentucky and helping to build an appreciation for the region which she carries into her own work.
Adapting the Bale Boone Symposium to a virtual platform was a collective effort months in the making. In order to account for the hundreds of people expected to attend, the Zoom webinar needed to function more like a livestream. Dr. Melynda Price, Director of the Gaines Center, acted as the moderator between Finney and the Zoom audience. While this helped to cut down on potential and unintended interruptions, it also made it difficult to replicate the direct connection that speakers enjoy with a physical audience. However, Finney was able to still connect with viewers during the Q&A session, and the format allowed attendees, some of them in other countries, to hear Finney speak. Expectedly, most of the questions directed at Finney were related to writing and literature. Finney was able to share her insight regarding writing tips—recommending, for instance, that prospective writers establish a daily routine that incorporates dedicated time for writing. Another pertinent question asked how Finney was able to meld the autobiographical and historical aspects of her work and “work through the pain of writing about the history of Black life in this country, and render the beauty.” In response, Finney explained that she wants to "write what matters to people—even though it is painful—in the most beautiful way possible." Currently, Finney teaches at the University of South Carolina as the John H. Bennett, Jr. Endowed Professor of Creative Writing and Southern Letters. However, while speaking to the Gaines Fellows, she voiced her hope to return to Kentucky someday: “Kentucky is deeply rooted inside me,” she said. We would like to extend our deepest thanks to Nikky Finney for hosting and graciously adapting to the online format, as well as to everyone involved at every stage of the Symposium's production. We encourage everyone to view the 2020 Bale Boone Symposium on the Gaines YouTube channel!
By Gaines Senior Aileen Tierney
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GAINES GOES
DIGITAL
18 virtual programs launched this semester
3,452 views on our new YouTube channel 465.3 total hours of viewing time
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay updated on events!
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On Monday, September 7th, the Gaines Center hosted a discussion with celebrated author, historian, and professor Dr. George Wright. Wright, a Lexington native, received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Kentucky. Since then, he has served on the faculties of UK, Duke University, and the University of Texas. He also enjoyed the distinction of serving as the seventh president of Prairie View A&M, the second-oldest public institution of higher learning in Texas. Dr. Wright has focused a large portion of his historical studies on documenting lynchings, mob violence, and “legal lynchings” in Kentucky. One of his preeminent works on this subject is his 1990 volume Racial Violence in Kentucky: 1865-1940. For our September discussion, Dr. Wright was joined by our own Dr. Price to discuss the book and how it relates to Kentucky today, 30 years after its release.
Dr. Wright classified these allegations as part of the “polite racism” by which white people deluded themselves into thinking that they treated Black Americans and African Americans better than elsewhere.
In Lexington and Louisville at the time, Blacks "enjoyed" segregated all-Black institutions like public high schools, YMCAs, YWCAs, and libraries. Under “polite racism,” these segregated spaces served as a means of racial control as part of the racial status quo. Dr. Wright’s research shows that this “polite racism,” however, did not extend into other areas of Kentucky outside of Lexington and Louisville. In those rural areas there existed a system of racism and oppression that mirrored that in the Deep South.
Dr. Wright began his presentation by discussing the rigid racial segregation he faced as a young man growing up in Lexington. Despite these injustices, he was consistently told that things were not as bad Dr. Wright’s research was motivated in in Kentucky as they were in the Deep South part by his belief that justice does not exist and some areas of the North. for Black Americans.
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Even in the Lexington Courthouse, a space that is supposed to represent justice and freedom for all, a statue of John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate civil war general, was displayed. How could Black Kentuckians ever receive justice where a Confederate likeness sits proudly on display? In one of the many powerful moments of Dr. Wright’s presentation, he said that, if he were ever on trial in Lexington, he would ask the judge not to give him justice, but to give him what is given to white people: mercy. The theme of justice and mercy not being afforded to Black Kentuckians was a cornerstone of Dr. Wright’s presentation. In the period from the end of the Civil War to 1940, a pattern of both legally sanctioned and extralegal violence against Black Americans stained every fabric of the Commonwealth. Dr. Wright’s presentation not only shined a light on this dark era of Kentucky history, but also connected it to the racial discrimination and violence that exists in our state today.
For instance, in Kentucky today, legal discrimination against Black defendants includes a lack of adequate attorneys, juries with minimal or nonexistent diversity, and prosecutors using their “discretion” when deciding on charges. Dr. Wright uses his historical research to show that our legal systems are designed to disadvantage Black Americans and further protect white people from equitable legal consequences when they commit acts of violence. With these systems in place, have the "legal lynchings" Dr. Wright uncovered from the past really disappeared from our modern Kentucky?
By Gaines Senior Carson Hardee
FUNDRAISING
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