Peter J. Kalliney - Dr. Kalliney’s 2022 book The Aesthetic Cold War: Decolonization and Global Literature won the 2023 Modernist Studies Association Prize. Dr. Kalliney and his book were featured on C-SPAN's American History TV – Lectures in History
Keith J. Watts - In 2023, Dr. Watts published "The Impact of Community Belongingness on Mental Health and Well-Being Among Black LGBTQ Adults" in the journal Race and Social Problems and "Examining the Role of Peer and Family Belongingness in the Mental Health of Black LGBTQ+ Youth” in the journal Child & Youth Services.
Lydia Pelot-Hobbs - In 2023, Dr. Pelot-Hobbs's book Prison Capital: Mass Incarceration and Struggles for Abolition Democracy in Louisiana was released. Dr. Pelot-Hobbs was a co-editor of the book The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration, released in January 2024.
Reinette Jones - In 2023, Professor Jones published two articles in “UK Knowledge, Looking Back: Kentucky and Children’s Book Publishers” and “Looking Back: Women’s Library Club in Kentucky.”
Shemeka Y. Thorpe - In 2024, Dr. Thorpe received a UNITE High Impact Pilot grant for her project Assisted Reproductive Technologies (A.R.T.) for Hope: Experience of Black Female Same-Sex Couples.
Daniel Vivian - In 2021, Dr. Vivian worked with Woodford County residents to develop interpretive media to tell the history of the free Black community of Huntertown and its residents. 16 interpretive signs are distributed throughout the park and collectively tell the story of Huntertown from the early 1870s to the early 2000s. In 2023, Versailles-Woodford County Parks and Recreation dedicated Huntertown Community Interpretive Park.
Bertin M. Louis - In 2023, the American Anthropological Association awarded Dr. Louis the Sam Dubal Memorial Award for Anti-Colonialism and Racial Justice in Anthropology. He was also awarded the 2023-2024 Wenner-Gren Fellowship in Anthropology and Black Experiences. In April 2024, Dr. Louis’ co-edited book Conditionally Accepted: Navigating Higher Education from the Margins, will be released. Dr. Louis has two chapters in the book Evangelicals, Catholics, and Vodouiyzan in Haiti: The Challenges of Living Together to be released in May 2024.
Kamahra Ewing - In 2024, Dr. Ewing published “Drawing Hearts in the Air Within New African Diaspora Spaces: Selling Nollywood and Consuming Nostalgia in London” in the journal Cultural Studies.
Brandon Erby - In 2023, Dr. Erby published “Imagining Freedom: Cultural Rhetorics, Digital Literacies, and Podcasting in Prison” in the journal College Composition and Communication. This article earned Dr. Erby the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) 2024 Richard Braddock Award. The CCCC is an association within the National Council of Teachers of English. Also in 2023, Dr. Erby received a Career Enhancement Fellowship through the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. In early 2024, Dr. Erby’s research for this fellowship was featured in UK Now-University of Kentucky News - “UK Researcher Examines the Life and Activism of Mamie-Till Mobley, Emmett Till’s Mother”
Anastasia Curwood – In 2023, Dr. Curwood’s book Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics was named a favorite book of the year by Ms. Magazine. In March 2024, Dr. Curwood spoke on a Conversations in Black Freedom Studies panel at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library.
