The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to learning and working environments that are diverse, inclusive, and equitable for students, staff, and faculty.

We stand in solidarity with those working to confront systemic racial injustice in our communities and in the United States. We recognize the disproportionate burden of racism and other forms of violence on many within our A&S community during this time. We affirm our support of faculty, students, staff, and alumni in standing against all forms of racism, discrimination, and bias.

During this time of pandemic and continued racism and violence that especially impact marginalized communities of color, we recognize the disproportionate impact on Black and African-American people. In the context of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and here in Kentucky, Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, we affirm that

By LIndsey Piercy

UK Photo | Pete Comparoni

The Center for Equality and Social Justice(CESJ) at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences is launching a yearlong series of programs designed to foster conversations about race, justice and our food system.

Just Food, which is being funded through a UK Sustainability Challenge Grant, is designed to engage multidisciplinary teams from the university community in the creation and implementation of ideas that will promote sustainability by simultaneously advancing economic vitality, ecological integrity and social

By Ryan Girves

Back row L to R: Ellen Riggle, Cristina Alcalde, Brandon Colbert, Corey Baker, Janice Kuperstein, Kai Zhang. Front row L to R: Melissa Stein, Michelle, Del Toro, Carol Mason. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

The University of Kentucky Office for Institutional Diversity recognized students, faculty and a department with the Inclusive Excellence Awards yesterday at the 2019 University of Kentucky Awards Ceremony. 

"Creating inclusive excellence throughout our campus community requires us to work in collaboration with each other," said Sonja Feist-Price, vice president for institutional diversity. "We have students, faculty, staff, and academic and professional units that give of themselves beyond what anyone would ask or expect. And they do so because of their

Center for Equality and Social Justice (CESJ) is pleased to announce its 2019 Summer Mini-Grants Program. Available funding includes three $5,000 summer mini-grants for faculty at the University of Kentucky.

The focus of the CESJ is to examine inequality and promote social justice on the basis of, for example, race/ethnicity, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, religion, age, ability level, and social class. 

For 2019, summer funding will be awarded in support of translational or collaborative work—making research more policy-relevant, more engaged with the community, or more accessible for lay audiences. For example, this funding may be used to support collaborative work between faculty who would not otherwise be able to collaborate, or the writing of a policy brief, white paper, or an op-ed in a nationally recognized

Center for Equality and Social Justice (CESJ) is pleased to announce its May 2019 – May 2020 Award Cycle for undergraduate and graduate student funding. Three award mechanisms will be available this year, including four Undergraduate Research Grants, three Graduate Student Research Grants, and up to two competitive Graduate Student Research Fellowships.

All full-time undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Kentucky are welcome to apply. Students from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

These grants and fellowships offer students the opportunity to conduct summer research and scholarly work under the guidance of CESJ-affiliated faculty, with the potential for locally engaged research opportunities with community leaders. The focus of the CESJ is to examine inequality and promote social justice on the basis of, for

By Ellie Wnek

The Center for Equality and Social Justice will be distributing free copies of the book "So You Want to Talk About Race" by author Ijeoma Oluo beginning Wednesday, Jan. 30.

The University of Kentucky Center for Equality and Social Justice will be distributing free copies of the book "So You Want to Talk About Race" by author Ijeoma Oluo beginning Wednesday, Jan. 30. Students can pick up their copy of the book at the CESJ office in Patterson Office Tower Room 351 and the Martin Luther King Center in Gatton Student Center Suite A230.

Christia Spears Brown, director of the CESJ, said "I hope this book will give students of all races a different perspective, give everyone a common language,

The Center for Equality and Social Justice is excited to offer a one-day workshop for interested faculty, staff, and graduate students.

The workshop, “Policy Engagement Workshop,” is offered by Scholars Strategy Network with support from the William T. Grant Foundation. Briefly, the Scholars Strategy Network seeks to improve public policy and strengthen democracy by connecting scholars and their research to policymakers, citizens associations, and the media. The “Policy Engagement Workshop” will be a full day of training, including breakfast and lunch. We will be able to accommodate around 50 participants for this interactive training. Workshop participants will leave with a toolkit of concrete strategies for using their expertise to inform policy.

Skills taught in this training include:

By Kathy Johnson

The Center for Equality and Social Justice at the University of Kentucky is hosting a conversation with Lexington Mayor Jim Gray as part of its Keys to Our Common Future conversation series. He speaks at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in the Boone Center in UK's campus.

Gray will talk about political polarization in today's society and how opposite sides can work toward compromise.  After Lexington became a focus of national news when Confederate statues downtown were moved, Gray found himself in the middle of a national debate.  He will discuss what it is like to personally engage in controversial decisions and how citizens with differing views on issues can still live and work together.

The mission of the Center for Equality and

The Center for Equality and Social Justice is hosting a conversation with Mayor Jim Gray next week to dicuss, among other things, issues of political polarization. We are interested in hearing your questions! 

If you have a question for Mayor Jim Gray, tweet us @UKCESJ, and your question may be asked during the event.

Tweet away!

For event information, see our event details:

A&S https://cesj.as.uky.edu/conversation-mayor-jim-gray

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/411189315985433/

The CESJ is excited to host a book club dealing with issues of social justice. Our first book is going to be the critically aclaimed best seller The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. 

We will be reading the book now, with a meeting to discuss the book scheduled for early April. We hope everyone interested will join in the conversation!

Pick up a free copy of the book from one of our sponsors! Books are currently available in the MLK Center (313 Blaze Dining) and the CESJ office (location/hours) while supplies last.

Thank you to everyone who came out and made our discussion of this book great! 

If you're interested in learning more or continuing this conversation, check out our further reading options.

Talking about race

By Gail Hairston

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Equality and Social Justice has scheduled its spring symposium 1-4 p.m., Feb. 9, in Kincaid Auditorium at the Gatton College building, with a reception following in Woodward Hall.

Three collegiate educators are featured at the symposium, which will focus on “How Discrimination and Disparities Impact Children and Teens: Research on Ethnicity, Social Class and Sexual Orientation.”

Stacey S. Horn, professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will discuss “Developmental and Contextual Factors Related to Sexual Prejudice Across Adolescence.” Horn’s research focuses on issues of sexual prejudice and bias motivated harassment

By Whitney Hale

Ashley Judd delivers the UK College of Social Work Irma Sarett Rosenstein Lecture on campus Dec. 1. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

Watch a video above with "the silence breakers" created by Time magazine.

University of Kentucky graduate Ashley Judd is among the group of “silence breakers” that has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for their efforts to shine a spotlight on sexual misconduct in America.

“The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover … along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the

CESJ affiliate Dr. Randolph Hollingsworth is leading the effort to develop the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Project.

Please see the following for more details on this great effort. 

https://networks.h-net.org/KyWomanSuffrage

By Kathy Johnson

Ashley Judd. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

Ashley T. Judd, University of Kentucky alumna, feminist, and social justice humanitarian, will be on campus today, Friday, Dec. 1, to present the 15th annual Irma Sarett Rosenstein Distinguished Lecture at the Singletary Center for the Arts. All tickets for the event have been distributed and no general admission entry is available.

Hosted by the College of Social Work in partnership this year with the College of Arts and Sciences, the lecture is named for Lexington social worker and social justice advocate Irma Sarett Rosenstein.

“Irma Sarret Rosenstein's passion and life's work

CESJ affiliate Jenny Minier had a version of her position paper on immigration published by the Lexington Herald Leader. The piece ran on Nov. 10 as an Op Ed, offering a condensed version of her position paper.

The full Op-Ed can be found at the following link. 

For more about position papers from the CESJ, see the full list.

By Kathy Johnson

The University of Kentucky Center for Equality and Social Justice (CESJ) has released two policy briefs dealing with subjects of heightened interest nationally and in Kentucky — immigration reform and LGBTQ legal protections.

Created last year, the CESJ is an interdisciplinary research center that promotes equality and social justice through collaborative scholarship and education. It also advocates for social justice in public policies and laws. Faculty members from a broad range of disciplines at UK serve as affiliates of the CESJ, and Christia Spears Brown, professor in the Department of Psychology, serves as its director.

The position paper titled "Immigrants Benefit the Community and Economy" was written by Jenny Minier, professor in the 

By Christia Spears Brown

This op-ed was originally published August 25, 2017 in the Lexington Herald Leader. Original post.

Following Mayor Jim Gray’s announcement about relocating the Confederate statues at Cheapside, Lexington received the attention of national news organizations, and the attention of several racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic hate groups. 

As we brace for their

The Center for Equality and Social Justice is very excited to offer a one-day workshop for interested faculty and staff, and if room allows, graduate students.

Briefly, the Op-Ed Project is designed to train experts to take thought leadership positions in the country. The goal is to help those of us in university settings translate our expertise to change minds and the the world. This is at the core of CESJ’s mission. Each day’s workshop will be a full day of training, plus lunch. Each day will hold 20 people, and they will be here for 3 days. As you can see, after the workshop, participants will have ongoing access to The OpEd Project national network of journalist mentors, for individual feedback. As we think about changing the world toward one of greater social justice, the best way we can do that is by contributing our