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Health and Humanities

Our Year on Health and the Humanities

News and Upcoming Events

Gaines Class of 2027 Gaines Center Selects Newest Cohort of Fellows

The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities is thrilled to announce the selection of 12 undergraduates as the newest class of Gaines Fellows. These students will join the prestigious Gaines Fellowship Program in the Humanities for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The 2025 Lafayette Seminar in Public Issues City Stories: The People Behind the Policies

Join the Gaines Center for the Humanities as we welcome Vice Mayor Dan Wu to moderate three conversations between local policymakers and advocates around some of the most pressing health issues in our city: segregation, accessibility, and homelessness. Audience members will hear about the triumphs and tensions between the ways these important community leaders are working to help make our Lexington healthier for all. This event will take place at 1.00pm on Thursday April 17, 2025, at the Farish Theater in Lexington Central Library.

The 2025 Breathitt Lecture with Lucas Carlos de Lima Crystal Palaces: Designing a Better World Amidst Social Chaos

Lucas Carlos de Lima has been selected as the 2025 Breathitt Lecturer. He will give his lecture, Crystal Palaces: Designing a Better World Amidst Social Chaos, at 6.00pm on Thursday April 10, 2025, in the Hardymon Theater of the Davis Marksbury Building. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is advised. 

Spring 2025 Hebrew & Jewish Studies Lectures Professor Gary Rendsburg

Co-sponsored by the Gaines Center for the Humanities, Gary Rendsburg, Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers University, will give two lectures: At 6.00pm on Monday March 31, Professor Rendsburg will speak on "The Ever Alive Dead Sea Scrolls," and at 6.00pm on Tuesday April 1, he will speak about "How the Bible is Written." Both lectures will take place at Lewis Honors College and are free and open to the public. 

A Gaines Center for the Humanities Interdisciplinary Exhibition People & Place by Daniela Rodriguez Soto, Lucas Carlos de Lima, and Timihia Murphy

Three of our senior Gaines fellows are collaborating on an exhibit of their thesis work, which will be on display in the Gray Design Building Gallery between March 26 and April 9. "Mind Portraits: Exploring Mental Health Perceptions in Nicoya's Blue Zone" - Daniela Rodriguez Soto;  "PIXO [Do I shape the city or does it shape me?]: A Visual Analysis of Individual Agency in the Megalopolis" - Lucas Carlos de Lima; "Prismatic Flora: How Plant Color Can Enhance Positive Emotions" - Timihia Murphy.

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Recurring Programs

Thanks to generous donors and special grants, the Gaines Center is able to bring a number of authors, artists, musicians, and scholars to Lexington each year. The vast majority of these programs are free and open to the public. Listed below are the Center's staple programs, each named after the respective benefactor. 

Bale Boone Symposium

Through the Bale Boone Symposium, the Gaines Center promotes dialogue, intellectual exploration, and partnerships among campus, Bluegrass, and Commonwealth communities by sponsoring an array of public humanities and arts events.

These events are a testament to the influence and memory of Joy Bale Boone and George Street Boone, who were committed to the betterment of the humanities. The Bale Boone Symposium is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Past Symposiums: 

  • 2024 - An Evening with Emily St. John Mandel: Emily St. John Mandel is the author of the critically acclaimed novel “Station Eleven,” a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award, as well as “The Glass Hotel,” which was a 2020 finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Mandel is the author of several other novels — “Last Night in Montreal,” “The Singer’s Gun” and “The Lola Quartet,” — all of which were Indie Next picks. In her lectures, Mandel captivates audiences with stories about her early writing career and her thoughtful reflections on writing literary fiction with the strongest possible narrative drive. A poised speaker whose works continue to grow in scale and ambition, her moderated conversation with Gaines Center Director Michelle Sizemore, Ph.D., focused on the role of the humanities in a world navigating climate change, global pandemics and fracturing leadership. You can view a recording of the event by clicking here.  
  • 2023 - An Evening with George Saunders: George Saunders is the author of 12 books, including "Lincoln in the Bardo," which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for best work of fiction in English. He has received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, the PEN/Malamud Prize for excellence in the short story and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In support of his work, he has appeared on "The Colbert Report," "Late Night with David Letterman," "All Things Considered" and "The Diane Rehm Show." You can view the recording of the event by clicking here. 
  • 2022 - An Evening with Bill T. Jones: Bill T. Jones, Artistic director of New York Live Arts and artistic director/co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company headlined the 2022 Bale Boone Symposium. Jones is recognized for his contributions as a dancer and choreographer. Renowned for provocative performances that blend an eclectic mix of modern and traditional dance, he creates works that challenge us to confront tough subjects and inspire us to greater heights. Performances by UK Department of Theatre and Dance and Blackbird Dance Theatre opened the event.  
  • 2021 - An Evening with Rhiannon Giddens: Rhiannon Giddens is the co-founder of the GRAMMY award-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, in which she also plays banjo and fiddle. She began gaining recognition as a solo artist when she stole the show at the T Bone Burnett– produced Another Day, Another Time concert at New York City’s Town Hall in 2013. The elegant bearing, prodigious voice, and fierce spirit that brought the audience to its feet that night is also abundantly evident on Giddens’ critically acclaimed solo debut, the Grammy nominated album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, which masterfully blends American musical genres like gospel, jazz, blues, and country, showcasing her extraordinary emotional range and dazzling vocal prowess.
  • 2019 - An American Marriage: The Gaines Center for the Humanities was pleased to welcome acclaimed author and professor Tayari Jones, who presided over the most successful Bale Boone Symposium to date, with more than 1,200 attendees present at her keynote lecture. Jones is the author of four novels: An American Marriage, an Oprah Book Club pick; Silver Sparrow, chosen for the NEA’s Big Read Library; The Untelling; and Leaving Atlanta
  • 2018 - Kentucky Reads: All the King's Men (An Evening with Jon Meacham) As a capstone to Kentucky Humanities’ statewide literacy initiative Kentucky Reads: All the King’s Men, Meacham spoke on the relevance of Robert Penn Warren’s work, from politics to race to regional culture, as well as Warren’s impact on literature and American culture.

To read about Bale Boone events prior to 2018, click here

Bingham Seminar

Applications for the 2026 Bingham Seminar are now closed. Applications for the 2028 Bingham Seminar will open during summer 2026.

The Bingham Seminar provides faculty and students a chance to explore a subject not within the university's regular course offerings and to do so on-site, as the Gaines Center provides funding to offset the cost of travel, either in the US or abroad. The Seminar meets according to a regular course pattern during the spring 2026 semester, with the travel portion taking place over spring break, or early in May following finals week. 

BASED ON AN ENROLLMENT OF 10 STUDENTS: THE GAINES CENTER PROVIDES:

For FACULTY:
$4,000 research and study grant
Up to $2,000 of travel expenses
Up to $2,000 towards a special Thomas D. Clark Lecturer 

for STUDENTS 
$1,000 travel scholarship per student 

The Gaines Center also offers funding to invite a special lecturer to help further enrich the experience. This lecturer may speak with the course, but must also host a lecture that is free and open to the public. 

Breathitt Undergraduate Lecture

Established to honor Edward T. Breathitt, an eminent Kentuckian (Governor of KY, 1963-67) and a UK alum with exceptional passion for higher education and the humanities, this lectureship is awarded to an undergraduate whose qualities of mind and spirit have been expressed eloquently on one of more of the basic concerns of the humanities: form, value, and memory. The award is presented by the Gaines Center for the Humanities, and the Edward T. Breathitt Lectureship recipient receives a special award and an honorarium of $500.

Applications for the prestigious 2026 Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities will open in February 2025.

Click the links below to view available lectures. 

Past Lectures: 

To see a list of past Breathitt lectures prior to 2019, click here

Lafayette Seminar in Public Issues

Gaines' annual Lafayette Seminar offers an opportunity for Lexington community members, elected officials, and faculty and students to discuss such issues as the local economy, town and gown relationships, and the creation of successful public spaces.  The Seminars are supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Click the links below to view available seminars. 

Past Seminars: 

To see a list of past Lafayette Seminars, click here

Gaines Lecture for Outstanding Research in the Humanities

The Gaines Lecture for Outstanding Research in the Humanities recognizes advances in the Humanities at the University of Kentucky, spotlighting ground-breaking work related to our annual theme. The inaugural lecture will be given by Anastasia Todd, Assistant Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies, for our Year on Health and the Humanities.