On March 18, 2015 Mrs. Lina Crocker took several CESL students on a trip to Cincinnati. They were joined by faculty member Ms. Roshan Nikou.

The students took a bus to Cincinnati where singing and dancing were encouraged, giving students the opportunity to socialize and become comfortable around their peers.

This all day trip began with a visit to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center where students viewed various exhibits detailing the history of the Midwest, and America’s various paths towards freedom and equality for all.

The students enjoyed lunch at the Yard House which provided a great social experience and relaxed atmosphere for the students.

After lunch CESL students visited the Krohn Conservatory, a greenhouse which showcases more than 3,500 plant species from all around the globe.

On February 11, 2015, Mrs. Lina Crocker was joined by several students and faculty on a trip to visit Kentucky’s state capital: Frankfort.

Along with CESL faculty Mr. Keith Gilbertson and Mrs. Susan Ma, the students visited the Kentucky State Capitol building, where they viewed the State Senate chambers, and pretended to be senators. They also had the opportunity to see the Supreme Court Room, This trip gave students the opportunity to learn about the different branches of government, and how each branch operates individually and cohesively with each other.

They also enjoyed Arts Day in Kentucky, an event that showcased the work of local artists. The event had more than 300 people in attendance, and provided a great opportunity for the students to meet and learn

On Wednesday, March 4th Ms. Lina Crocker took several students on an organized field trip to the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY. This all-day trip allowed the students to experience this award winning museum with several faculty from the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL). The students engaged in the inspirational story of Muhammad Ali's life and legacy through interactive and multimedia exhibits, promoting multiculturalism and inspiring visitor's with his story.

Lina Crocker's CESL excursion was also attended by Mrs. Susan Ma and Mr. Keith Gilbertson, who served as the event's videographer.

The visit to the Muhammad Ali Center is one of many field trips CESL provides for their students, offering them a chance to experience the culture of Kentucky and much of the Midwest. Events such as this

By Rosanna Willhite

The Center for English as a Second Language is pleased to welcome 53 students from Mexico. The students arrived over the weekend of November 9th and will be visiting scholars for one month. The scholars represent not only promising undergraduate students, but also teachers of English and other disciplines in universities in Mexico. They are part of an initiative by the Mexican government called Proyecta 100,000, which aims to send 100,000 students to the United States by 2018.

Please join us as we welcome these visiting scholars by introducing yourself to them at CESL events and partnerships. We hope this will be the beginning of a thriving partnership with Mexico and Proyecta 100,000.

Click the link: Consul of Mexico, Mr. Jorge Sanchez Catano (Vimeo) to view the

By Rosanna Willhite

On October 2, 2014, the Center for English as Second Language, represented by Lina Crocker, partnered with Jan Romond, coordinator of the exhibit, to have an art exhibit in the Student Center at the University of Kentucky. The art exhibit showcased pieces from students of Magoffin High School in Salyersville, KY on storm stories that were a result of a tornado that struck the Salyersville area in March of 2012.

Jan Romond, responsible for orchestrating this event at UK, gave an introduction to the history of the 2012 tornados that had left “widespread destruction in its path.” Two years later, an art teacher from Magoffin High School, Andrea Parsons, is working with the Storm Recovery Ambassadors

by Lina Crocker, Full-time Lecturer at CESL

On Wednesday, September 24th, our students had a wonderful visit to Locust Trace AgriScience Farm, which is a special high school in Lexington that focuses on agricultural studies, as well as the environment and energy.  In addition to normal classrooms, Locust Trace has labs, gardens, a greenhouse, a barn for animals, facilities for raising fish and a veterinary clinic. Students can study Plant and Land Science, Veterinary Assistant, Agriculture Power Mechanics, Equine Studies and Large Animal Science.

We really enjoyed seeing the school building, which was beautiful, innovative and energy efficient.  It generates its own electricity with solar panels, and has many energy saving features.  It also has an interesting water system which

by Gail Hairston

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 29, 2014) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences’ Passport to the World program has already whisked students on four virtual globetrotting tours, yearlong explorations into the culture and history of a country or region. For the program’s fifth academic year, the college will delve into the turbulent, headline-grabbing region of the Middle East.

Once again the UK College of Arts and Sciences has chosen a region that impacts all of us. The eyes of the world have focused on the area for months, years. And yet, for many Americans, the Middle East is still mysterious and threatening, a culture and people churning with unfamiliar beliefs, traditions, expectations and dreams.

Like past programs about

The University of Kentucky has been presenting the Sullivan Award to students, faculty, and staff since 1927. This award recognizes individuals who evince a sense of love and helpfulness for other communities, at home and abroad.  

This year’s UK recipient is graduating senior Andrew Ritzel. A Biology and Spanish major, Ritzel is being recognized for his involvement and leadership with UK’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Program and for creating a formal partnership between UK and Shoulder-to-Shoulder Global.

Ritzel’s involvement started when he was a first-year student here at UK. “Coming into college, the Alternative Spring Break Program was something I had heard about at other universities. I was really interested in the program, so I went to one of the information sessions at the beginning of the school year. I learned that UK’s ASB program was launching a brand new

By Guy Spriggs

(January 23, 2014)  – The visiting South Korean teachers currently studying at UK are part of a long line of successful educational partnerships for the University’s Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) program. The experience for these teachers, however, is a bit different: they are the first to receive graduate credit by participating UK’s newly-formed master’s program in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).

“This is a brand new program. We got approval over the summer and our first class arrived this fall,” said Francis Bailey, director of the TESL master’s program.

by Whitney Hale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 5, 2013) — The University of Kentucky Confucius Institute (UKCI) celebrates three years of collaborations with educational institutions in China at a free public concert on Nov. 7.

The "3rd Anniversary Celebration Concert: Featuring the Shanghai University School of Music" will spotlight string music, the pipa, martial arts and other musical talents from Shanghai. The concert will begin 7 p.m. Thursday, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

"UKCI is pleased to have the students and faculty from the College of Music of Shanghai University to join us in

by Sarah Geegan

University of Kentucky students come from all over the map — from as nearby as Fayette county, to as far away as Vietnam. Though their hometowns vary, they all share one thing in common; they're part of a Big Blue community that comes together during one of the most exciting times on UK's campus: K Week.

For international students at UK, K Week starts a week earlier, with K Week International Orientation, a series of events designed especially to support students coming to UK from abroad. More than 400 international undergraduate, graduate and CESL (Center for English as a Second Language) students will arrive during K Week International Orientation; UK currently hosts approximately 1,900 international students from 114 different countries

By Sarah Geegan

Twenty-six Brazilian students will become Kentucky wildcats in the fall, as part of UK's partnership with the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) and the Institute of International Education (IIE).

The BSMP initiative is administered by IIE and is part of the Brazilian government's larger effort to grant 100,000 scholarships for the best students from Brazil to study abroad at the world’s top universities. The 26-student cohort will begin studies at UK in the Center for English as a Second Language in the College of Arts and Sciences.  The center will provide the support for the students in achieving

By President Eli Capilouto

Last year, I had the opportunity to travel to China with a delegation from the University of Kentucky to advance several partnerships growing between UK's colleges and departments and universities and industries in a country growing in economic importance.

One such partnership is between UK's Center for Applied Energy Research and the world's largest power company. During a meeting with industry representatives, we shared our exciting work in the development of clean coal technology and discussed partnerships, the exchange of students, and faculty collaboration as part of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center.

As we met, they described several multi-billion dollar research and development investments in their country’s energy sector. In comparison, the proposed

By Guy Spriggs

by Gail Hairston

Imagine you are far, far from home, and those around you are terribly excited about a family holiday that focuses on foods you may never have tasted. That’s the way many international students at the University of Kentucky feel about Thanksgiving, a holiday as American as the apple pie finale.

UK Alumni Association doesn’t like anyone to be left out of this special holiday. For seven years, it has celebrated Thanksgiving in a global fashion with students and their guests from every corner of the world.

All multicultural and international students are invited to join the UK Alumni Association at the Student Center Grand Ballroom for the free 7th annual

Mansoor Sultan is a UK student from Iraq, pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering. Like many of the other 1,788 international students at UK from more than 117 countries, a daunting challenge for Sultan when he arrived in Lexington was his English proficiency — a challenge which the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) strives to help students overcome.

Lina Crocker, faculty member in the CESL, contends that face-to-face interaction with American students is one of the best tools for both English-speaking practice and orientation into American culture. She facilitates partnerships with various departments across campus, which give international students like Sultan the opportunity to meet American

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The University of Kentucky is one of America's first universities to receive students from the southwest Asian state of Oman in a five-year scholarship agreement with the nation's Ministry of Higher Education.  UK welcomed 50 undergraduate students to campus last week.

Most Omani students will be registering for American engineering, computer science and business courses in January 2012, after an intensive English language program (IELP) at their respective university, but UK has the ability to enroll students now, due to its English as a Second Language Program's (ESL)'s mid-fall admit date.

"Our Center for English as a Second Language has increasingly become an integral part of the academic program at UK, as we seek to provide academic advising even before the students