1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Transylvania partners with Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship to offer Diplomacy Scholarship

Lexington, Ky.— Transylvania University has partnered with The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship to create a scholarship for a new generation of leaders. Rising high school seniors from every region of the U.S. who are competitively selected and participate in the Henry Clay Center High School National Student Congress in 2017 will receive a $10,000 Diplomacy Scholarship each year for four years, should they decide to attend Transylvania. “The quality of young leaders who have attended the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship National High School Student Congress is second to none,” Transylvania President Seamus Carey said.  “Alumni of the program are now staffers in the U.S. Senate and House, state governments, top law firms, NGO’s and leading corporations. Our university is committed to a modern, interdisciplinary liberal arts education, and offering the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship Diplomacy Scholarship will enable us to enroll and educate some of the best and brightest promising young leaders in America.” The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship is an innovative nonprofit dedicated to educating students in the essential skills of negotiation, dialogue and compromise. For most of the past decade, the Center has held a summer Student Congress at Transylvania for rising high school seniors across the country. These students have met with justices from the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Speakers of the House, governors, U.S. senators and other nationally recognized officials and academic thought leaders. Compromise, the constructive engagement and dialogue to resolve

Silas House to deliver Transylvania convocation keynote, receive honorary degree

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Renowned Kentucky author Silas House will give the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Transylvania University’s Academic Convocation on Friday. House, who wrote the national best-selling novel, “A Parchment of Leaves,” will help the campus kick off the academic year at the 3:30 p.m. ceremony in Haggin Auditorium. A book signing and reception will follow. “The Academic Convocation is a very special occasion at Transylvania,” said Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. “This ceremony marks the celebration of a new academic year and gives us an opportunity to focus and reflect on the journey before us. We come together as a community to invigorate our mission and values of a liberal education. Silas House exemplifies our values as an writer, teacher and activist.” House is a champion of the Appalachian region he calls home. In addition to writing five novels, with a sixth to be released this year, he is an environmental activist, columnist and music journalist. His fiction highlights the natural world, working class characters and the plight of rural living. A National Book Award Finalist, House also has written three plays and a collection of oral histories he co-authored with Jason Howard. His many recognitions include the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, E.B. White Award, Nautilus Award, Appalachian Writer of the Year, Chaffin Prize for Literature, Appalachian Book of the

Transylvania urges community to “Unlearn Fear + Hate”

Lexington blog Under Main has published an article on Transylvania’s theme for the year, Unlearn Fear + Hate. The initiative was inspired by an art project by English professor Kremena Todorova and art professor Kurt Gohde and will guide the university’s lecture series and discussions around campus and in the community.  “In search of another way,” Under Main

Remarks to the Class of 2020

The following is a transcript of Dr. Carey’s speech to the Transylvania Class of 2020 during its induction ceremony Aug. 13, 2016. Good morning. I am delighted to welcome all of you, parents and students of the class of 2020, to the beginning of this year’s August Term. I want to congratulate you on your choice of Transylvania. For 237 years, we have been educating students to make their mark on the world. Today, with pride, we continue that tradition with you. We also want to give you a bit of a head start. You are here a few weeks before the upper classes arrive so you can become familiar with where things are and with the college staff who will matter to you; you will know the best times and places to find late night food and which shortcuts actually shorten journeys. And you will have a good sense of your professors’ expectations before you start a full schedule of classes in September. Still, if I were to hazard a guess, I would say that all of you, but especially we parents, are feeling more than a bit of anxiety. I will drop my second daughter off at college in a couple of weeks, and while I am supposed to be an “old hand” at the “letting go” thing, I am still full of anxiety and some sadness. I want her to learn the pleasure, the freedom, and responsibility

Transylvania professor offers fascinating Olympics perspective

With the Rio Olympics in full swing, Transylvania history professor Gregg Bocketti offers a thought-provoking commentary on the games in an Op-Ed published by the Huffington Post and Lexington Herald-Leader: To Understand Olympics Protests, Look to the Past. He also was interviewed for WEKU’s “On Point” radio program, Local Expert Weighs in on Rio Attendance. This scholar of Brazilian sport has conducted most of his research in Rio, where he learned how sports have shaped the city. He also is a leading authority on the history of Brazilian and Latin American soccer and is an avid fan. Professor Bocketti authored the recently published book, “The Invention of the Beautiful Game: Football and the Making of Modern Brazil.”