Call for proposals: UK Appalachian Research Symposium & Arts Showcase
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 21, 2025) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community (GARC) invite undergraduate and graduate students from all majors to submit proposals for the 15th annual Appalachian Research Symposium & Arts Showcase.
The showcase is Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in the Healthy Kentucky Research Building first-floor atrium.
This year’s theme — “Interdependent Possibilities: Cultures of Care, Practices of Place-Making” — encourages participants to explore how care, community and place interrelate across disciplines and everyday lives.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating 15 years of the only student-led Appalachian studies conference in the country,” said Kathryn Engle, UK Appalachian Center director.
Michelle Roberts, a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology and president of GARC, said the center hosted its first Symposium on Dis/Ability & Debility in Appalachia last September. She echoed Engle’s enthusiasm for the event coming in February.
"We hope this year’s symposium continues many of those conversations as we think about care and community together," Roberts said.
The symposium features Abby Mack, Ph.D., assistant professor in UK’s Department of Anthropology. Mack is an ethnographer and medical anthropologist trained in language, public health and humanities. Her work focuses on how individuals navigating mental health and substance use disorders engage with everyday challenges in care and community in Appalachia.
The free event is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at any college or university who are interested in Appalachia — whether they are studying environment, health, arts, business, sciences or humanities. Students may submit Appalachia-related individual or group proposals, posters, creative artworks (films, performance, visual art or writing) or panel presentations.
Important deadlines:
- To present, students must submit a 200-250-word abstract online by 5 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 23, 2026. The online submission form can be found here.
- To attend (whether presenting or not), students must sign up by 5 p.m. ET Friday, Feb. 14, 2026. Attendee registration form can be found here.
Visit https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/garc/symposium for full submission details, or email GARCommunity@uky.edu for additional questions or information.
The event is sponsored by the UK College of Arts and Sciences, the Gaines Center for the Humanities and the UK Center for Health, Engagement and Transformation.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.