Are you a curious cat? UK, Lexington communities invited to 5th annual Curiosity Fair
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2023) — The 2023 University of Kentucky Curiosity Fair is an annual event open to students, staff, faculty and members of the Lexington community who are interested in learning a little about many of the interesting initiatives taking place on the university’s campus. This event will take place 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the Gatton Student Center Grand Ballroom.
The Curiosity Fair consists of “curiosity stations” created by students, staff and faculty that showcase short demos or concepts that they are passionate about in their classes, fields, research or organizations. A variety of disciplines are represented in these stations, so there is lots to explore! This event is an informal and fun way for participants to discover and engage with new people and ideas that support the notion that learning is fun and never ending.
“What I think is so cool about the Curiosity Fair is that it’s the only event I know of where faculty and students from all over campus talk informally about their work," said Stacy Smith, an academic advisor in the Lewis Honors College and Curiosity Fair co-chair. "There is some real interdisciplinary synergy that happens which sometimes leads to very interesting partnerships. This is exactly the kind of learning that is promoted within the Lewis Honors College."
In addition to building connections, curiosity stations allow presenters to format their work in a way that is retainable for a general audience. In doing so, both the presenter and the participant leave with a fresh perspective and understanding of the topic. Past presentations at the Curiosity Fair ranged from holding a human heart, growing mushrooms and trying aerial silks to extracting DNA from food. By ensuring that the fair includes stations from various disciplines, this fair has also been helpful for students still deciding on possible majors and minors.
UK student and Curiosity Fair intern Ashleigh Jones describes her experience with the fair saying, “UK is a big school, and sometimes it feels impossible to know everything that’s going on here. That’s why I love the Curiosity Fair. It brings all the most interesting things going on at UK into one room where you can explore your curiosities while building your community.”
The Curiosity Fair hopes to provide the community with the tools to foster continuous learning and curiosity that they can appreciate and share with others. This event is free and open to the public; so, bring yourself, your friends, your students and your family to enjoy snacks and curiosities.
For more information about the fair and what to expect from attending, visit http://curiosity.uky.edu.
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.