The yearlong, communitywide celebration called has more than a dozen UofL participants aboard its Sept. 22 “A Belleload of Knowledge” cruise. Scholars, musicians and artists will speak at various stations and also roam around on the Belle of Louisville’s three decks to share their distinctive takes on Louisville’s vital waterway and learn one-on-one from others.

“A Belleload of Knowledge” serves multiple purposes, according to Afloat organizers Peter Morrin and John Begley, retired UofL fine arts faculty members and community arts executives.

“It is intended to bring together people from a wide range of disciplines – especially those who do not normally interact – and give them an opportunity to have informal conversations,” Morrin said. “It is also intended to give members of the general public access to activists, scholars and experts of all kinds who are dedicated to making a difference in the greatest historic, cultural and natural resource.”

Belleload organizers were inspired by an 1824-25 Ohio River keelboat journey known as the Boatload of Knowledge; that voyage of leading Philadelphia artists, writers and scientists floated from Pittsburgh to New Harmony, Indiana.

This month, when the Louisville landmark steamboat pulls away from the dock, 401 W. River Road, at 5 p.m. Sunday, on deck will be more than 50 scientists, artists, advocates, historians, educators, writers, preservationists, engineers and performers from all over town – along with people curious to learn more from them about the mighty Ohio.

 “UofL’s leadership is evident in the number and range of participants with affiliation to the university,” Morrin said.

Afloat

Several UofL faculty members, including some of the Belleload participants, have spoken at other events marking , which “is intended to call attention to the beauty of the Ohio River, the needs of the river and its unmet potential,” Begley said.

UofL Belleload attendees and their areas of expertise include:

• Frank Kelderman, English, Native American studies;
• John Hale, liberal studies, archaeology;
• Linda Fuselier, biology, river fish;
• Tamara Sluss, urban and public affairs/sustainability, large river ecology;
• Russ Barnett, sustainability, Salt River Watershed Watch;
• Alan Golding, English, Transcendentalists and environment;
• John Gibson, philosophy, Emerson’s impact on U.S. environmentalism;
• Rachel Singel, fine arts, printmaking and Ohio River book project;
• Mary Carothers, fine arts, environmental art and photography;
• Mary Brydon-Miller, educational leadership, evaluation and organizational development, environmental education;
• Margaret Carreiro, biology emeritus, ecology;
• Jack Ashworth, music emeritus, music;
• Patricia Sarley and Alexandra Hardy, sustainability graduate students.

The university’s Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and UofL’s sustainability program join several museums, library and other organizations in participating; Louisville Visual Art is the sponsor.

To attend, . Boarding starts at 4:30 p.m.

Check out all the Afloat events at .

Photo of the Belle of Louisville

“I had received promotion material about the program before, but this email caught my attention because it mentioned the civil rights immersion experience,” said �ʱ�ñ��, a communication major from Louisville who was selected as an in 2015.

“The more I learned about the program, the more I wanted to be part of it. I remember every moment of anticipation as I opened the letter,” said. “I also felt a sense of relief because my search for schools and financial aid was finally over.”

One of the university’s most prized scholarships, the award goes to just 10 incoming freshmen each fall semester. It includes full in-state tuition, an $8,000 per year stipend for education-related expenses and opportunities for civic engagement, community service and travel. The scholars also take part in classes and special events focused on social justice and peace. The first MLK Scholar cohort started in fall 2013.

To qualify, applicants must be African American or Latino, residents of Kentucky or southern Indiana, write a compelling essay, have a high school GPA of at least 3.5 and an ACT score of 26 or better.

, an MLK Scholar founder who performs many roles in the University Honors Program and works closely with students who earn prestigious awards, said the decision to name the MLK Scholar program after the well-known civil rights leader was an easy one.

“During the development of this social justice, civic engagement and service-based mentored scholarship, we believed Dr. King’s legacy embodied the essence of what we envisioned this program to be,” Buckman said.

He also said that university-wide collaboration is one of the most critical and unique components of the program.

“While housed in the University Honors Program, the MLK Scholars Program could not thrive the way it does without support from the Cultural Center, admissions, the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, the Peace, Justice and Conflict Transformation Program and numerous others,” he said.

John Rhodes, a senior public health major from Lexington and MLK Scholar, credits the program with helping him develop skills in analytical thinking, leadership and service to others.

“As a freshman, I didn’t know where I could go to find comfort or peace, but I found that within the MLK program,” Rhodes said. “I have engaged myself in a number of activities from a nutrition navigator, to a student orientation staffer, to the director of human prosperity, and the MLK program is what encouraged me to venture out into opportunities that were outside of my comfort zone.”

, who heads the curricular programming, advising and recruiting for MLK Scholars, said the main difference between the MLK Scholars and other UofL mentored scholarships is a focus on using Martin Luther King Jr.’s work and the civil rights movement as primary points of study.

“Our second-year scholars travel to the cradle of the civil rights movements – Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery and Memphis – to explore these historical areas firsthand,” Russell said. “This is so they can gain new insight from this era and how to apply this insight to their academic and professional endeavors.”

For Noela Botaka, such insight dramatically changed her understanding of history, racism and how to relate to others.

“I have been exposed to issues that I couldn’t comprehend prior to college or never knew existed,” Botaka said. “I am a lot more conscientious of narratives being told and often try to look deeper at the underlying contexts. It has made me more aware of my own biases too. The scholars program has definitely helped in shaping who I am today and who I want to be tomorrow.”

Botaka and her twin sister, Manuela Botaka, are both 2015 MLK Scholars. They were born in Kinshasa, Congo, and grew up in Lexington. 

Noela said one of the most important things she learned as an MLK Scholar was that there are different ways to lead.

“I used to be scared of taking leadership opportunities because I was convinced that you had to be at the forefront or have some dominant personality,” she said. “After the MLK civil rights immersion trip, I learned about those who were at the back end of the movement and contributed a lot to social change.”

Like Noela, Rhodes believes the program was an important catalyst for his own growth and transformation.

“I undoubtedly owe a huge amount of gratitude to the MLK program because, without it, I wouldn’t have been exposed to the many opportunities that have helped me become the great leader I am today.”

Those are the destinations in store for five UofL students and alumni who have earned 2017-2018 Fulbright Awards.

“We are so proud of our prestigious scholarship winners,” said UofL Interim President Greg Postel. “Our top scholar program really sets us apart from other institutions. It’s not just that it is so successful — which it is — but also because the entire campus community comes together to help and support these scholars during their academic journey.”

Since 2003 there have been 109 UofL Fulbright scholars, more than all other Kentucky public institutions combined. 

In the last decade, UofL has as one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright winners by the Chronicle of Higher ����ֱ�� and, last year, had the highest success rate among U.S. research institutions.

UofL had 15 Fulbright winners last year, breaking its own record of 14 in a single year set in 2010 and 2011.

Patricia Condon, who heads the national and international scholarship program, said academically gifted students are increasingly coming to her office for advice and assistance because they have heard about UofL’s success in producing Fulbright awardees.

“It’s not unusual for high school students who are considering UofL to ask about our Fulbright, Truman, Goldwater or other scholars,” Condon said. “That kind of awareness is part of the momentum that drives a strong pipeline of prestigious scholarship candidates to our door.”

Those receiving 2017-2018 are:

• , Manchester, graduating senior, political science, will teach in Malaysia.
• , Louisville, 2016 graduate, anthropology, will teach in Germany.
• , Ashland, 2016 graduate, social work, will teach in Malaysia.
• , New Albany, Ind., graduating senior, biochemistry, will conduct research in Switzerland.
• , Alexandria, graduating senior, biology and Spanish, will teach in Colombia.

The university previously announced that won Kentucky’s only Truman Scholarship.

For more on the Fulbrights, visit the  and check out the video below.

Twenty-two students and alumni (as of May 3) have earned some of the world’s most prominent scholarships. The awardees will head to destinations throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“We repeatedly talk about our goal to be a premier, nationally recognized, metropolitan research institution and these results make it clear that we are achieving that goal,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “Our prestigious scholar program is a point of pride that showcases UofL’s many opportunities for student global engagement.”

Fourteen scholars earned Fulbright awards — matching the university’s all-time record (set in 2010 and 2011) for number of awards in a single year. That number makes it likely that UofL will among the nation’s top public institutions for the prominent prize. Since 2003, UofL has had 103 Fulbright awardees, more than all other Kentucky public institutions combined. 

Patricia Condon, who heads the national and international scholarship program, said there were originally 30 Fulbright candidates for 2016. Of those, 21 were selected by the U.S. selection committee and recommended to various countries — a high success rate that earned UofL recognition from Fulbright award organizers.

Besides the 14 who were ultimately selected for the award, two were declined, four were chosen as alternates and one is still waiting to hear.

Those receiving are:

• , Carlisle, graduating senior, political science, will teach in Estonia.
• , Glendale, graduating senior, anthropology, will teach in Jordan. He also earned a Critical Language Scholarship and will spend part of the summer in Morocco.
• , Villa Hills, 2015 graduate, English and humanities, will teach in Belarus.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, economics, will teach in Malaysia.
• , Louisville, third-year medical student, will conduct research on traumatic brain and spinal cord injury in sub-Saharan Africa in Malawi.
• , Louisville, third-year medical student, will conduct research on mother-to-child HIV transmission in Kenya.
• , Bardstown, 2013 graduate, political journalism, will conduct research and study journalism at Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
• , Jeffersonville, Indiana, graduating senior, English, will conduct research and study of literature in Trinidad and Tobago.
• , Bowling Green, 2014 graduate, economics and Spanish, will teach in Indonesia.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, English and humanities, will teach in Malaysia.
• , Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduate student, geography, will conduct research on conservation efforts in Namibia
• , Fort Mitchell, graduating senior, middle and secondary education, will teach in Spain.
• , Louisville, graduating senior, Spanish and political science, will teach in Colombia.
• , California, graduate student, education, will teach in Brazil.

Five students were selected as , including Brawner, who is also a Fulbright. The other four are:

• , Manchester, junior, political science and economics, will travel to Oman for immersion in Arabic.
• , Elizabethtown, sophomore, political science and history, will travel to Oman for immersion in Arabic.
• , Elizabethtown, junior, anthropology, will travel to China for immersion in Chinese.
• , Louisville, sophomore, political science and history, will travel to Morocco for immersion in Arabic.

The university previously announced that won Kentucky’s only Truman Scholarship, won a Goldwater Scholarship, won a Whitaker International Fellows Award and won a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.

Lucky for UofL, Jordanian native Khaldoun Almousily is exactly that type of teacher.

Although he has been at the university for just two semesters, his Arabic language classes in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Classical and Modern Languages Department have become popular and, now, four of his students have won prestigious Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) in Arabic.

The four CLS winners are , , and . All four credit Almousily’s instruction—plus his ability to weave a bit of history and culture into his curriculum—with their success in earning the award.

“He incites passion for Arabic and the Middle East in all of his students and is an incredible and patient instructor,” Pepper wrote.

Ball called Almousily “one of the most influential professors I have ever had.”

Apparently, Almousily’s penchant for teaching is a strong family trait. Two of his sisters and one brother, who still live in Jordan, are also Arabic teachers.

“I love teaching more than anything else and I love interacting with students,” Almousily said.

The is a fully funded language and cultural immersion program for college students. It is funded by the U.S. Department of State to build a larger pool of Americans who can speak foreign languages considered to be critical to the U.S. Candidates for the CLS in Arabic are required to have at least one year of college-level instruction.

Ball, a Manchester native, and Pepper, an Elizabethtown native, will both spend their CLS at Noor Majan Training Institute in Ibri, Oman.

Brawner, a Glendale native, will travel to Meknes, Morocco, and Wright, who is from Louisville, will study in Tangier, Morocco.

Almousily came to UofL in 2015 as an instructor and program coordinator of Arabic language. He previously was an interpreter/translator on state and federal levels and taught for five years at Western Kentucky University, where he was instrumental in building Kentucky’s and Western’s first major and minor in Arabic. He hopes to build a similar program for UofL.

He likes to keep students engaged in the classroom by giving them real-world, tangible experiences as they learn. He explains:

“When the unit is about things you need from a grocery store, we turn the classroom into a store were students design a shopping list and go to the market to buy several items they need for the dish they are making. When the unit is about clothing, I bring real clothes and turn the classroom into a market where students are divided into customers and salespeople. They talk about the design, materials and try to negotiate the price.”

He also likes to get students out of the classroom. He has organized field trips to an Islamic Center and has shown Arabic-speaking movies. Such approaches resonate well with students.

Wright wrote that he appreciates Almousily for “encouraging me to apply for a CLS and for really pushing me to be more comfortable speaking Arabic as opposed to just learning the material from a book.”

The CLS scholars will head to their respective destinations this summer.