Schools

'Behind The Blue': Jonathan Allison, Interim Chair Of The UK Department Of English

His original plan was to earn a master's degree then return to his homeland to resume his career of teaching high school students.

(University of Kentucky)

May 11, 2021

By Carl Nathe and Kody Kiser

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Four decades ago, Northern Ireland native Jonathan Allison earned an exchange scholarship to pursue graduate study in the United States.

His original plan was to earn a master’s degree then return to his homeland to resume his career of teaching literature and poetry to high school students. Instead he wound up earning a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and decided to become a college professor in America.

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It became the good fortune of the University of Kentucky to hire Allison to join the faculty of the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1988. He’s been at UK ever since and currently serves as chair of this esteemed department.

Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications recently did an in-depth interview with Allison for this edition of "Behind the Blue."

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue," email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of "Behind the Blue" can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.

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This press release was produced by the University of Kentucky. The views expressed here are the author’s own.

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