The Phi Beta Kappa Society
KENTUCKIANA ASSOCIATION
Kentuckiana PBK Events
Upcoming Events
We are working on a Fall Key Connections event. Check back for details.
Past Events
Geologist Kate Bulinski
May 9, 2023
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At our annual Scholastic Awards event, Dr. Kate Bulinkski presented a lecture on climate change, explaining how geologists are able to compare our present era to periods of global warming in the past. Dr. Bulinski is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Bellarmine University. In her teaching, she involves students in hands-on explorations of the paleoecology of the Falls of the Ohio area. Her academic interests include invertebrate paleontology, paleoecology, geoscience education, and the dialogue between science and faith. She has guest-blogged for the Vatican Observatory on the subject of science and faith in the classroom.
Mayor Craig Greenberg
March 21, 2023
At an event jointly sponsored by PBK of Kentuckiana and the local University of Michigan Alumni Association, Mayor Craig Greenberg (Phi Beta Kappa, University of Michigan 1995) answered questions about his plans for Louisville and shared how his background in the liberal arts got him to where he is today. The event was held at Patrick O'Shea's in downtown Louisville.
Artist Tiffany Carbonneau
May 6, 2021
At the event where we honored our 2021 Scholastic Award winners, we were treated to a presentation from Tiffany Carbonneau, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Indiana University Southeast. Carbonneau creates what she calls “layered visual narratives”: videos projected on to large surfaces, often outdoors, that reflect the material histories of the places where her work is exhibited. These places include sites in our region (Churchill Downs and the Muhammad Ali International Airport among them) and throughout the United States. They also include international exhibitions in Lodz, Poland; Hamburg, Germany; Cape Town, South Africa; and Toronto, Canada. Carbonneau founded the Digital Art area at IUS.
Congressman John Yarmuth
April 22, 2021
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John Yarmuth--at the time a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky’s Third District--delivered the annual University of Louisville annual Phi Beta Kappa Lecture. Titled "From A+ To F: How The Liberal Arts Led Me to Congress (and Also Changed the World)," Congressman Yarmuth's lecture addressed how a liberal arts education prepared him for his career in Congress. Then in his eighth term, Yarmuth had served as Chairman of the House Budget Committee since 2019. He was recognized during his career for his work to improve education, expand access to affordable health care, and revitalize manufacturing in Louisville.
Banking Executive Nikki Lanier
February 25, 2021
Drawing on her experiences as Senior Vice President and Regional Executive of the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Nikki Lanier answered questions about the general operations of her organization. She also discussed the specific initiatives she has led to address systemic racism and the underdevelopment of parts of Louisville.
PBK BOOK DISCUSSION
My Beloved World by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor
January 14, 2021
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The January meeting featured a book discussion of My Beloved World, the memoir of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Growing up in the Bronx the daughter of parents who had immigrated from Puerto Rico, Justice Sotomayor earned a full scholarship to Princeton University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1976. One reviewer says “Sotomayor turns out to be a writer of depth and literary flair, a surprise to readers of her judicial prose.” Justice Sotomayor’s biography serves as our Book Award this year. Our discussion was moderated by Dr. Jeremy Wells, Associate Professor of English at Indiana University Southeast.
Harpsichordist Jack Ashworth
December 3, 2020
Our December program featured harpsichord music performed and discussed by Dr. Jack Ashworth, Professor Emeritus of Music History at the University of Louisville, where he directed the Early Music Ensemble from 1977 until his retirement in 2013. A two-term President of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, Dr. Ashworth is also an award-winning teacher and co-author of the continuo manual Running the Numbers, now in its second edition. He holds degrees from Stanford University and Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA (Washington Beta of PBK). He plays old-time fiddle in the Buzzard Rock String Band.
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We began with a toast in honor of the 244th anniversary of the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 by students at the College of William and Mary.
PBK AUTHOR FORUM
Councilperson Cassie Chambers Armstrong
October 15, 2020
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Cassie Chambers Armstrong–author of Hill Women and Councilperson for Louisville’s Metro Council District 8–told the story of growing up in Owlsey County, Kentucky, being raised by her grandmother and aunt with “hill women values,” then graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University and Harvard Law School. She helped, to pass Jeanette’s Law in 2018, which eliminated the requirement that domestic violence survivors pay an incarcerated spouse’s legal fees in order to get a divorce. Armstrong’s book may be purchased at Carmichaels.
Panel Discussion: “Can the Constitution Survive the Pandemics of 2020?”
September 15, 2020
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Phi Beta Kappa of Kentuckiana was pleased to host a panel discussion addressing a key question of our time: can the U.S. Constitution survive the pandemics (note the plural) that faced us in 2020? The panel featured three speakers, all of them professors who teach Constitutional Law at the University of Louisville. They are Dr. Jasmine Farrier, Professor of Political Science and Vice-President for University Advancement; Samuel A. Marcosson, Professor of Law, Brandeis School of Law; and Cedric Merlin Powell, Wyatt Tarrant and Combs Professor of Law, Brandeis School of Law. Our moderator was the Honorable Fred Cowan, former Kentucky Attorney General and current Kentucky Circuit Judge of the 30th judicial district in Louisville.
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Event replay: A recording of this event is available via YouTube.
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