Liberal Arts Impact Report 2014/15 by College of Liberal Arts

LIBERAL ARTS IMPACT REPORT

2014-15

FROM THE DEAN’S DESK Liberal Arts students and faculty alike have many compelling stories to tell about how their teaching, research and community service transforms and benefits our world. They will also tell you that no other discipline can match the depth and breadth of a liberal arts education. Contrary to the myth that liberal arts students lack marketable job skills, they are in fact among the most employable members of today’s complex and rapidly changing global marketplace. In the College of Liberal Arts we combine classroom rigor with experiential learning—research, study abroad, internships, and leadership in student organizations. It is an education that actively engages the world through the study of languages, government

and the classics; that delves into the workings of societies and cultures through lessons in history, sociology, politics, economics and anthropology; that explores the human spirit in literature and letters; and that probes the mysteries of the mind in philosophy or psychology. Such a deep and diverse education will never become obsolete, because in addition to teaching us how to think independently, solve complex problems, and be flexible in new and changing situations, a liberal arts education also imparts the priceless gift of lifelong learning. With such varied and crucial skills, it is no surprise that liberal arts graduates are so well-prepared for today’s dynamic global economy. It is also an education that is about more than a successful career. It’s one that can lead to a life that is richly lived, one with curiosity, passion and purpose. We thank you, members of our Longhorn Family, who have made such an education possible. Your support is an invaluable part of our ability to teach, grow, and learn.

Randy L. Diehl DEAN, COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4-7

A YEAR IN REVIEW

8-9

NEW ENDOWMENTS THIS YEAR

10-13

DEAN’S CIRCLE DONORS

14-15

MARY ROSE / SOCIOLOGY

ALBERTO GARCIA / STUDY ABROAD

DANIEL RUSNAK / HISTORY

18-19

PHILLIP BARRISH / ENGLISH

ROBERT SHAFFER / GOVERNMENT

CHASE HAMILTON / PHILOSOPHY

22-23

LEONARD MOORE / HISTORY

EMILY KEMP / PSYCHOLOGY

SEQUOIA MANER / ENGLISH

JASON EPSTEIN / PLAN II

DAVID LEAL / BRITISH STUDIES

APARNA DATTA / LAH / GOVERNMENT

STEPHEN TREJO / ECONOMICS

JAIME MATA-MÍGUEZ / ANTHROPOLOGY

GET INVOLVED

A YEAR IN REVIEW

2014-2015

$15,984,518

TOTAL DOLLARS RECEIVED

6,159

TOTAL GIFTS TO THE COLLEGE

4,579

UNIQUE DONORS

4,638

GIFTS UNDER $250

5,129

UNRESTRICTED GIFTS

$100

MEDIAN GIFT AMOUNT

1,365

FIRST-TIME DONORS

NEW PLANNED GIFTS COMMITTED

$5,928,006

IN NEW PLANNED GIFTS COMMITTED 4

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DOLLARS BY DESIGNATION 8% 5%

21% 15%

PROGRAMS & RESEARCH 443 GIFTS | $8,114,822 UNRESTRICTED 5,299 GIFTS | $3,400,823 STUDENTS 335 GIFTS | $2,470,506

51%

BUILDINGS & EQUIPMENT 60 GIFTS | $1,237,285 FACULTY 22 GIFTS | $761,082

.5% 5%

2.5%

16%

75%

TRUSTS / TESTAMENTARY GIFTS 27 GIFTS | $2,592,054 5

9,317

45%

55%

TOTAL STUDENTS

MALE

FEMALE

127,827 LIVING ALUMNI

8,000

UNDERGRADUATES

1,317 GRADUATES

544

LIBERAL ARTS FACULTY

36%

72%

OF STUDENTS RECEIVED SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT

OF STUDENTS RECEIVED SOME FORM OF FINANCIAL AID

10 TOP 10 MAJORS

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ECONOMICS PSYCHOLOGY GOVERNMENT ENGLISH INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & GLOBAL STUDIES HISTORY SOCIOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY PLAN II PHILOSOPHY

25 BUILDINGS WITH 219 ACADEMIC CLASSROOMS 7

NEW ENDOWMENTS THIS YEAR Endowments support the College in perpetuity. Funds are invested, and the generated income supports scholarships or programs, or other purposes directed by the donor. Here are the endowments established in 2014-15:

mildred hajek vacek and john roman vacek

chair in czech and slavic languages, in honor of professor eduard micek lucy shoe meritt professorship in classics

S C H OL AR S HIP S

GRA D UATE FELLOWSHIPS

the lisa and neil goldberg endowed

david l. huff memorial graduate fellowship

presidential scholarship in liberal arts honors francisco j. garza scholarship in latin american studies gregory l. hemphill, m.d. and brenda b. hemphill endowed scholarship in plan ii andrew and leslie levy endowed scholarship in economics dina and joel sherzer latin american studies scholarship william christian smith, jr. scholarship wise wanderer endowed scholarship

PROGRA M SUPPORT todd and dawn aaron excellence endowment black studies seed endowment dr. toyin falola excellence endowment foundation for biblical studies excellence fund geisler excellence fund in psychology for perceptual systems alma gordon endowment fund liberal arts honors program endowed

FAC U LT Y S UP P ORT

excellence fund stagg excellence endowment for the

sue goldston lebermann endowed

warfield center for african and african

professorship in liberal arts

american studies

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ENDOWMENTS BY TYPE

258

STUDENT

PROGRAM SUPPORT

FACULTY

145 180

DEAN’S CIRCLE DONORS The Liberal Arts Dean’s Circle is a group of donors empowering us to seize opportunities as we strive toward our goal of excellence in Liberal Arts. Below are this year’s Gold and Silver Level Members. To see all our Dean’s Circle members, please visit giving.utexas.edu/dc-members

G OLD LE V E L D ON O R S mr. and mrs. todd s. aaron

mr. and mrs. alonso ancira

mr. john douglas arnold and the laura and

dr. and mrs. toyin falola mr. f. john garza

dr. and mrs. wilson s. geisler iii austin m. gleeson, ph.d.

rebecca graham boldt, in memory dr. and mrs. richard l. harper

dr. gregory l. and mrs. brenda hemphill mrs. suzanne p. huff

mr. robert icenhauer-ramirez and ms. jennifer b. poppe

mr. and mrs. christopher g. jordan and the

john arnold foundation

jordan family foundation

mr. and mrs. g. robert beckham

ly foundation

drs. lubna and wael asi

mr. and mrs. robert r. beecherl mr. and mrs. gil j. besing

mr. and mrs. jack s. blanton, jr. dr. and mrs. larry d. carver

mr. and mrs. stephen s. coats

mr. thomas cogburn and the cogburn family

mr. and mrs. charles r. kaye and the kaye famimrs. patricia hetter kelso

ms. virginia lebermann and the lebermann foundation

dr. and mrs. sanford v. levinson

dr. marc s. lewis and ms. elizabeth crook mr. w. austin ligon

foundation

mr. jeffrey b. mason

mr. and mrs. brady e. crosswell

mr. and mrs. james j. mulva

mr. robert k. conklin

mr. franklin w. denius

mr. and mrs. martin w. dies iii

dr. nora c. england

mr. j. mark metts

mr. david m. newberger

dr. and mrs. james w. pennebaker

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the honorable philip a. rhodes, jr.

mr. and mrs. richard t. mcmillan

family trust

mr. and mrs. john d. menke

ms. stacy h. schusterman and the stacy drs. dina m. and joel f. sherzer mr. and mrs. carl j. tricoli

mr. and mrs. patrick p. walker the gil and dody weaver foundation mr. and mrs. craig l. weiss ms. marilyn a. white

john and marilyn white

ms. g. jeanette mcwilliams mrs. althea e. osborn

raymund a. paredes, ph.d.

mr. and mrs. robert l. patton, jr. mr. and mrs. george e. ramsey iii

mr. and mrs. william a. reynolds mr. samuel d. rhea

ms. regina j. rogers mrs. helen c. spear

S I LVER LEV E L D O N O R S

dr. and mrs. walter d. wetzels

ms. joan m. barrett

mr. and mrs. david k. boone charles butt

judith m. craig, ph.d.

mr. john l. crawley and ms. michele stephens mr. marshall p. gorges

mr. and mrs. c. daniel gustafson mr. and mrs. james n. higdon mr. kyle and kim hughes

mr. and mrs. rodney c. koenig joan d. lewis, ph.d.

mr. and mrs. david malin john and virginia mcintyre

This year, we are pleased to add a new level to the Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Circle: Quarter Century donors. These are donors who have given for 25 cumulative years to any area within the College of Liberal Arts. We are so appreciative of their longstanding commitment to the College, our programs and faculty, and our students.

mr. randall l. calloway

QUA RTE R C ENTURY D O N O R S

mrs. claire h. crumbley

john s. alexander, m.d.

the honorable ralph w. dau

mr. and mrs. robert e. altman

mr. and mrs. gordon appleman

mr. and mrs. robert e. arrington

dr. anne a. baade and professor hans w. baade mr. and mrs. mark bayliss

mr. and mrs. g. robert and peggy beckham mr. and mrs. jack s. blanton, jr. emily d. blazer, ph.d. janet k. boles, ph.d.

ms. roxanne jenkins boyd william r. braisted

mr. gustave h. breymann ms. helen m. burge

dr. mary m. buzan and dr. richard h. hart lieutenant colonel nelda r. cade dr. jonizo c. cain-calloway mrs. elinor h. caldwell

ms. bronwyn j. campbell

mr. and mrs. paul d. carrington mr. jimmy l. chapman

mrs. jo anne m. christian mrs. judy d. coker

mr. and mrs. john a. cole ms. mary r. crouter

mrs. constance w. dahlberg ms. marion w. deford

ms. linda shead and dr. tommy c. douglas mr. and mrs. david g. drumm mrs. mary m. dyess

professor james david earnest mr. robert b. egan

mr. and mrs. stephen t. elder

mr. and mrs. james f. engelking dr. and mrs. edmund l. erde

mr. and mrs. alfred b. evans, jr. mrs. betty h. evans

mr. and mrs. alfred b. evans, jr. dr. and mrs. sam b. fason mr. john d. fischer

betty sue flowers, ph.d. ms. eugenia d. fritz

mrs. rebecca s. gale

LIBERAL ARTS IMPACT REPORT | 14-15 mr. and mrs. raul d. garcia

ms. carolyn montgomery

mr. and mrs. john w. gist, jr.

mr. and mrs. dan l. nicewander

dr. and mrs. robert w. gilmer iii ms. carolyn s. glidewell

dr. and mrs. alfred s. goodman william s. gordon, ph.d. allen greenstein, ph.d.

margaret o. griffiths, ph.d.

mr. and mrs. richard r. hannigan richard h. hart, ph.d.

mr. and mrs. christopher l. hartwell

dr. gregory l. and mrs. brenda hemphill mrs. margaret g. henry dr. frederick g. hensey

mr. and mrs. charles e. hepner mr. and mrs. donald l. hersh forest g. hill, ph.d.

mrs. barbara snyder nelson hinds and mr. benjamin l. hinds

mr. william l. hoffman mrs. sandra s. hoover mr. julian v. horwitz

admiral and mrs. b. r. inman

drs. elva a. and royce k. keilers dr. and mrs. donald g. kewman mr. albert h. kiber, jr.

mr. and mrs. barron u. kidd

drs. robert d. and karen r. king ms. sally s. kleberg

dr. and mrs. michael f. koehl dr. and mrs. rodger koppa

mr. and mrs. frank s. kuhn

mr. and mrs. james m. lapeyre, jr. mr. reynaldo a. maldonado mrs. sandra s. mann

mr. and mrs. william h. marmion mr. and mrs. thomas marvin

mr. and mrs. patrick o. mayberry mr. james w. mcbride

mr. and mrs. william l. mccalister, jr. mrs. catherine w. mckie mr. john b. mclane, jr.

dr. and mrs. s. dale mclemore mr. and mrs. robert j. meade

ms. margaret howard melton bruce a. meyer, m.d.

mr. vernon h. meyer

mr. and mrs. robert e. mims

mr. and mrs. rex w. mixon, jr.

ms. barbara m. myers

mrs. lala a. niemeyer

mr. and mrs. robert h. paslay mr. and mrs. joe p. pater

lieutenant colonel anne t. peck

ms. marion c. peters and mr. jonathan mersel mr. and mrs. elton r. prewitt mrs. doris f. pryzant mr. james e. radford

mr. and mrs. james s. ramsey, jr. ms. audre n. rapoport

the honorable philip a. rhodes, jr. mrs. carol s. richey

mrs. joyce c. robinson

mr. steven j. rosenbaum

the honorable james m. rush john j. ruszkiewicz, ph.d.

commander and mrs. john r. l. scarborough christopher b. schulze, m.d. mrs. jane s. shanks

mr. and mrs. kevin l. shaw

drs. dina m. and joel f. sherzer audrey n. slate, ph.d.

the honorable bea ann smith

mr. and mrs. david p. smith, sr. dr. and mrs. david w. snyder mrs. sandra e. snyder

mr. peter n. stankosky

mr. and mrs. ernest n. stromberger mr. bruce c. taylor

mr. and mrs. larry e. temple

dr. and mrs. peter k. thompson ms. carol a. valcik

mr. and mrs. john waddell

mr. and mrs. leonard m. wagman mr. w. david walter

mr. and mrs. dewitt waltmon, sr. mr. david weiser

mr. and mrs. henry wetzel

dr. and mrs. j. s. wilkenfeld dr. wright williams mr. james f. wood

dr. and mrs. paul b. woodruff mrs. e. custis wright mrs. pamela f. young

mrs. pauline g. zoeller

SOCIOLOGY

Mary Rose Ph.D.

How would you describe the research you’re doing? I work in the Department of Sociology, but my training is in social psychology. I study what people perceive to be fair, especially in terms of legal outcomes. How do we decide why something is the right decision and that it is fair? Specifically, I study legal decision making by laypeople, researching several aspects of the American jury. One side is civil juries and how they decide what a fair amount of money is for an accident compensation, or another civil action. I study the decision-making process these juries use to award or not award money, all of the pieces that go into determining who caused harm. It is pretty unique and significant that the U.S. uses laypeople to make these decisions instead of judges. A second big area my research covers is who participates on juries, in terms of representativeness and what effective jury service is. How does it make jurors feel about society? What does it do to our sense of being a citizen and a civic participant? I also study many

different aspects of actually being on a jury—who talks the most, group dynamics, who has power or is influential, and how talk is distributed. Anything you can think of in group decision making, I’m interested in it.

What impact do you hope your research will have? It’s easy for me, because I can see my impact being cited in court opinions, which I have been fortunate enough to have happen a few times. I’ve seen where my research is helping judges come to their own conclusions about something. That’s not true for everyone during his or her research, being relevant to the legal system. But my bigger impact, I hope, is to teach people how important jury decision-making is. Most people don’t know that we are losing the jury system rapidly. On the criminal side, we have moved so much toward plea bargains, and on the civil side, every time someone clicks on one of those contracts to buy something on Apple or whatever, they are often agreeing to waive their

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right to sue in court, agreeing to go through arbitration. Our society allowed that to happen, but it comes with real consequences, diminishing the power of the jury as well as our ability to expect having our disputes solved by average everyday people like you and me. The jury system will probably never go away, because it’s the 7th Amendment, but in the last couple of decades, people have started to doubt the wisdom of that body. There has been advertising and lobbying to say that juries are terrible and they make terrible decisions, but the evidence does not suggest that. Juries are something that the U.S. is unique in doing, and they actually work really well most of the time. When it doesn’t work well, I also want to have an impact in helping reform that. And anything I can do to teach people about the perception of fairness and the assumptions that go into the perception of fairness is a good thing to do.

I study, like perceptions of fairness, group dynamics, and group decision making are at work. It’s a two way street: my research and my teaching both help remind me of important core concepts.

What does it mean to you to receive such a prestigious award such as the Alcade Texas 10 Award for Teaching? I will take any teaching award obviously, but that one felt very special. As a faculty member, it’s your dream to have former students still thinking about what you taught them. I know some folks are just there to get through the semester and may or may not take away anything you said. But the fact that I even entered someone’s mind when the call went out for nominations is incredibly meaningful to me. I hope that it’s not just a semester’s worth of interaction I have with a student, but something they continue to mull on and think about, and I am obviously incredibly complemented by the award.

How does your research inform or influence your teaching? A lot. I teach on things I love, and research on things I love. I am just fascinated by the legal system and social psychology, which go hand in hand. I teach a course on psychology and law where I teach topics that are relevant to my research. But I also teach on social psychology, and that’s an area in which the broader issues

“As a faculty member, it’s your dream to have former students still thinking about what you taught them.” M ARY RO S E

STUDY ABROAD “There are people who believe wholeheartedly in the University, and also in the potential for its students to make a difference in this country and this world.” A L BERTO GARCI A

Alberto Garcia

The highlight of my sophomore year was participating in the Frank Denius Normandy Scholar Program on World War II. I have loved studying military history since I was young enough to be playing with toy soldiers. The Normandy Scholar Program was simultaneously the most challenging and most rewarding academic experience I have ever undertaken. One of the most complicated political and social events in history could not have been handled in a more respectful yet inquisitive manner. Difficult topics were analyzed from multiple viewpoints. Books and historical documents became sources for the formation of insightful opinions and discovery. The European travel portion of the program added a sense of reality to the pictures and words we had spent so many late nights analyzing. Supportive professors combined with discussions as meaningful as the friendships formed between scholars makes the program a valuable feature of the University. The core intellectual and emotional values that it exemplifies—hard work, student participation, cohesion and diversity of knowledge and experience—are pillars of the University as a whole.

The time that I spent in the Normandy Scholar Program perfectly encapsulated my entire experience at the University of Texas in that it solidified how grateful I am to have such a helpful support system. It is one thing to have the support of friends and family, but to have the support from those whom I have never met is inspirational. The assistance I was granted reminds me that there are people who believe wholeheartedly in the University, and also in the potential for its students to make a difference in this country and this world. The spectacular enthusiasm of the University’s private donors represents the best qualities a learning institution can offer, including faith in the fraternity that can exist amongst human beings. The Longhorn family welcomed me with open arms. They reminded me that I am first and foremost a person with dreams that, with a high quality education and a strong support base, could be made into reality. That faith has been motivation enough to work as hard as I possibly can to prove their commitment justified.

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HISTORY

Daniel Rusnak

It’s big. It’s cold. It’s dangerous. It’s populated by bears and criminals. For many, Siberia conjures images of a desolate wasteland. In my upcoming thesis titled “Tales of the Siberian Orient: Western Trans-Siberian Travel Writing 18991917” I explore the ways in which British and American travelers sought to favorably position and define themselves against the Siberian “other.” My thesis applies the theoretical framework of Edward Said’s “Orientalism” to the Siberian case using published and unpublished travelogues, letters, diaries, and notes. My thesis was supported by the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Liberal Arts Honors Scholarship Fund, which sponsored my archival research in London last December. This was instrumental in cultivating the breadth and credibility of my thesis. This research was largely inspired by my own experience as a “Western” traveler to eastern Siberia during a month-long Fulbright GPA program. As a result of this travel, I was able to develop my own teaching curricu-

lum on the development and colonization of Siberia. This experience even helped me pay for school as an undergraduate grader for the course “Northern Lands and Cultures.” Private and departmental scholarships have also facilitated my acquisition of the Russian language. Last Spring, I completed six months of funded work and language study in Moscow, where I taught English and worked as a consultant for the first Western-style writing center in Russia. Working in Moscow was gratifying, and I became more confident and comfortable speaking Russian while helping Russian students with their English. Next summer, I look forward to returning again to Russia for ten weeks of intensive language study thanks to the Moscow-Texas Connections program.

“I am grateful to have been supported by so many generous donors and mentors.” DANI E L RUS N AK

Without financial assistance, I would not have been able to enjoy such a full and rewarding undergraduate experience. I am grateful to have been supported by so many generous donors and mentors.

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ENGLISH

Phillip Barrish Ph.D.

How would you describe the research you’re doing? My current research focuses on the intersections between medicine and literature. More specifically, I’ve become interested in what I’m calling the “Health Policy Humanities.” Much previous work by literature scholars in the medical humanities has focused on representations of doctors, patients and the illness experience, as well as on narrative medicine, which has to do with the stories patients tell doctors and the stories doctors tell patients. By contrast, I am exploring how literature and narrative relate to what could be called the political economy of healthcare, that is, for example, the kinds of issues we are grappling with now around Obamacare and the healthcare crisis in our country. How has literature reflected, directly or indirectly, on questions such as who pays for healthcare, who has access to what kinds of healthcare, what is the role of government in providing healthcare? What role do stories, language, and metaphor play in the dynamics of how institutions, individuals, practices, and professional modes messily intersect to produce a healthcare system?

How does your research inform your teaching? My research influences my teaching both directly and indirectly. In the direct sense, it introduces me to new texts, materials, methodologies and, most important, questions and problems that I can then bring into the classroom. Many young adults in my classes who care about health care policy in part for how it impacts them turn out to be quite intrigued by the framework that literature provides for considering the topic. I also feel that I am now in a better position to connect with the mix of students one finds at UT, including pre-meds and nursing students. Once I am further along in my research I hope to design literature classes that will be of special interest to those students, some of whom might not otherwise seek out a course in the English department. Less directly, I honestly believe that the intellectual energy, stimulation and even excitement triggered in me by contributing original research to an ongoing scholarly discussion, no matter the specific topic, transfers into the classroom, making me (I hope) a more intellectually stimulating teacher for my students.

What impact do you hope your research will have? I hope that my research will help shift other scholars interested in literature and medicine into thinking more directly about questions of health-care access and the economics of health care. Some, of course, are already doing so. More broadly, of course, I would love it if my research were able to have an impact on broader public debate around these issues, but of course that’s always very hard to predict for scholarly work.

“The intellectual energy, stimulation and even excitement triggered in me by contributing original research to an ongoing scholarly discussion transfers into the classroom.” P H I LLI P B ARRI S H

GOVERNMENT Like most good ideas in life, we first came up with the Graduate Conference in Public Law over lunch. In our first year at UT, my co-organizer Connor Ewing and I began organizing a monthly research group, which met around lunchtime to discuss members’ projects and ideas. Right from the start, the series was a big success; within the first few sessions, we had presenters from the School of Law, and the Departments of Sociology, Public Policy, and Government, with a mix of graduate student and faculty participants.

“A key part of our success was our ability to offer financial assistance to graduate student participants.” R OBE RT S H AFFER

Encouraged by our initial successes, we soon began thinking about expanding the event. From the beginning, our main idea for the lunches was to facilitate casual, low-pressure interactions between faculty and graduate students, and to give students an opportunity to get feedback from senior scholars at early stages of their projects. The Graduate Conference in Public Law was a natural extension of that effort. We floated the idea to our faculty advisers in

Robert Shaffer

December 2013 and started to raise a budget in January. The response we received was overwhelming. By the end of the Spring 2014 semester, we raised approximately $18,000, mostly from endowed chairs and centers around campus. That figure, which was about double what we had hoped, allowed us to support a full three-day conference, complete with over 30 participants from over 15 top universities around the country. A key part of our success—and a feature that set us apart from other, similar events—was our ability to offer financial assistance to graduate student participants. Besides catering and other services during the event, we were able to provide out-of-town graduate presenters with a stipend which allowed us to attract some of the best up-and-coming scholars in the country, and helped showcase UT graduate programs and foster inter-university collaborations and connections.

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PHILOSOPHY “Ex Nihilo”—Latin for out of nothing— is the Philosophy Department’s annual undergraduate journal. Run by and for undergraduate students alone, it displays the magnitude of students’ creative powers when organized and concentrated. In 2015, we published novel articles on a wide range of topics, from ancient Roman thoughts on suicide to the existential import of video games. The staff of the journal read papers supplied by their undergraduate peers and offer thorough comments and suggestions on how to improve them. Those suggestions are returned to the authors who edit their essays accordingly. This process is repeated endlessly throughout the school year, which means everyone involved is balancing it alongside his or her classes. For the editorial staff, “Ex Nihilo” is a valuable foray into the perspective of a critical reader. For the student authors, it is valuable practice in

Chase Hamilton

extended academic correspondence. It has the ability to make any undergraduates who read it realize how much they can do outside of class. This year I’ve seen our editors discover a greater sense of awareness about their own writing and authors uncover ideas that turned into undergraduate theses. I’ve had underclassmen approach me about getting involved in extracurricular academic activities and professors thank me for revitalizing some of their students. In short, the journal is both empowering and inspiring.

“This journal wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the College, its alumni, and its donors.” CH AS E H AMI LTON

Running the journal this year has given me insight into the degree to which we benefit from the resources of the University. From the invaluable guidance offered by the faculty in their free time, to the costs of publishing and printing, this journal wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the College, its alumni, and its donors.

HISTORY

Leonard Moore Ph.D.

How would you describe the research you’re doing? Right now, I would say the research I’m doing is much more on the practical end, really trying to identify the best practices. I am aiming to put together a statewide infrastructure to help African-American males succeed academically. How can we reduce the incarceration rate and in turn increase the number of African-American males who go to college in Texas? That is what I am spending a good deal of my time on now, and I think that my work has public policy ramifications.

What impact do you hope your research will have? I think it has already had a lot of impact. There are so many efforts going on across the state—primarily

Houston, Dallas, Austin—but there has never been any collaboration. So in every city, even in certain pockets of cities, everybody is doing their own thing. What we have been able to do is bring like-minded people around the table. This is so important, because if a foundation has grant money to award for black male initiatives, our grant proposal will be much more effective if it can show that it’s going to impact black males across the state, in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. On a second level, that means groups are not competing for those same funds. In many ways, we’re really trying to build capacity around these issues, and I think once we do that we’ll be able to really make some inroads on this issue.

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How does your research inform your teaching? I teach 1,200 undergrads in the fall. I tell people that those 1,200 students become my mentors. I understand what the marketplace is about. I understand, I think, the millennial generation. And I understand that, in this day and age, Google owns pretty much all the content so my primary responsibility as a professor is to engage and motivate, and my research is such an important part of that.

How does private support help your research? Private support is so important because you can move the needle a little bit further when you don’t have as much of what we call “burnt

orange tape.” I understand the need for regulations, but there is nothing better than getting an unrestricted gift. I think it really shows on the part of the donors that they trust us to manage those resources wisely.

What does it mean to you to be recognized by former students as a recipient of this year’s Texas Exes “Texas 10” Award?

“For alums to remember you, I think that really shows the lifelong impact that professors can have on students.” LE ON ARD MOO RE

I got the Texas 10 award and also the Jean Holloway Award for Excellence in Teaching, which is nominated and selected by current students. Let me tell you, it’s one thing to be recognized by peers, but there is nothing better than being recognized by current or former students. For alums to remember you, I think that really shows the lifelong impact that professors can have on students.

PSYCHOLOGY â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thanks to the research opportunities I have had at UT, I now have the chance to present the findings of my honors study.â&#x20AC;? E MILY KEM P

My undergraduate academic career has provided me more in the way of knowledge, wisdom and experience than I ever could have imagined. In particular, I have had the enriching opportunity to work in four different psychology research labs here at UT Austin, in addition to an internship in a Harvard University social psychology lab. My research experiences have ranged from clinical psychology, social psychology and personality and cognitive behavioral psychology, allowing me to narrow my own specific research focuses. During this academic year, I have worked to complete and present on my honors thesis study thanks to the help of the Clinical Neuroendocrinology Lab, the advisement of Dr. Robert Josephs, and funding provided by the University Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Liberal Arts Honors Scholarship Fund, and the Dr. Bailey R. Collins/Ellene Collins Ward/Mary Sue

Emily Kemp

Collins Hibbs Scholarship Fund. My honors study included drug administration, hormone assays, and a highly involved protocol, none of which would have been possible without the help and support of external funding. My experience as both a research assistant and independent researcher at UT has helped prepare me and pave my path for my graduate school and career research interests. It has led me to pursue clinical psychology and research concerning the physiological, genetic and neurobiological mechanisms underlying risky and antisocial behavior. Thanks to the research opportunities I have had at UT, I now have the chance to present the findings of my honors study at the Stanford Undergraduate Psychology Conference and the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Conference this semester. I also plan to pursue the publication of my research in the very near future.

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ENGLISH

Sequoia Maner

As I head into the final stages of my graduate career at UT, I reflect upon my personal and professional growth as a poet, scholar and educator. I have blossomed into a well-rounded scholar and educator as a direct result of the unique opportunities for teaching, tutoring, research and writing within the English Department. For instance, the generous support of College of Liberal Arts allowed me to serve as the graduate co-assistant for the Texas Institute of Textual and Literary Studies (TILTS). The yearlong symposium brought authors like Junot Díaz and Julia Alvarez and films such as “12 Years a Slave” to campus while highlighting collections in the Harry Ransom Center and The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. I’m grateful to have facilitated important dialogues at UT about pressing issues like racial discrimination and social justice in the classroom and other spaces on campus. Funding has been essential to my success and is a key aspect that differentiates UT from other English graduate programs around the country. Within the past year alone, I have

been able to travel to two major conferences to present scholarly work and engage with leaders in my field. Conferences have not only provided a platform to introduce my work on African American performance and popular culture to other influential academics; they have translated into publishing opportunities for critical scholarship and poetry. For instance, my poem “Black Boy Contrapuntal,” which examines the tensions around race in regards to the death of Trayvon Martin, was featured as a finalist in the Feminist Wire’s poetry contest after a reading at the Furious Flower Poetry Conference.

“None of this work would be possible without generous donations and scholarships afforded to tenacious and dedicated graduate students like myself.” S EQ UO I A M ANE R

Next, I’m headed to the University of Kansas for a two-week National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) workshop entitled “Black Poetry after Black Arts” which will aid in the research and writing of my dissertation. None of this work would be possible without generous donations and scholarships afforded to tenacious and dedicated graduate students such as myself.

PLAN II “Balancing Plan II with sports writing leads to an enticing flare in my prose and a colorful experience in the College of Liberal Arts.” JA SON E P S TEIN

Jason Epstein Prospective students and peers often inquire about the most difficult part of attending UT. Academics? To an extent. Finding organizations to get involved in? Maybe a little more so. Of course, Plan II’s thought-provoking curriculum challenges my intellect and stretches my mind in unique ways, but its structure also encourages students to go beyond their studies. In searching for extracurricular activities to pursue, I must admit the challenge is real. There are over 1,000 student organizations on campus, so there is no deficit there. The tricky part remains deciding what to seek out, what to stick with and in what to invest one’s valuable time. As I double-major in Plan II and journalism, I naturally gravitated toward the plethora of publications on campus. With literary journals, magazines and satirical compilations as options, I chose the most traditional option: the newspaper. I started writing in the sports department for The Daily Texan last

semester about club sports and have since moved up to varsity softball. As a newspaper that prints five days a week, writing for The Daily Texan provides an invaluable experience in a professional environment. With everything from interviews to deadlines and biweekly meetings, it includes a sense of accountability in the newsroom. As a freshman in Plan II, I wrote literary analyses, research papers, philosophical responses, pitches and proposals. In covering sports, I wrote recaps, previews and features. Writing for both Plan II and the newspaper exposes me to different styles and types of writing, expanding my personal repertoire. Thus, balancing Plan II with sportswriting leads to an enticing flare in my prose and a colorful experience in the College of Liberal Arts.

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BRITISH STUDIES The British Studies Program celebrates its 40th anniversary in the fall of 2015. This milestone provides an opportunity to reflect on a unique part of the College of Liberal Arts that has enriched generations of students and scholars. Founded when Gerald Ford was president, this distinguished program has involved hundreds of faculty, students and alumni over the decades. Under the direction of Roger Louis, professor of history and holder of the Kerr Chair in English History and Culture, British studies has shaped the education of students, enriched the research of faculty, created bonds with alumni and strengthened relationships with friends of UT. Many faculty and students see the British studies experience as a highlight of their years on the Forty Acres. The most visible component of British studies is the weekly seminar series, which brings together faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, alumni and community members. Every week an established or emerg-

David Leal Ph.D.

ing scholar speaks on a topic that touches on Britain and its Empire in the broadest sense. These rich and fascinating talks address many humanistic, social scientific, artistic and natural science subjects. What other event on campus brings together individuals from so many departments, centers and colleges? Science and the humanities find common ground, and the undergraduate sits next to a Nobel Prize winner. With approximately thirteen talks per semester over eighty semesters, this totals over one thousand meetings across its history.

“This milestone provides an opportunity to reflect upon a unique part of the College of Liberal Arts that has enriched generations of students and scholars.” DAVI D LEAL

Selected lectures are published in the program’s “Adventures with Britannia” book series. Edited by Dr. Louis, these readable and multidisciplinary books have achieved a global audience. The ninth volume in the series, Resplendent Adventures with Britannia, will be published in November. May the sun never set on British Studies at UT!

LAH / GOVERNMENT In May of 2014, I was elected to organize one of the biggest student-run cultural events at the University of Texas. My peers in the Hindu Students Association selected me to cochair Holi 2015, a festival that brings together thousands of students and members of the UT and Austin community in celebration of the spring season and the good times ahead. As a Liberal Arts Honors student, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always understood the importance of educating myself on the diverse cultures represented at UT as well as the significance of expanding and spreading knowledge of different worldly cultures to my fellow students. This year, I had the incredible opportunity to do just that by putting my time and efforts into planning and organizing the Holi festival which not only reaches a vast and diverse audience, but also gives students the chance

Aparna Datta

to learn and enhance their cultural experiences right here at UT. On March 29th, 2015, after months of coordination and preparation, Holi 2015 attracted over 8,000 members of the UT and greater Austin community. I am thankful for and humbled by the success that Holi 2015 saw that day, and I am even happier with the fact that we as an organization were able to impact and educate so many people. The experience of planning Holi this year has been made even better by having the support of the Longhorn family and the Austin community. Through this process, I was able to learn so much, and I am incredibly thankful for the experience I gained in promoting cultural diversity on our campus.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The experience of planning Holi this year has been made even better by having the support of our UT alumni, our fellow students, and the Austin community.â&#x20AC;? APARN A DAT TA

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ECONOMICS

Stephen Trejo Ph.D.

How would you describe the research you’re doing?

How does your research inform your teaching?

I am looking at the labor market integration of U.S. immigrants and their U.S. born descendants. In particular, how are the children and grandchildren of immigrants doing? Are they catching up with everybody else in terms of education, earnings and similar metrics?

The theoretical concepts we teach are brought to life and made more interesting when we can illustrate them with important research—how various immigrant groups are doing and why different groups seem to be advancing faster than others. I also think that it helps in keeping me in touch with what’s going on in my field of labor economics, which I think makes me a better teacher.

What impact do you hope your research will have? I hope we gain better insights as to how immigrants, and especially their children, are doing in the US. Which groups might need help? Which groups don’t need as much as help? What actions we can take to help speed up the immigration process?

“The theoretical concepts we teach are brought to life and made more interesting when we can illustrate them with important research.” S TEP H E N TRE J O

How does private support help your research? Private support is important for getting access to the data I need. Much of the data is in restricted-use data centers, like the Texas Research Center at Texas A&M, so being able to have the support to go and use that data is very important for the research I do.

In my graduate anthropology research, I study human DNA to clarify the demographic impact of Spanish colonialism in Mexico. More specifically, I analyze ancient DNA from pre-Hispanic inhabitants as well as DNA from present-day residents of Xaltocan, a small native community close to Mexico City. Human DNA is an excellent tool to elucidate the demographic effects of past imperial expansions. By comparing patterns of genetic diversity in pre-Hispanic and present-day Xaltocan, I can assess what genetic changes occurred during the Spanish colonial period and which demographic scenarios may have produced them. By analyzing mitochondrial DNA in these individuals, I have found that all of the present-day residents belong to mitochondrial lineages that were present in the Americas, but absent in Europe in pre-Hispanic times. Because mitochondrial DNA is exclusively inherited maternally, these results suggest that Spanish women have made little genetic contribution

to the gene pool of Xaltocan during the colonial period. I have also observed substantial differences between the mitochondrial composition of pre-Hispanic and present-day Xaltocan. These differences indicate that the genetic composition of Xaltocan changed significantly during the colonial period, perhaps due to migration from other native populations. In March 2015, I presented these results as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, which was held at St. Louis, Missouri. In this meeting, my poster was awarded the Outstanding Student Poster in Anthropological Genetics Award by the American Association of Anthropological Genetics. To carry out this project, I have received funding from a series of public and private institutions. My graduate research would not be possible without their support. Thanks to all of the donors, we can keep UT Austin as a top research university.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Jaime Mata-Míguez

“Thanks to all of the donors, we can keep UT Austin as a top research university.” JAI ME M ATA-MÍ G UE Z

UEZ

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