Monthly Archives: September 2015

FLAS Undergraduate Fellowships for European Languages

Undergraduate FLAS Fellowships

Academic-Year FLAS: 2016-2017

What is the undergraduate Academic Year FLAS?
The European Studies undergraduate FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) is a Fellowship awarded to undergraduate students who are pursuing 1) coursework with a European focus and 2) an approved modern foreign language at UT at the intermediate or advanced level. The Fellowship is interdisciplinary and open to students from all departments and schools at UT. Students do not need to be European Studies majors to apply.

What does the Fellowship provide?
The FLAS AY Undergraduate Fellowship provides a nine-month stipend of $5,000 (paid monthly September-May) plustuition and required course-related fees up to $10,000 per academic year. Tuition and fees are covered up to 15 hours per semester. Students who are taking more that 15 hours should contact the Center to discuss whether the additional hours can be covered by the Fellowship.

What languages qualify as “approved” foreign languages?
Czech, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese*, Serbian/Croatian, Swedish, Turkish, and Yiddish. (English, French, German, and Spanish are not approved languages for this undergraduate fellowship.)

We also strongly encourage students studying non-European languages – such as Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Russian – to apply for FLAS fellowships when a contemporary application of those language skills will significantly enhance their work as distinctly European Studies scholars. For example, a student studying Russian must have a clearly defined reason why the study of Russian would help him/her in research/study about a country in Western or Central Europe such as Russian immigration to Germany.

Students may NOT be native speakers of the language nor possess fluency equivalent to educated native speakers in the language for which the award is sought.

*Please note that this Fellowship is not available for students studying Brazilian Portuguese.

More details here: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/european_studies/Funding-Opportunities/Undergrad%20Funding%20Opportunities/Undergraduate-FLAS-Fellowships.php

hoME — It’s ME that changed

hoME — It’s ME that changed

A CARE workshop on coming back after studying abroad

You prepared yourself for culture shock before you left. Sometimes, coming home can be just as difficult.

We’ll discuss:

– What’s been hard about coming home?

– Stages of Reverse Culture Shock

– Strategies for reintegrating to home

Thurs 9/24, 4-5p @ BMC 2.508 – RSVP @ http://whoozin.com/VNQ-ENM-WMKR

Mon 10/26, 4-5p @ BMC 4.204 – RSVP @ http://whoozin.com/DV6-GDY-FNCC

Questions?  Contact Abby Simpson, LCSW at 512-471-7642

Students of Color and Queer Students Support Groups

CMHC is now partnering with the GSC and the Center for Asian American Studies to offer some non-clinical support/discussion groups for students on campus.  Students do not need to be CMHC clients to participate, and the groups are run on a drop-in basis.  Summary of groups below and flyers attached:

 Women of Color Discussion Group—Mondays @ noon in the Gender and Sexuality Center (SAC 2.112)

Asian American Voices—Wednesdays @ noon in Burdine 560

Queer Voices—Thursdays @ 3 p.m. in the Gender and Sexuality Center (SAC 2.112)

Flyers with more details posted in the LAH Office.

Free Speech Dialogues

Greetings,

I want to let you know about a continuing series on the UT campus –Free Speech Dialogues – and its next event: a panel discussion on Freedom of Academic Speech.

Please help get the word out by advertising this event to your contacts and to interested students.

è Note: There is a related Essay Contest. First prize is $1500; second prize is $1000; third prize is $700. For more information: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/bbtobjectivism/essay-contest/free-speech.php

What:    A panel discussion

When:   Tuesday September 29th, 2015 –5:30-7:30 p.m.

Where: College of Liberal Arts Building (CLA) Room 1.302B
(located on the East Mall near San Jacinto Street)

Cost:      Free and open to the public

Dialogue Panelists: 

  • Robert O’Neil – Former President, University of Virginia
  • Steve Sanders – Professor, Indiana University, College of Law
  • Amy Gajda – Professor, Tulane University Law School

 

Format:

The format is audience-friendly:  brief presentations by the three guests, followed by about 40 minutes of interview-style dialogue, then a half hour of questions from the floor.

Panel Moderator: David Rabban – Professor, UT Law

Subject:

Panelists will consider such topics as: 

  • Speech Codes, Trigger Warnings
  • Civility – appropriate constraint? disguise for silencing?
  • Scholarly speech and private speech – is there a difference?
  • Controversial speakers on campus – who should be heard? And who shouldn’t be?
  • Do digital media change the rules?

Speaker bios and full information about the Free Speech Dialogues can be found at:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/bbtobjectivism/free-speech-dialogues/freedom-of-academic-speech.php

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Clair LaVaye at c.lavaye@utexas.edu.

Thanks very much for helping us get the word out.

Tara Smith

Professor, Philosophy

BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism

Free Speech… Let’s talk about it.

Apply for the Texas 4000

Texas 4000 has a competitive application process that began on August 28, 2015 for recruitment of the 2017 Texas 4000 Team and will close on September 25, 2015. We offer applicants the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to fight cancer and share hope, knowledge and charity with communities large and small while riding across North America.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

To be eligible for the ride, you must (1) be enrolled at University of Texas at Austin at the time of application submission, (2) be enrolled at University of Texas at Austin for a minimum of one semester during your ride year (2017 Team ex: fall of 2016 or entire 2016-2017 school year, and (3) reside in Austin, Texas during the fall and spring prior to your summer ride.

Although no endurance sports experience is required, applicants should be healthy and active and can expect to spend plenty of time in a rigorous training program leading up to the summer ride. All riders are required to log a minimum of 2,000 training miles before becoming eligible for the summer ride in addition to attending Saturday training rides.

As an organization, we are committed to funding cancer research initiatives and cancer support services, which requires fundraising. Each accepted applicant is expected to raise a minimum of $4,500 (a dollar per mile) prior to departure on the summer ride.

Additionally, Texas 4000 is committed to improving our community in Austin through volunteerism as well. All riders will be required to volunteer in the community as representatives of Texas 4000 during their training for the summer ride.

Finally, as a team member, accepted applicants will be expected to actively participate in the planning, preparation, and execution of the summer ride, beginning at the time of selection.

Application and info session details available here: http://www.texas4000.org/riders/apply-ride/

Feel free to contact LAH Student Patrick Golden: pgolden21@gmail.com  with any questions!

Indian Ocean Concert

Tuesday September 27

5-7:30pm

Hogg Memorial Auditorium, UT Austin Campus

Association for India’s Development – Austin Chapter (AID-Austin) and Pragathi are proud to co-host Indian Ocean live in concert at Austin.India’s biggest underground success, Indian Ocean is a pioneering band in the Indian fusion and rock scene. Their sound can be described as “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution.”Formed in the early 90s, Indian Ocean has spearheaded the Indian rock scene and is one of India’s few politically conscious bands. A cult band in its own right, the group has amalgamated Indian folk music with Western rock. Culling their lyrics from a variety of languages, including Hindi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Sanskrit and even Aramaic, their music ranges from rocking political anthems to meditative spiritual ballads.

Setting the precedent from their first self-titled album (which was the highest selling album by an Indian band at the the time), Indian Ocean has earned rave reviews from the critics and audiences alike. Their third album Kandisa, released in 2000, is considered one of the most important, best-loved albums of contemporary Indian music, while their latest album Tandanu featuring collaborations with metal, Bollywood, and Indian classical artists, has been hailed as “an album that awakens a new consciousness” by Rolling Stone India.

The band’s fame and following has not been limited to India’s shores – as their much-stamped passports attest, they are India’s leading global band. Since 2001, Indian Ocean has gracing stages across the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia and South East Asia. They’ve performed and collaborated with the celebrated violinist Pandit L. Subramaniam, legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger, virtuoso Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino and more.

For tickets, and more information about the concert visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indian-ocean-concert-austin-tickets-17924199764

The Joynes Literary Series kick off- Thursday, Sept. 17 7:00pm Free

The Joynes Literary Series at UT Austin kicks off next week with a talk by guest lecturer Amy Gentry, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17th. This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Gentry has been a regular book reviewer for the Chicago Tribune since 2013. Her essays and criticism have been published by Salon, the Texas Observer, The Rumpus, LA Review of Books, Gastronomica, and the Austin Chronicle. Her current projects include reporting on women’s issues for Texas Monthly, guest-curating the Awst Press fall chapbook series, and working on a novel about the idea of the “good victim.” She graduated from the UT Plan II Honors Program in 2001 and obtained her doctorate in English from the University of Chicago in 2011. The title of her Joynes lecture is “Trigger Warning: Violence and Sexual Agency in Contemporary Fiction.”

Other Joynes events this fall will include:

Sept. 18th: Poets Heather Christle and Chris Deweese
October 6th: Novelist Mat Johnson
October 22nd: Bob Dylan and the History of Rock n Roll, with writer Michael Gray
October 27th: Novelist Dinaw Mengestu
November 6th: Poets Suzanne Buffam and Srikanth Reddy

The Joynes Reading Room is located on the east side of the Carothers Building at 2501 Whitis Avenue on the University of Texas Campus. For more information, call 512-471-5787 or visit us on Facebook.

Volunteer with the Texas Book Festival

The Texas Book Festival is a yearly even open to the public that hosts a variety of different authors from all around the nation to come and speak. With this year being the twentieth anniversary of the Festival the event promises to be bigger than ever before. We have plenty of different opportunities so students should be able to find something they are comfortable and excited about getting involved with.

www.texasbookfestival.org

facebook.com/TexasBookFestival

twitter.com/texasbookfest

Health & Society – Fall Info Sessions and Application

FALL 2015 HEALTH & SOCIETY INFO SESSIONS

How does the concept of health vary across cultures? What accounts for the vast health disparities that exist in the world? How does the health care system in the U.S. differ from models in other developed countries? How has our understanding of health changed over the course of human history? These are some of the big questions students will tackle in Health and Society, an interdisciplinary major in Liberal Arts. Prospective students should attend one of the following info sessions to learn more about the major, degree requirements, and application process:

Wednesday, September 9, 3pm, PAR 1

Thursday, September 17, 4pm CAL 200

Monday, September 21, 10am, PAR 302

Tuesday, September 29, 4pm, CAL 200

FALL 2015 HEALTH & SOCIETY APPLICATION

The online application will be available here next week and due on Monday, October 5. Students need a minimum 2.5 UT GPA and B- or better in H S 301 Intro to Health and Society for admission to the major. Students currently enrolled in the intro course will be allowed to apply and may be admitted on a conditional basis. Despite what the website currently says, that includes students in their first semester at UT without an established UT GPA.