Monthly Archives: September 2020

Liberal Arts Council Application and Information

Liberal Arts Council is currently recruiting for our Fall 2020 New Member class! LAC is the official student representative body for the College of Liberal Arts, and we work to ensure each and every CoLA student is able to succeed and thrive academically while at UT. In essence, we are here for you!

In past years, we’ve put on focus groups to highlight the struggles of underrepresented student populations, hosted events to help students relax and recenter, and wrote legislation with the potential to help bring about big changes in the college, such as the creation of the International Relations and Global Studies (IRG) Major. We are also home to the Liberator, the official publication of the College of Liberal Arts! This semester, despite the virtual format, we plan to continue this work.

We are currently accepting applications for the Fall 2020 New Member Class which can be found here or on our website: www.utlac.org

You can also join our Recruitment Facebook Group at bit.ly/2BdC1tj or by searching Liberal Arts Council Fall 2020 recruitment.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @utlacouncil.

Scholarship Alert: Non-Traditional Student Scholarship

The Senate of College Councils Recruitment & Retention Committee is excited to offer the Non-Traditional Student Scholarship!

To qualify as a non-traditional student, students must be one or more of the following:

  • An external transfer student
  • A veteran
  • A student over the age of 25 pursuing their first bachelor’s degree
  • An international student
  • A first-generation student
  • A student who is a parent

We are awarding three $500 scholarships. Students must have attended UT Austin for at least two semesters and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Applications will be reviewed holistically with consideration of the applicants’ financial aid status, past experiences (including career and internships), and involvement on campus and in the community.  The application opens on September 21st, and the deadline to apply is October 4, 2020 at 11:00 PM. Finalists will be notified and then interviewed on October 22, 2020. The link to apply is here:  bit.ly/utnts2020

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to senaterecruitmentandretention@gmail.com

Apply to Liberal Arts Council!

The Liberal Arts Council serves as the official student voice and governing body for the College of Liberal Arts; every college at UT has a college council comprised of students that get to write policy, vote on legislation, and make real change in the college.

If that sounds like something you’re interested in, attend an info session or apply here! The application is due Monday September, 14th at midnight.

Check us out on IG and Twitter @utlaccouncil.

Battle of Flowers 96th Annual Oratorical Contest

Dear Texas History and Speech Enthusiasts:

Apply for the 96th Annual Oratorical Contest of the Battle Flowers® Association!

FIRST PRIZE $5000: WINNER’S ADVISOR’S DEPARTMENT $2500
2021 ENTRY FORM AND INFORMATION NOW AVAILABLE

Please click on the following link to view the electronic packet:
ORATORICAL CONTEST ENTRY FORM AND PACKET MATERIALS

The packet includes:

  • A Letter from our Chairman
  • Description of Topic
  • Entry Form
  • Contest Rules
  • Guidelines to a Succesful Speech

You may also view the Packet documents along with the winners of last year’s contest and the winning speech on our website at this link: https://www.battleofflowers.org/events/oratorical-contest/

Feel free to contact me at oratoricalcontest.bof@gmail.com with any questions.

Humanities Fall 2020 Student Engagement

Below is a list of upcoming Humanities Institute activities that COLA students might be interested in. For more details, updates, and RSVP information, please follow the links to the Humanities Institute web page.

Undergraduate Research Fellowship – Fall 2020

Students can now submit proposals for the fall 2020 Undergraduate Research Fellowships, which provide up to $1,000 to support expenses for independent research or creative activity in any major.

Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the academic colleges, URF awards cover costs for scholarly projects proposed by student applicants that are undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. Awards are made in the fall and spring through the Office of Undergraduate Research.

The fall 2020 URF deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28. Students conducting independent projects are invited to learn more about the award (including the application process, eligibility, and writing tips) and access the online application. More info about other sources for student research funding can be found on the OUR scholarships page.

Students can learn more about the application process at our online funding workshop Thursday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. on Zoom. Students can register for the workshop on the OUR web site.

Apply to the Normandy Scholar Program

The Normandy Scholar Program is open to all majors on campus and does not require a foreign language. It offers one-semester (Spring 2021) of intensive study of the causes, course, and impact of World War Two, followed by a nearly month-long faculty-led trip to the most important World War Two sites and museums in London, Normandy, Paris, Berlin, Cracow, and Warsaw.

Students who meet the program requirements and are looking for an extraordinary educational opportunity are invited to apply!

Information Session on the Normandy Scholar Program: Monday, September 14 at 5:00:
https://utexas.zoom.us/j/98103841110

Please go to the NSP web site: for information about the program.

NSP Application Deadline: Monday, October 5. The application is available at
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/history/normandy-scholars/application.php.

For further information, please contact the Director of the Normandy Scholar Program,
Dr. Charters Wynn at wynn@utexas.edu.

 

LAH Upper-Division Scholarship Opportunity

The deadline for Upper-division scholarship applications is September 25, 2020 at 5pm.

Please apply online through the College of Liberal Arts scholarship portal.

The full essay prompt is:

Laughter has a deep philosophical meaning, it is one of the essential forms of the truth concerning the world as a whole, concerning history and man; it is a peculiar point of view relative to the world; the world is seen anew, no less (and perhaps more) profoundly than when seen from the serious standpoint.  Therefore, laughter is just as admissible in great literature, posing serious problems, as seriousness.  Certain essential aspects of the world are accessible only to laughter. – Mikhail Bakhtin

There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity—like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule—that’s what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel—it’s vulgar. – Molly Ivins

When humor works, it works because it’s clarifying what people already feel.  It has to come from someplace real.  – Tina Fey

Now, I’m the kind of guy who, if somebody says, “There’s no way to make this funny,” I want to prove that wrong. I believe that with the right nuance, with the right touch, you can emphasize the funniness in anything. That’s just my comedy ideal. … – Jordan Peele

What makes something funny? What is the role or purpose of humor?  Are there certain topics or situations when humor is inappropriate? In considering these questions, you may explore humor from either a personal or a social perspective.

Questions? Email LAHScholarships@austin.utexas.edu

Apply for the LAH Diversity Action Committee

Interested in joining the Liberal Arts Honors Diversity Action Committee (LAHDAC)? Attached is the Director Application in which you are able to apply for a position on LAHDAC’s Board of Directors. We have attached LAHDAC’s constitution so you can find our organization’s purpose and the descriptions of each Director position. In addition, we are hosting informal info sessions on:

Thursday, September 10 from 7:00pm-8:00pm and 8:00pm-9:00pm

Monday, September 14 from 7:00pm-8:00pm and 8:00pm-9:00pm

The zoom links will be sent on the day of. You do not have to attend an info session to apply, but you are welcome to attend to learn more about the positions and ask questions. The application is due Friday, September 18 at 11:59 pm. 

Please feel free to email us at utlahdac@gmail.com if you have any questions. Also, feel free to encourage your LAH and Humanities friends to apply and/or sign up for our email list. On behalf of LAHDAC, we look forward to hearing from you.

Director Application: https://forms.gle/TaSMap8qsHRucb6j6