Photo: The University of Texas at Austin, UMCS

In 2003, The University of Michigan waved goodbye to formal office hours and waved hello to free lunch with a professor. They believed that office hours tended to be too official, intimidating and classroom-oriented. A mechanism was needed for students and professors to indulge in their shared interests, to network and to cultivate stronger relationships. The University of Michigan’s view, there are few better ways to foster those relationships than the relaxed atmosphere of sharing a meal.

Dr. DeAunderia Bowens, Student Events Center Advisor and University of Michigan alumna, joined The University of Texas at Austin in January 2012.  As the founder of Michigan’s Take Your Professor to Lunch program, she brought with her to UT not only the idea, but the passion to make it a reality for Texas students as well.

The Graduate School began talks with Dr. Bowens in the summer of 2012 in order to bring her vision to the Forty Acres. The response was immediate, and palpable levels of enthusiasm were met from all parties involved.  By the launch of the program on UT Austin’s campus in November 2012, eight campus and campus-area food vendors were on board with the initiative, for a total of 22 restaurants from which students and faculty could choose. The University’s Division of Housing and Food Service joined the ranks in 2013, bringing the total number of locations up to an exceptional number of 33.

The recent Climate Study conducted by the Graduate School showed that the graduate student/faculty adviser relationship is one of the most influential factors in determining a student’s overall success.

November 2012’s inaugural run of UT’s Take Your Professor to Lunch program was, to say the least, a resounding success—the online application was closed after 26 minutes due to overwhelming demand. Of the 74 participating students and faculty, 44 responded to a post-dining survey. 100% of the respondents would recommend this program to a fellow graduate student or faculty colleague, and 100% believe that this program does indeed foster more meaningful relationships between students and faculty than any given classroom setting.

The Graduate School is committed to continuing this program through the foreseeable future. We would love to invite you to take part in this exciting opportunity. For details on the upcoming application period(s), and for a full list of vendors and application requirements, please visit our Web site.

For more information about the Take you Professor to Lunch program, contact Christopher Villalobos at 512-232-3614 or cmvillalobos@austin.utexas.edu

by Christopher Villalobos, and edits Rachel Manning

Leader Josh Russell came up with the concept for this volunteer organization while working on his own thesis, Humidity Sensation. Russell is in many ways a nontraditional doctoral student in Cell & Molecular Biology (2008) with many paintings scattered across campus and an outlook that is obviously rooted in the artistic mind and the analytical mind with his research. His research more completely explores ideas behind sensory perception in relation to molecules associated with moisture detection in comparison to those senses like sight, touch, and taste. Russell persued this project because he, ‘feels that science should be shared and made relevant and understandable to the general public.’

Graduate students love talking about their theses. However, in their enthusiasm they sometimes can get caught up in presenting the technical details. By talking to middle school kids the graduate students learn to tone down the technical speak and emphasize the ideas which drive their projects.  - Josh Russell

What’s more, is that each and every one of the graduate students participating, are eager and hopeful about spreading scientific knowledge to the generations to come because they believe that science is important and will help to shape the future of our world. Each UT graduate student participating in the Present you Ph.D. Thesis to a 12 year-old, is motivated by a fervency for teaching and learning in social welfare. Additionally, UT’s Graduate School supports and promotes all outreach and community participation from its students while allowing ample room for growth.

As the Farmers’ Almanac proposes a very wet Autumn, it’s best to plan ahead for those study rituals and unwinding evening and afternoon activities.  I am here to help!  Some of you may have checked out the UT Summer Experiences You Can’t Miss post, but as the fall semester cements itself you might need a consolidated look at the UT arts scene and I’m here to help.  Here’s a quick (ish) breakdown of what to expect by location.

Harry Ransom Center:

• Currently on display and will return in FEBRUARY of 2013 : The First Photograph    Be one of the special few who can say they have seen the first photograph by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. This display is in its original frame and kept within extreme protective casing and lighting for the preservation of this historical piece.
• SEPTEMBER 11, 2012 – JANUARY 6, 2013 : I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs the Future    Come and explore over fifty projects from Norman Bel Geddes, a man who amongst other things helped shine a little light during the Depression.
• SEPTEMBER 18 – DECEMBER 9, 2012 : Basketball: Power in Play    A display of assorted photos of basketball from 1940s-1960s.
• FEBRUARY 12, 2013 – MAY 12, 2013 : Arnold Newman: Masterclass    Arnold Newman, a well known portrait photographer who has sit with such well-known names as Arthur Miller, Pablo Picasso and Harry Truman, will have some of his work displayed right here in your neighborhood.
• SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 – JANUARY 5, 2014 : Magnum Photos    Check out Magnum Photos, over two hundred photos.
• SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 – JANUARY 4, 2015 : Gone With The Wind; a 75th anniversary exhibition    Over 300 assorted items and memorabelia related to the film will be on display.

Poetry on the Plaza:

• October 3, Noon – Actors from the London Stage
• November 7, Noon – Politics and Presidents.

Blanton Museum of Art:

•  NOVEMBER 11 – DECEMBER 30, 2012 : Paul Villinski: Passage    Paul Villinski’s large scale sculpture display. If you like planes, you’ll probably like this exhibit.
• SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 – JANUARY 13, 2013 : The Rules of Basketball: Works by Paul Pfeiffer and James Naismith’s Original Rules of Basket Ball    
• SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 – JANUARY 13, 2013 : Into the Sacred City: Tibetan Buddhist Deities from the Theos Bernard Collection    For an incredible accumulation of artifacts and art from Tibetan Buddhist Communities come see Theos Bernard’s collection.
• NOVEMBER 17, 2012 – MAY 5, 2013: Restoration and Revelation: Conserving the Suida-Manning Collection    Art and science expose the Suida-Manning collection.

Texas Natural Science Museum

• If you’re into fossils or can’t let go of your Jurassic Park nostalgia, this museum is the place for you.  Check out this listing for all of the cool upcoming events.

Some Random Events of Note About Town

• Spike Lee at The Paramount
• Bass Concert Hall‘s many events
• Laughter can really help when you’re stressed out, check this out!
• Catch Casablanca the way it’s supposed to be seen in the palace theater of The Paramount.
• Notable writer Maya Angelou speaks at The Paramount.
• Theater is your thing?  Here are a few events to check out: 1) Mac Theatre  2) Zach Theatre  3) The City Theatre Company 
• Tap dance evening.
• Texas Book Festival
• Austin Comic Con
• Austin Film Festival
• Book People Calendar of speakers and signings

We’re only five days past the summer solstice (the official beginning of summer) and it’s already triple digits!  If you’re looking for a few different ways to beat the heat in-doors, I have come up with some things you may find fun and interesting.  If you’re in the mood for more outdoors activities, see the previous post from last summer, with numerous listings of fresh water parks and much more!

Entrance to the Harry Ransom Center

Blanton Museum of Art

• The Poetry Project:  poetic commentary on the works of art within the museum and elsewhere.  (ongoing)
• Story Time Tour and Art-Making Activity for Families:  Both are ideal for those graduate students with whom also have a family of their own or perhaps family visiting for a weekend.  Story Time Tour is Thursday, 28 June 2012, 10:30 am – 11:30 am, admission is free on Thursdays & Art-Making Activity is Thursday, 28 June 2012, 10 am – 12 pm. 
• Public Tour:  The Human Touch:  Selections from the RBC Wealth Management Art Collection:  Featured contemporary art with emphasis on the human form/figure.  28 June 2012, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm. 
• Public Tour:  Go West:  Representations of the American Frontier:  Asserts ideas behind what the west means today by definition from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  30 June 2012; 3pm-4pm
• The Third Thursday: Changes monthly, but it is typically assorted events from 6pm until 7:30 when a public tour is given.  May include a film screening, yoga, and a book club meeting.

Third, if you are into dinos and nature, the Texas Memorial Museum is for you!  Located on 2400 Trinity Street this museum features ongoing exhibits including:  Hall of Geology and Paleontology, Great Hall, Hall of Texas Wildlife, Hall of Biodiversity & more. Admission is free and normal hours are Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and changing hours on Friday and weekends. Also, being held on 26 August, is the ‘Identification Day’ where you can nerd out and bring in your though to be fossils and have them examined and picked over by a selected scientists.  The event is free and goes from 1 – 4:45 p.m.

Fourth on my list would most assuredly be the Summer Film Series at the Paramount and Stateside Theater located at 713 and 719 Congress Avenue. The Paramount is known as a movie palace and it’s celebrating its 37th year tradition of screening classic films. This summer with the reopening of the Stateside Theater, they are able to screen even more films. Some that I personally recommend seeing are the ‘Bergman in Love’ series, the Comedy Classics and Horror Week. You’re sure to find something you like at the movies this summer and what’s better than enjoying a known great that you’ve never seen on the big-screen? I hope you’re able to enjoy this enchanting summer of masterly films. Additionally, Alamo Draft Cinema has a ‘Summer of 82′ Series going on with hysterical and definitive films that have defined an entire genre of movies.

Here are few more off-site locations:

• Zilker Hillside Theater - This summer 6 July – 11 August experience The Sound of Music
• Barton Springs – If you’re interested in cooling off in the water BS is the place to be.
• Austin Symphony Hartman Foundation “Concerts in the Park” - Ensembles ranging from woodwind to big band with free parking!

Finally, don’t forget about the numerous amount of events that are occurring all around campus  See details for events here.

•  Austin Chamber Music Festival presents Brasil Guitar Duo; 6 July, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Bates Recital Hall 3.838
• Austin Chamber Music Festival hosts Claremont Piano Trio; 7 July, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Bates Recital Hall 3.838
• Austin Chamber Music Festival presents Fine Arts Quartet; 8 July, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Bates Recital Hall 3.838 
• Free Latin dance mini-lessons; 8 July, 2 – 5 p.m. Anna Hiss Gym 136
• Briscoe Center presents Dominick Dunne Exhibit; 3 April – 16 August, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. SRH unit 2, Briscoe Center [Exhibit of an acclaimed journalist.]
• Austin Chamber Music Festival hosts Third Coast Percussion; 14  July, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Bates Recital Hall 3.838

As the summer does seem to melt away faster than Tofutti soft serve from Toy Joy, don’t let some of these killer events pass you by.  Have a cool-event-filled summer and let me know how you felt about the exhibits, films and so forth.

The UT History Department recently launched a podcast series called Making History, which focuses on the life and work of UT History graduate and post-graduate students. The main goal is to educate listeners about graduate student academic life, the dissertation research and writing process, and why people decide to pursue academia professionally. So far, there are interviews from half a dozen of UT History Department’s most promising budding historians, and they expect to recruit more to be featured in their podcasts throughout the academic year. Listeners can download Making History podcast from their Web site.

These graduate students’ stories are truly impressive and insightful, and we hope that they will serve as inspiration for listeners thinking about enrolling at UT to pursue careers in academia. We think that prospective grad students in all fields will find these narratives interesting and helpful.

We invite you to listen to the most recent podcast of the Making History series. Zach Doleshal speaks with Takkara Brunson about her research on Afro-Cuban women in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Brunson’s research experiences in Cuba, and stories of the fascinating women who form the core of her research offer a taste not only of life and work in a place few Americans get to visit, but also a window into the making of a social and cultural historian.

The Making History series is featured on Not Even Past, a Web site produced by the faculty and graduate students in UT’s Department of History, to make all kinds of history available to the public. It includes book reviews, video interviews, articles about historical films, images, interesting documents, as well as a blog and an online monthly book club. Announcements about new posts and more material can be found on their Facebook page, Twitter, and Tumblr.

For more information, visit the Lone Star Graduate Diversity Colloquium.

Here is a great opportunity open to those graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts.

The Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies (LLILAS), with support from the College of Liberal Arts, is hosting an International Travel Workshop for Graduate Students on conducting Field Research in Areas of Risk. The workshop will provide graduates students who plan to conduct research in areas of risk in the Americas, as well as in other regions of the world, with a greater understanding of the risks associated with health hazards, local health and public safety services, and crime and political violence. Workshop presenters will discuss their personal experiences in the field, navigating government issues, military and police representatives, and working in instable and insecure conditions.

The workshop is open to graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts. It is primarily intended for students who plan to travel to a Restricted Region Students traveling in Summer 2012 through Spring 2013 are highly recommended to attend. Students who attend 4 of the 5 sessions will receive a certificate of completion, which should be included as supporting documentation when submitting future Request to Travel to a Restricted Region applications to the IOC.

International Travel Workshop for Graduate Students
Thursday, March 29, 2012
11:30am – 4:45pm
Dorothy L. Gebauer Building, Dean’s Conference Room (GEB 3.312)

For RSVP and agenda, visit: http://riskworkshop.eventbrite.com/

If you have any questions, please contact Paloma Diaz

The awards are, the Outstanding Dissertation Award, the Outstanding Thesis/Report Award, the Excellence in Graduate Research Award, and the Graduate Student Academic Employee Award. The online awards system to submit nominations opened February 1.

For additional information, deadlines, and nomination forms got to the Graduate Student Awards page. You can also contact John Dalton, Assistant Dean, at jdalton@austin.utexas.edu or 512-232-3626.

Don’t miss the deadlines!