School of Arts and Humanities News
Undergrad Blends Passions for Art, Cognitive Science on Austria Trip
Senior Rebekah Rodriguez loves the complexities of science and the details of art history. A recent study abroad trip gave her an opportunity to combine her passions into a semester of inspirational research.
Earlier this year, Rodriguez worked with researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria who study neuroaesthetics, an emerging science of how neural mechanisms influence how people perceive and interact with art.
“I wanted to explore empirical research within art history a little more — pushing the edge between science and art in a way that I think is ultimately insightf ... Read More
History Professor Explores Nature of 'Home' in 19th-Century South
According to Dr. Whitney Stewart, there’s a different way to tell the story of how people lived during the antebellum period in the U.S. By looking at the objects found at old plantations, for example, the disparity of life in the South becomes clearer.
“I study how race as an idea, as a construct, becomes reality through the things we create, consume and discard,” said Stewart, an assistant professor of history in the School of Arts and Humanities and an affiliate of the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at The University of Texas at Dallas. “Whether a quilt, a piece o ... Read More
Patterson Appointed to Texas Holocaust Group
Dr. David Patterson, professor of literature and history and Hillel A. Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies, has been appointed to the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission.
The commission was established 10 years ago to ensure that resources about the Holocaust and other genocides are available to students, educators and the public.
“The sense of urgency about awareness of what happened in the Holocaust and why it matters is growing,” Patterson said. “It’s in the interest of citizens and the culture to examine the ethical question of what makes another human being matter. T ... Read More
Students Dive Into Texas — Its Past and Present
From the legendary book and movie “Giant” to J.R. Ewing’s oil empire, this spring’s American Cultures class was all about Texas.
Assignments in the American studies class included reading works by authors Larry McMurtry and Lawrence Wright and watching the TV show “Dallas” and classic films like “The Last Picture Show” and “Selena” in order to understand the Lone Star State and its place in American culture.
One afternoon, students examined artifacts that were collected along the Texas-Mexico border. The class collaborated on a project with Bredt Bredthauer, an ed ... Read More
McDermott Scholar Will Further Her Arabic Studies as Boren Scholar
Elizabeth “Tess” Helfrich, a biology and historical studies junior at The University of Texas at Dallas, hopes a distinguished scholarship will provide the next step in her journey toward practicing emergency medicine overseas.
Helfrich is the first Eugene McDermott Scholar to receive a Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program. She will spend the next year studying modern standard Arabic as well as the local Ammiya dialect at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.
The Boren Scholarship provides up to $20,000 for study in areas of the world that are cri ... Read More
Graduating Navy Veteran Completes 30-Year Academic Mission
University of Texas at Dallas senior Angela Cheryl Willis joined the Navy at age 18 for one reason: She needed a way to pay for college so she could pursue her lifelong dream of a career in the arts.
Thanks to the military education benefits she earned from four years of active duty and two years in the Reserve, Willis started to work on her degree in 1987 but put schooling on hold in 1989 to start her family. Thirty years later, she has finally realized her dream by earning a bachelor’s degree in visual and performing arts from the School of Arts and Humanities.
Willis was recogni ... Read More
Professors Open Up About Their Favorite Books
A happy World Book Day to bibliophiles everywhere!
As a tip of the hat to the celebration, UTD Magazine asked a handful of faculty members to share influential books in their lives.
Dr. Kenneth Brewer
School of Arts and Humanities
Middlemarch
By George Eliot
“I first read Eliot’s massive Victorian novel as an undergraduate, and I’ve read it many times since then. As I’ve grown older, I’ve found myself interested in different characters than the ones I found fascinating the first times I read it. Initially unsympathetic characters have become sympathetic and interesting; ... Read More
Fred Curchack, Theater Professor, Actor, Playwright, Musician or Performance Artist?
Fred Curchack dodges labels. Is the 71-year-old Dallas theater professor an actor, playwright, musician or performance artist? He's all of them and something else, too: his own man.
While he has directed and appeared in other people's work, Curchack earned the moniker "true renaissance theater artist" — an honor bestowed on him in 2010 by the Dallas Theater Critics Forum — because he has concentrated on writing and performing his own category-defying material.
Excerpts from seven of the 78 pieces he has created and toured around the world since graduating from college in the late ... Read More
Alumna Follows Familiar Script to Comedy Fame by Joining Groundlings
A UT Dallas alumna has taken her penchant for comedy and improvisation to Los Angeles, where she is honing her craft through classes at The Groundlings Theatre & School.
Emily Joyce BA’15 enjoys comedy and hopes to make it to a big stage where she can impact a lot more people.
“I am an entirely silly person; I just have a knack for making people laugh,” she said. “I like being able to do really silly characters and to do voices. I know it’s weird, but I like making other people feel good.”
Along with The Second City and a few others, The Groundlings is known for th ... Read More
Before They Were Fab
Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth has an endless supply of stories to tell. Some are heartbreaking, and others are full of mirth. This is one of the latter.
The tale begins in 1962 when Ozsváth and her late husband, Dr. Istvan Ozsváth, stepped out for supper with some friends in Hamburg, Germany.
When they arrived at the establishment, the group noticed that many of the tables and chairs were stacked to the side. The room, uncrowded when they arrived, swelled with more and more people as the evening went on.
“Suddenly four guys came up on stage,” Ozsváth recalled. “They didn’t look ve ... Read More
Carolyn Brown Photo Exhibit Kicks Off Spring Series at SP/N Gallery
The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at The University of Texas at Dallas recently opened a retrospective exhibition of photography by Carolyn Brown, who is known for her architectural pictures of the Middle East, Latin America and Texas.
UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson joined Dr. Richard Brettell, director of the O’Donnell Institute, the Margaret M. McDermott Distinguished Chair of Art and Aesthetic Studies and the Edith O’Donnell Distinguished University Chair, at a recent reception to welcome Brown and her exhibition to the SP/N Gallery on campus. Benson also hol ... Read More
Crow Family Gives Complete Asian Art Collection, $23 Million to UT Dallas
UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson and Amy Lewis Hofland, director of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art, talk about the museum’s collection and the impact of the gift to the University. If you don’t see the video, watch it on Vimeo.
The Trammell and Margaret Crow family has donated the entire collection of the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art, together with $23 million of support funding, to The University of Texas at Dallas to create the Trammell and Margaret Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas.
The University will contin ... Read More
Barrett Collection Gift Expands Canvas for University’s Art Aspirations
The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) announced the gift to the University of the Barrett Collection, consisting of over 400 works of Swiss art. It is the single-largest donation ever made to UTD as well as the largest gift of art to any school in The University of Texas System. This unparalleled collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints is the only definitive collection of Swiss art outside of Switzerland and is considered the largest and finest private collection of Swiss art ever formed. With works dating from the late 14th through the mid-20th century, the Barrett Col ... Read More
Defining Moment: Center for Translation Studies Marks 40th Anniversary
The UT Dallas Center for Translation Studies, one of the oldest academic centers for literary translation in the U.S., recently marked its 40th anniversary.
The center was created in 1978 by Dr. Rainer Schulte, professor of arts and humanities and the Katherine R. Cecil Professor in Foreign Languages, with the purpose of fostering and promoting the study and practice of literary translation. It was officially named in 1980.
“Translation is a model of communication across barriers. And once you think of it that way, everything changes,” said Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of ... Read More
Frankenstein Story’s Meaning Is More Than Monstrous, Professor Says
On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a UT Dallas professor said the book is much more than a scary Halloween story.
According to Dr. Sabrina Starnaman, clinical assistant professor in the School of Arts and Humanities who teaches a class about the book, Frankenstein offers a thought-provoking look at science and ethics.
“While one might think that a class on Frankenstein would be all horror and shadows and gasps, I would argue it’s a class asking some of the most pivotal, pointed human questions,” said Starnaman, ”including questions ... Read More
Arts, Humanities Hires Bring Expertise in History, Literature, Philosophy
The School of Arts and Humanities at UT Dallas has three new tenure-track faculty members who will teach and conduct research in their respective fields — Middle Eastern history, literature and philosophy.
“The essence of the humanities is to always encourage people to put their ideas into a larger context. We have found three scholars who not only are going to be strong participants and contributors to specific fields, but also have the ability to put their thinking and their teaching in this grander context of the humanities and values,” said Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of ... Read More
School of Arts and Humanities, O'Donnell Institute Unveil New Journal
The School of Arts and Humanities and the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at UT Dallas are launching a new, high-impact arts journal.
Modeled somewhat after The New Yorker, the Athenaeum Review will provide local, national and international readers with reviews and commentary that highlight the arts at UT Dallas and beyond, as well as provoke thought.
“We want this to be a place for critical, thoughtful conversations,” said Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professor. “It’s to enlighten people about a w ... Read More
Alumna Plays Leading Role at Shakespeare Dallas
UT Dallas graduate Jenni Stewart BA’06 enjoys playing parts and directing fellow players — particularly when performing Shakespeare.
“I think it’s the universality and also the richness of the language that keeps me continually engaged with it,” Stewart said. “I think he’s a playwright you can study forever and never unlock all of his secrets and mysteries.”
Stewart is the associate artistic director at Shakespeare Dallas — the first woman to be in a position of artistic leadership in the organization since it began 47 years ago. The group produces Shakespeare plays ... Read More
Literature Instructor Recognized for Classroom Excellence
Dr. Peter Ingrao, clinical assistant professor of literature in the School of Arts and Humanities, and Dr. Gregg Dieckmann, associate professor of chemistry in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, are recipients of the University of Texas System Board of Regents’ highest honor — the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA). They are among 27 ROTA winners from the UT System’s 14 academic and health institutions who will be recognized at a dinner Thursday, Aug. 9, in Austin. Each honoree receives $25,000.
The Board of Regents established the award in 2008 to recogniz ... Read More
Staking a Claim in the International Art Scene
Ekaterina Kouznetsova BS’16 is making her mark on the local and international art scene as the founder of ArtMail, a subscription art service she conceptualized and launched just months after graduating.
The Russian-born Dallas resident serves as both creative force and personal curator at the company that mails subscribers museum-quality prints of new works from emerging international artists.
Kouznetsova parlayed the skills she learned in the University’s marketing, global business and art history programs with immersion in the local arts that began her first year in college.
... Read More
College Prep Camp Helps Teens Improve Communication Skills
Even with excellent test scores and high class rankings, many prospective college students still have a lot of work to do when it comes to college essays, resumes and interviews, according to two UT Dallas communication instructors.
That need for better student communication skills in the admissions process is why the two will hold a college preparation camp this summer.
“Students think it’s all about test scores, but it’s really not,” said Dr. Carie King, clinical professor of communication and associate director of rhetoric in the School of Arts and Humanities.
“We’ ... Read More
Boyd Brothers Flip Scripts to Pursue Screenwriting
The following is an excerpt from the story “From Working 9-to-5 to Hollywood Scribes” in the latest edition of UT Dallas Magazine.
Growing up in Richardson, VJ Boyd BA’02 dreamed of being a screenwriter, crafting his first screenplay at age 16.
“I did make many short films as a teenager and in college, but none of them were technically sound,” he said. “The writing was decent, but I had little skill or help in the camera and lighting departments.”
Now, after a stint in corporate sales, VJ is living the Hollywood dream, penning scripts and producing episodes for a ... Read More
Dr. Peter Jay Ingrao recognized by UT System Board of Regents
Dr. Peter Jay Ingrao is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Arts and Humanities and specializes in Southern Literature, Twentieth-Century American Literature, Appalachian Literature, trope of monstrosity in literature and film, heroic archetypes. For the 10th year in a row, the University of Texas System Board of Regents has honored the best of the best.
Twenty-seven faculty members from UT’s 14 academic and health institutions were named recipients of the 2018 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. They each received $25,000 in recognition of their commitment to student succe ... Read More
Literary Studies Professor Receives Piper Honor for Work, Dedication
Dr. Theresa M. Towner, Ashbel Smith Professor of literary studies in the School of Arts and Humanities, has been named a 2018 Piper Professor by the San Antonio-based Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.
The award, established in 1958 to recognize outstanding college professors across Texas, is given annually to 10 educators to honor their dedication to the teaching profession and for their outstanding academic, scientific and scholarly achievement.
Each Piper Professor receives a certificate of merit, a gold pin and a $5,000 honorarium. Selection is made on the basis of nominations from ... Read More
Dissertation Awards Program Recognizes A&H Doctoral Student Sumathi Ramanath
The Office of Graduate Studies at UT Dallas honored six doctoral students for writing the best dissertations in their respective schools. The 2018 Best Dissertation Awards were presented as part of an April reception celebrating excellence in graduate education.
To be considered for the best dissertation award, the paper must have been completed in the past 12 months. Faculty committees in six of the University's schools chose the best dissertation. The winning students have all completed their doctoral degrees.
“The doctoral dissertation is an original, substantial piece of creat ... Read More
Professors Honored by Students, Benefactors at Investiture Ceremony
Newly invested as an Ashbel Smith Professor, Dr. Theresa Towner took a moment to reflect on her path as a Comet.
“With the endowment of this chair, I have held every academic rank at The University of Texas at Dallas that is possible to hold, from part-time senior lecturer to full professor, and now, a named chair,” said Towner, literary studies professor in the School of Arts and Humanities. “It is a long, long way from the one-bedroom apartment I shared with my husband while writing my dissertation.”
Towner was among 20 faculty members to receive new appointments during the ... Read More
David Lozano receives this year's Undergraduate Achievement Award
At the 2018 Honors Convocation, David Lozano BA’09 received the Undergraduate Alumni Achievement Award. Recipients of this award are accomplished in their industry or profession and engaged in their local community.
Lozano is executive artistic director at Cara Mía Theatre in Dallas, writing, directing and producing original bilingual plays for the Latino community. He is also an activist who advocates for funding of culturally specific arts organizations.
When he came to UT Dallas in 2001, it was only to study theater performance under drama professor Fred Curchack. At the time, ... Read More
A&H Scholarly and Artistic Successes
Tricia Stout was recently invited to present at the prestigious Graduate Symposium for the Nasher Prize, which was awarded to Theater Gates. “Some of the brightest masters and doctoral art history students across the country will share ideas on ethics in social practice, the artist’s role in community rebuilding, and black bodies in performance art, among other themes related to Gates’ work.” https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2018/04/ten-ways-to-study-up-on-sculptor-theaster-gates-mode-of-social-practice-before-nasher-prize-weekend/ Jessica Ingle spearheaded the wildly s ... Read MoreFor 80-Year-Old Undergrad, Long Road to Degree Nearly Complete
For 80-year-old Suzanne Stricker, a hobby of taking college classes soon will turn into a UT Dallas bachelor’s degree. And, even then, she will not be stopping her path of lifelong learning.
Stricker plans to participate in commencement ceremonies for the School of Arts and Humanities on Friday, May 11, as she earns her degree in visual and performing arts.
“I’m excited about it. And my family is proud of me,” she said.
Born in New Zealand, Stricker speaks with a slight accent, which was much stronger when she moved to Texas in 1967.
“Because I felt that people were h ... Read More
Anime Experts Share Knowledge with UT Dallas Class
Some of the leading researchers in the field of Japanese anime are speaking to UT Dallas students in a class that delves deeply into the popular animation genre.
Recently, Helen McCarthy spoke to the “Literature of Science Fiction – Anime/Manga – Apocalypse How?” class via Skype, from London, England. She shared her research about Hayao Miyazaki, widely regarded as one of the greatest storytellers and animation directors in the world. In 1999, McCarthy wrote the first English-language book about Miyazaki. She had earlier written the first English-language book about anime, which ... Read More
Multitalented Musician Will Be More Than Instrumental at Concert
UT Dallas freshman Alissa Dover will showcase her musical versatility at the upcoming Musica Nova orchestra concert. She will perform much of the program as a cellist. But at one point during the concert, she will put down her cello and move to center stage to sing a solo.
That, according to Dr. Robert Xavier Rodríguez, is quite a feat.
“Instrumentalists and singers draw on the same set of musicianship skills, but it is rare for a musician to be both an instrumentalist and a singer,” he said.
The dual performance will occur Friday, April 27, when Musica Nova, the University ... Read More
Winner of Annual Sherry Clarkson Prize Announced: Yejing Wu
The winner of the Sherry Clarkson Award for best conference paper or presentation at the RAW Symposium this year is Yejing Wu. Her paper, "Double Take: Truman Capote and the Tradition of the Grotesque Comic in Other Voices, Other Rooms," was described as a "well-written piece of scholarship [that] makes a real contribution and shows considerable potential for future publication."
The Sherry Clarkson Award recognizes the best conference paper at the RAW Symposium. The prize is named in honor of Ms. Sherry Clarkson, who served for many years as the Graduate Coordinator in the School of ... Read More
Tuesday Night Band, Orchestra Courses Provide Opportunity for Musically Minded Students
In the minutes leading up to 7 p.m. the air is full of the scuffing of chairs across carpet, the metal scraping as music stands are unfolded, and the shuffling of sheet music being passed through the ranks. Two students wheel a pair of double basses from a back closet stuffed with instruments in black cases. Reeds are wetted and affixed to mouthpieces, and a chorus of metallic clicking accompanies the limbering of both fingers and keys. Bows are tested against strings as the players tuck violins against their cheeks. The students of the UT Dallas Wind Ensemble and String Orchestra, though ... Read More
Math Major Fine-Tunes Career as Music Producer, Composer
Larce Blake remembers being "forced" at age 10 to take piano lessons.
Three years later, stirred by listening to old-school jazz and funk artists like the Gap Band and Earth, Wind & Fire, he started tinkering with tracks and composing music.
Now a junior math major in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, he works as a record producer. His tracks have gained a following on streaming services.
Blake is hoping to take his talent as a regional record producer and composer to the national level.
At 23, Blake is an in-house producer for the Dallas-based record label IR ... Read More
People with Parkinson's Express Themselves in Instructor's Dance Class
According to UT Dallas dance faculty member Misty Owens, dancing is considerably more than it seems. The movements and motions are obvious, but Owens said it’s about the physical and mental process of thought, emotions and inspiration that create the expression of dance.
Each week, in addition to teaching her classes at UT Dallas, Owens utilizes that philosophy as she leads dance classes for individuals who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease — a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement. She said she tries to surprise and challenge the class with choreography mean ... Read More
History Professor Challenges High Textbook Prices with Online Option
As the costs of college textbooks increase, a UT Dallas professor is offering an alternative for students — a free, online college textbook that he and a collaborator have developed.
Dr. Ben Wright, assistant professor of history in the School of Arts and Humanities, is co-editor of The American Yawp, a free online, collaborative, open American history textbook designed for college-level history courses.
The College Board estimates that the average student in the United States spends approximately $1,200 a year on books and supplies. A report from Student Public Interest Research G ... Read More
Women and the Movies they Make: Curated by UT Dallas Assistant Professor Shilyh Warren
Shilyh Warren, an assistant professor of film and aesthetic studies, is curating an event this Sunday (March 25) at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Richardson. The event focuses on female filmmakers and celebrates the works women have made since film began.
The event will be split into two programs. The first program begins with "Women Who Made the Movies (1992)," a documentary that traces the careers and films of pioneer women filmmakers. It then continues with three short films: “Meshes of the Afternoon (1943),” by Maya Deren; “Fannie’s Film (1979),” by Fronza Woods; and ... Read More
Study Suggests Exploring Values Can Enhance Science Education
New research from UT Dallas indicates that values should play a bigger role in the study of science in schools.
The research, which appears in the journal Science & Education, found that students typically do not explore predetermined values or evaluate whether they are appropriate to the particular issue they are examining.
Dr. Matthew Brown, an associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, and director of the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, said the research shows the importance of teaching science in a way that helps students engage their kn ... Read More
Holocaust Experts to Share Their Findings at Scholars' Conference
The UT Dallas Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies will welcome some of the world's foremost Holocaust scholars, theologians and survivors for the 48th Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches on March 3-5.
The collection of experts will share their findings in hopes that the lessons of the Holocaust will remain relevant. Dr. Nils Roemer, director of the Ackerman Center, said the conference focuses on being interfaith, interdisciplinary and international.
“It will be an open environment in which scholars and PhD students join in a conversation and create a com ... Read More
Whitney Stewart, “Fashioning Frenchness: Gens de Couleur Libres and the Cultural Struggle for Power in Antebellum New Orleans,” Journal of Social History 51, no. 3 (February 2018), 526–56
While travelers to antebellum New Orleans consistently commented on a pervasive French aura in the city, exactly what and who defined this Frenchness was in flux over the first half of the nineteenth century. From the city’s earliest days, residents constructed myriad and often conflicting definitions of Frenchness, but most versions associated the Frenchness of New Orleans with the city’s mixed-race character. Colonial society exhibited a tripartite racial structure that legally situated free people of color, many of whom had mixed-race ancestry, between white individuals and enslaved pe ... Read More
Art Exhibition "Transmission Reentry" Receives Huge Publicity!
Our current art exhibition, Transmission Reentry, at the SP/N Gallery has gotten a substantial amount of publicity and began with a tremendous opening last Friday with an attendance of 150+! The show made Glasstire’s top 5 picks of the week in Texas, KERA Art & Seek's pick for last Friday, and now... an article in D Magazine!
Event Information: The SP/N Gallery at The University of Texas at Dallas presents the group exhibition Transmission Reentry which explores the Latinx diaspora in the United States and the disparate influence of American exceptionalism. The artists selected fo ... Read More
University Choir Director Helps Give a Voice to Dallas' Homeless
UT Dallas choir director Dr. Jonathan Palant is on a mission to help people through music, but his work doesn’t stop at the UT Dallas campus. The musician also leads a choir made up of the homeless who live on the streets of Dallas.
Palant said music is an ideal way to provide respite to both students and the homeless.
“The UT Dallas student comes to choir looking for a creative outlet — to escape chemistry or mathematics for just a short while. The Street Choir member comes to escape the cold, looking to escape what lies ahead for their day — or perhaps, what doesn’t. In t ... Read More
Siddhayatan Tirth, “Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex-Trafficking” (2017). Featuring Ben Wright
A powerful documentary that features heroes of the anti-sex-trafficking movement in order to raise awareness, expand the movement, and present practical solutions to eradicate it. Every soul matters.
Dr. Wright’s research on slavery has created the unique opportunity for him to be involved in the movement to end modern slavery, firmly believing that if we look at our past and understand how these social injustices survived, we can adapt this information to today’s human and sex-trafficking industries to bring forth effective solutions. Siddhayatan Tirth,“Stopping Traffic: The Mov ... Read More
Peter Park, "Why It Makes Sense to Talk of Decolonizing the Philosophy Department" (2017), Author Meets Readers. Journal of World Philosophies, 2(2)
The exchange between Peter Park, Dan Flory and Leah Kalmanson on Park’s book Africa, Asia and the History of Philosophy: Racism in the Formation of the Philosophical Canon (Albany: SUNY Press, 2013) took place during the APA’s 2016 Central Division meeting (Chicago, Illinios) on a panel sponsored by the Committee on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies. After having peer-reviewed the exchange, JWP invited Sonia Sikka and Mark Larrimore to engage with these papers. All the five papers are being published together in this issue. Author Meets Readers ... Read More
Blurred Lines: Artists and Scientists Are More Alike Than Different
To read the full article, as it appears in the Fall 2017 Edition of UTDallas Magazine, please visit blurred lines.
The excerpt appearing below has been sampled to feature only School of Arts & Humanities staff and faculty who appeared in the original article.
Blurred Lines: Artists and Scientists Are More Alike Than Different
While the traditions and audiences of scientists and artists may be diverse, the creative processes they use to achieve success are more alike than different, and they are motivated by the same shared goal — t ... Read More
Texas in Paris
Texas in Paris is a musical written and directed by two School of Arts and Humanities alumni: Alan Govenar, who wrote the script, and Akin Babatunde, who directed the show. A production of the show ran at the Eisemann Center from Nov. 16 through Nov. 19, 2017. The lead actress, Tony award winner Lillias White, was nominated for the "Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical" in 2015 for her performance and the musical has also received nationwide accolades from publications like the New York Times and the Huffington Post.
The musical is based on true events and feat ... Read More
University Honors 347 Employees at Annual Service Awards
The University recognized faculty and staff members’ employment milestones at the 31st Annual Service Awards on Nov. 17, honoring 347 employees who have collectively accrued 2,780 years of service.
Two employees reached their 40-year milestone: Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, director of the Holocaust Studies Program and professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, and Dr. John Santrock, professor of psychology and child learning and development in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Honorees received either a coin that bears the University seal (5 years), a University seal coi ... Read More
Reunion: The Dallas Review - Volume 7 Launch Party
The November 30, 2017 launch party for Reunion: The Dallas Review, Volume 7, was held at Deep Vellum Books in Deep Ellum. The staff, graduate students Chelsea Barnard, Kenady Toombs, Jennifer Crumley and Brian DiNuzzo, organized a warm and cordial gathering in an intimate space.
The issue itself is a grand accomplishment, and it is one in which the School of Arts and Humanities can take a great deal of pride in. The full participation of the department made is shown with the inclusion of both graduate and undergraduate students in the process. The hard work and dedication of these stude ... Read More
Institute of Art History Adds Signature Touches to New Master's Degree
The fall 2018 semester will welcome the first students admitted to the master’s program in the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History (EODIAH). The curriculum is tailored around faculty members’ varied backgrounds and access to extensive catalogs, collections and institutions throughout the Dallas area.
The new degree, offered through UT Dallas’ School of Arts and Humanities, is a major milestone in a plan first laid out by Mrs. Edith O’Donnell when she provided the initial gift that led to the institute’s creation in 2014. Prospective students have until Jan. 15 to apply ... Read More
Alumnus Appointed to Texas Commission on the Arts
Kevin Yu MS’03 — a professional violinist with the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra — was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to serve on the Texas Commission on the Arts through August 2021.
The mission of the commission, which was created by the Texas Legislature in 1965, is to advance economic and cultural development in the state of Texas. The agency invests in cultural tourism, art education, and direct funding of nonprofit arts organizations, arts institutions and schools, local agencies, community groups and individual artists throughout the state.
Yu laid the groundwork to his ... Read More
Desmond Blair Cites Alma Mater for His Success in Art and Life
Desmond Blair BA’07, MFA’09 received the 2017 Undergraduate Alumni Achievement Award in the spring. Raised in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, Desmond is an acclaimed visual artist who was born with a limb difference — he never uses the term “disability.” His works — primarily portraits in oils on canvas — have helped raise more than $20,000 for local charitable organizations. The importance of education was emphasized in Desmond’s life from day one, when his mother’s doctor urged her to give him the best education possible. “She did just that throughout my public ... Read More
SP/N Gallery: Campus Art Gallery Opens with Exhibit Showcasing Alumni Artists
The University of Texas at Dallas will unveil a new 6,000-square-foot visual arts gallery complex with an inaugural exhibition celebrating the works of noted alumni artists.
“Critical Mass” features 45 artists who received visual arts degrees from UT Dallas and went on to have successful careers in the arts. The show includes works in video, computer-generated graphics, constructed photography, social practice, robotics and installation arts, as well as more traditional studio art disciplines.
The opening reception for the new space will take place from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct ... Read More
Arts and Humanities Adds Expert on Race, 19th-Century American History
Dr. Whitney Nell Stewart, an expert on race and 19th-century American history, has joined the faculty of the School of Arts and Humanities in the department of Historical Studies and Philosophy.
Stewart’s work examines the role of material objects and structures, including homes, in debates over slavery and freedom throughout the 19th century.
“Dr. Stewart’s research addresses issues of urgent importance — race, slavery and the ways in which we create the historical narrative that both reflects and influences our national values,” said Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the schoo ... Read More
Historical Studies professor appears in documentary "Stopping Traffic"
Arts and Humanities Professor Ben Wright is featured in the film Stopping Traffic, a documentary about sex-trafficking, which will be shown in twelve cities through AMC Theaters from September 29, 2017 to October 5, 2017.
Dr. Wright will be hosting a 15 minute Q&A after the 7:00 p.m. screening on Friday, September 29 at the AMC Valley View 16 theater at Valley View Mall (the north side of 635 and west of Preston Rd).
Check Stopping Traffic’s Theater Locations for updates and/or more information.
Dr. Wright’s research on slavery has created the unique opportunity for him to ... Read More
Dr. Jessica Murphy Appointed as Dean of Undergraduate Education and Mary McDermott Cook Chair of Undergraduate Education and Research
August 22, 2017
Dear Students and Colleagues,
It is with pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Jessica Murphy, Associate Professor of Literary Studies in the School of Arts and Humanities, as our next Dean of Undergraduate Education and Mary McDermott Cook Chair of Undergraduate Education and Research, effective September 1, 2017.
Dr. Murphy joined our faculty in 2009, after receiving her doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She earned her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Hunter College, CUNY, in 2001. In 2013, Dr. Murphy was a recipient ... Read More
Two Students Clinch Top Writing Awards
Two graduate students won first-place awards from the Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers and have been invited to read at the association’s annual meeting in September in San Antonio.
Jennifer O’Neill, who is pursuing a master’s degree in studies in literature, took first place in the Graduate Student Fiction category. O’Neill studied under Dr. Clay Reynolds, professor of arts and humanities and director of the creative writing program at UT Dallas.
O’Neill’s winning story, “Flowers and Gold,” was composed in Reynolds’ fiction writing workshop last fall. ... Read More
Professors Receive Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards
Three UT Dallas educators have been honored with 2017 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards (ROTA) for delivering the highest quality instruction in the classroom, laboratory, field and online.
Dr. Mieczyslaw Dabkowski, associate professor of mathematical sciences; Dr. Robert Hart, clinical associate professor of mechanical engineering; and Dr. Sabrina Starnaman, clinical associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, are among 56 honorees from across The University of Texas System’s 14 academic and health institutions.
“I was stunned,” Starnaman said. “It is such ... Read More
University Recognizes Five Educators with Teaching Awards
Five UT Dallas educators were honored with President’s Teaching Excellence Awards for their outstanding efforts in the classroom.
The award recipients received medallions at the University’s annual Honors Convocation on May 10. They also were recognized at an April reception hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, where center director and associate provost Dr. Paul Diehl said the awardees were chosen from an outstanding group of nominees from across the campus.
Dr. Sabrina Starnaman
President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (non-tenure-track)
... Read More
David Channell, "A History of Technoscience: Erasing the Boundaries between Science and Technology" (London: Routledge, 2017)
Are science and technology independent of one another? Is technology dependent upon science, and if so, how is it dependent? Is science dependent upon technology, and if so how is it dependent? Or, are science and technology becoming so interdependent that the line dividing them has become totally erased? This book charts the history of technoscience from the late nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century and shows how the military–industrial–academic complex and big science combined to create new examples of technoscience in such areas as the nuclear arms race, the space race, the di ... Read More
Kimberly Hill, “Maria Fearing: Domestic Adventurer,” in Alabama Women: Their Lives and Times, edited by Susan Youngblood Ashmore and Lisa Lindquist Dorr (U. Georgia Press, 2017)
Another addition to the Southern Women series, Alabama Women celebrates women’s histories in the Yellowhammer State by highlighting the lives and contributions of women and enriching our understanding of the past and present. Exploring such subjects as politics, arts, and civic organizations, this collection of eighteen biographical essays provides a window into the social, cultural, and geographic milieux of women’s lives in Alabama.
Featured individuals include Augusta Evans Wilson, Maria Fearing, Julia S. Tutwiler, Margaret Murray Washington, Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, Ida E. Brandon Mat ... Read More
School of Arts and Humanities to Offer New Degree in Philosophy
Beginning in the fall semester, the School of Arts and Humanities will offer a bachelor’s degree in philosophy that will include new courses in logic, the history of philosophy, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of art and aesthetics.
The bachelor’s degree, approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in February, will engage students in critical analysis of texts, rigorous argumentation, and questioning of unexamined personal and cultural assumptions, said Dr. Matthew J. Brown, philosophy professor and director of the Center for Values in Medicine, Scienc ... Read More
University Establishes Brettell Award in the Arts in Honor of Educator
The University of Texas at Dallas, with a generous gift from philanthropist Margaret McDermott, has announced the creation of the Richard Brettell Award in the Arts, a biennial honor recognizing established artists in any medium.
The award will be bestowed upon artists whose body of work demonstrates a lifetime of achievement in their field. Winners will receive a $150,000 prize and will participate in a campus residency where they will spend time interacting with faculty and students.
“Dr. Richard Brettell is recognized worldwide for his prolific scholarship, for his charismatic l ... Read More
Recital To Highlight Forgotten French Composer
PhD student Mary Dibbern, who also serves as music director of education at The Dallas Opera, will perform works by Gabriel Fauré, Ange Flégier and Franz Liszt alongside Dallas-based bass singer Jared Schwartz this Saturday.
Dibbern, who has collaborated with Schwartz on past projects and performances, says the pair have been making a series of recordings for the bass voice and piano (for Toccata Classics in London in collaboration with St. Matthew's Cathedral Arts in Dallas), including a 2016 collection of works on French composer Ange Flégier.
“The special quality of Flégier ... Read More
Dean Kratz Receives Confucius Institute Award
Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professor of Humanities, was awarded the Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award at a ceremony held in China during the 11th Confucius Institute Conference. The award was presented by China’s vice premier, Liu Yandong, on behalf of the Confucius Institute headquarters.
The award, given to 30 individuals selected from over 500 Confucius institutes worldwide, recognizes efforts to develop cultural ties with China. The Confucius Institute at UT Dallas has nominated Kratz ... Read More
Arts and Humanities Honors Top Teachers, Alumni, Staff
UT Dallas’ School of Arts and Humanities recently recognized five Comets for their dedication and service to the University.
Senior lecturer Dr. Zafar Anjum, who teaches Arabic and an introductory course on Islamic culture, earned the Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award.
“I am so humbled and honored to receive the prestigious Worsfold Award for teaching at UTD,” he said. “My actual award is the smiles on the faces of my students after they learn a new skill in reading, writing, comprehending or speaking of Arabic words.”
Read the entire story on the UT Dallas N ... Read More
Aesthetic studies prof on State Fair's 'Sistine Chapel' replica
Michelangelo's complex, revolutionary frescoes in the vault of theSistine Chapel remain the standard by which artistic difficulty and accomplishment are measured. Featuring 380 individual figures covering 2,400 square feet of painted surface, the ceiling itself emblematizes its very subject: the power of creation.
For those who cannot make the trip to Rome, Rome has come to Dallas — in virtual form. "Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,"currently on view at The Women's Museum Building in Fair Park and recently extended through Jan. 8, features full-scale photographic reproductio ... Read More
Narrative Grows for Arts and Humanities with Literary Studies Hires
The School of Arts and Humanities welcomed two new professors this fall to expand the literary studies program at UT Dallas.
Dr. Ashley Barnes, assistant professor of literature, focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American literature. Dr. Manuel Martinez, professor of creative writing and literature, is an expert in Chicano and American countercultural literature.
“The addition of Drs. Barnes and Martinez significantly enhances our expertise in the increasingly important area of narrative studies,” said Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the school and the Ignacy and Celina Rockover Pro ... Read More
Ensemble explores world dance forms
UT Dallas’ Dance Ensemble will present an evening of traditional dance and dances inspired from regions around the world, featuring choreographers with expertise in Mexican folkloric dance and flamenco styles.
This diverse group of local artists will present their own professional pieces alongside new works that feature UT Dallas students.
Residency artists include Eduardo Gutierrez of the Ollimpaxqui Ballet Company, Julia Alcantra of Ida y Vuelta and special UT Dallas alumni guests Keven Jackson, Belinda Mok and Elizabeth Owens.
The performance, titled Crossing Border ... Read More
Friday Concert Features Spanish Duo
On Friday, Sept. 9, in the University Theatre, the Duo Cuenca will present a chamber program for guitar and piano. The performance begins at 8 p.m.
Alongside flamenco dancer Raquel Parilla, brothers José Manuel Cuenca and Francisco Cuenca Morales will play a tribute to their home of Andalusia, Spain with colorful pieces celebrating the people and culture of the place. With Francisco on guitar and José Manuel on piano, they will perform music from their new CD, Amanecer en Granada.
The duo has developed a vast artistic career with performances worldwide, and the brothers have perfo ... Read More
"Three Ways to Make Teaching Evaluations More Effective" by Annelise Heinz
“What really shows our stuff as teachers is what we do with that feedback, and how we turn evaluation into a powerful tool for both pedagogical and intellectual enrichment.”
— Dr. Annelise Heinz, assistant professor of history, on improving the teaching evaluation process
Read Annelise's full essay on Inside Higher Ed. ... Read More
CentralTrak: MFA Exhibition Experiments with Video, Sound
In CentralTrak’s final in a series of MFA graduate exhibitions this summer, Caleb Shafer’s video and sculpture installation opens August 20th from 8-10pm. The artist's experiments with video and sound culminate in this brief opportunity for patrons to immerse themselves in an orchestrated multi-media experience.
In a discussion with fellow artist and CentralTrak graduate-student-in-residence Clayton Harper, Shafer reveals details about his practice and methodology.
Harper: Many of your works render motion at an almost uncomfortably glacial pace, which to me seems like a del ... Read More
Alumna Joins Ranks of Elite Artists through MacDowell Fellowship
UT Dallas alumna and author LaToya Watkins BA'06, MA'11, PhD’15 recently joined the ranks of writers including Alice Walker, Thornton Wilder and James Baldwin as a fellow in The MacDowell Colony.
Watkins, who received her doctoral degree in aesthetic studies, took note of the selective program while attending a writer’s conference in 2014.
Read the entire story on the UT Dallas News Center. ... Read More
Professor Uncovers Historical Link between US, Ecuador
While sorting through old documents in the U.S. National Archives, a UT Dallas historian stumbled upon thousands of pages detailing the destruction and subsequent reconstruction of an Ecuadorian coastal province in the 1940s.
The story, Dr. Monica Rankin would later realize, was one that has remained relatively unfamiliar to both U.S. and Ecuadorian historians until now.
Read the entire story on the UT Dallas News Center. ... Read More
Dr. Bryce Jordan, UT Dallas' First President, Dies at Age 91
Dr. H. Bryce Jordan, the first president of The University of Texas at Dallas, died April 12 in Austin. He was 91.
Jordan served as UT Dallas president from 1971 to 1981.
Jordan took the helm of the University just two years after the campus became part of the University of Texas System. The rapidly growing institution expanded its faculty from 50 to 215 and increased student enrollment from 40 to more than 7,000 during his tenure.
UT Dallas offered only graduate degrees until 1975, when it began accepting juniors and seniors. Jordan awarded the first bachelor's degrees at spring comm ... Read More
Musica Nova Ensemble to Perform Bach, Mozart
UT Dallas’ Advanced Orchestra and Chamber Music ensemble will perform April 22 for the biannual Musica Nova concert under the direction of music professor and composer Dr. Robert Xavier Rodriguez.
Selections for the concert include Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F and Concerto in C Minor for Oboe and Violin by Bach. The second half of the concert includes Divertimento in F, K. 138 and Piano Concerto in B-flat, K. 238 by Mozart.
“Bach and Mozart were the two greatest composers who ever lived, so our concert will feature the pinnacle of musical achievement,” Rodriguez said. “The ... Read More
Creative Writing Prof. Details Career as Author
Dr. Clay Reynolds, director of creative writing at UT Dallas, sat down recently with Lone Star Literary Life to discuss his career as an award-winning author.
Reynolds, who is described as “a key figure on the Texas literary scene,” has been publishing written work since 1976, but said he became a novelist by accident.
“My wife worked evening shifts, and we had two small children in diapers at home,” he said in the interview. “Reading or really doing much of anything else was nearly impossible during the evening hours, as I had to remain awake and alert for the children. ... Read More
Kimberly Hill, “Anti-Slavery Work by the American Women of the Presbyterian Congo Mission,” in Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora, edited by William Harrison Taylor and Peter C. Messer (Lehigh University Press, 2016)
Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora considers how, in areas as diverse as the New Hebrides, Scotland, the United States, and East Central Africa, men’s and women’s shared Presbyterian faith conditioned their interpretations of and interactions with the institution of chattel slavery. The chapters highlight how Presbyterians’ reactions to slavery—which ranged from abolitionism, to indifference, to support—reflected their considered application of the principles of the Reformed Tradition to the institution. Consequently, this collection reveals how the particular ways in whi ... Read More
Biology Professor, Sci-fi Author to Discuss Good Viruses
The Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology at UT Dallas will welcome guest speaker Dr. Joan Slonczewski on March 23 to discuss “good viruses” and how they might enhance our health.
Her talk at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Jonsson Performance Hall will dive into reasons why viruses in the blood and gut offer innumerable health benefits that scientists are just beginning to understand.
“Viruses that cause disease are a small fraction of all the viruses in nature,” Slonczewski said. “Some viruses exist normally in our blood. Other viruses became part of our ow ... Read More
Classical Chords to Come Together for Guitar Competition, Festival
Turkish guitarist Celil Refik Kaya performs during the 2015 Texas Guitar Competition and Festival, where he took home first place. This year's finals will be at 8 p.m. Friday in the Clark Center.
The annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival celebrates its 15th year at The University of Texas at Dallas on Friday and Saturday with classical guitarists from around the world vying for cash prizes and a capstone performance by the acclaimed Romero Guitar Quartet.
The festival began in 2001 as a statewide event under the direction of Dr. Enric Madriguera, the Russell Cleveland Profe ... Read More
Daniel Wickberg, "The Senses of Humor: Self and Laughter in Modern America" (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2015)
Why do modern Americans believe in something called a sense of humor and how did they come to that belief? Daniel Wickberg traces the cultural history of the concept from its British origins as a way to explore new conceptions of the self and social order in modern America. More than simply the history of an idea, Wickberg's study provides new insights into a peculiarly modern cultural sensibility.
The expression "sense of humor" was first coined in the 1840s and the idea that such a sense was a personality trait to be valued developed only in the 1870s. What is the relationship between Med ... Read More
Professor Natalie Ring Named to Distinguished List of Historians
Natalie J. Ring, associate professor of historical studies at UT Dallas, has been named as an Organization of American Historians (OAH) Distinguished Lecturer.
The OAH Distinguished Lectureship Program is a speakers’ bureau comprised of American historians who have made major contributions to the field. Distinguished lecturers are invited to speak around the country at universities, museums, libraries, historical societies, humanities councils and teacher seminars. Members agree to give at least one lecture each year and donate their honorarium to the OAH to help it fulfill its goal in ... Read More
New Doctoral Qualifying Examination Effective Fall 2015
At the direction of the University of Texas Coordinating Board, we will institute a qualifying examination early in doctoral study as a way of ensuring timely progress toward the doctoral degree. All doctoral students who will achieve, for the first time, 18 credit hours (applicable to the degree plan) in the Fall 2015 semester or later must complete this examination. Doctoral students who have achieved 18 hours prior to this fall are not required to complete the exam. Learn more about the Doctoral Qualifying Examination. ... Read MoreATEC Professor Leads Study Revealing Big Story of Cultural Migration
Dr. Maximilian Schich’s video shows the birthplaces (blue) and death sites (red) of cultural figures over time. For the study, the researchers collected the birth and death locations of more than 150,000 notable individuals — from John Washington (father of President George Washington) to John F. Kennedy. The rise of transportation — namely railways connecting the coasts and affordable cars — led to increased migration, particularly westward. If you are having trouble watching the video, view it on YouTube.
Quantifying and transforming the history of culture into vis ... Read More
Summer Camp Sparks Teenage Girls' Interest in STEM Careers
Twenty Dallas-area teenage girls recently got hands-on experience with nanotechnology, robots, virtual reality, forensics and space science when they visited UT Dallas for a weeklong summer camp.
Organized by Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas, Richland College and UT Dallas’ Science and Engineering Education Center (SEEC), the SMART Summer College Camp introduced eighth- and ninth-graders to college life and potential careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Campers first spent a week at Richland College to explore the community college experience, and th ... Read More
$17 Million Contribution Creates Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History at UT Dallas
Edith O’Donnell, longtime visionary and patroness of the arts and education, has made a contribution of $17 million to create the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History. The purpose of the investment is to elevate art history at UT Dallas to a nationally pre-eminent stature.
“UT Dallas excels in science and engineering. The moment is right to build a program of the same quality and rigor in art history,” O’Donnell said. “There is a natural affinity between science and the arts. UT Dallas founders Erik Jonsson, Eugene McDermott and Cecil Green actively supported the arts. N ... Read More
New Accomplishments in Creative Writing Program
Jessica Miller, UT Dallas graduate student, has had her story, “A Matter of Procedure,” accepted for publication in Shenandoah, one of the more prestigious literary reviews in the country. Publication is slated for the Fall 2014 edition of the magazine.
Clay Reynolds’ story, “Gethsemane,” has been named a finalist for the Best Short Fiction Award in the Western Writers of America Spur Competition. The story appeared in the collection, A Shared Voice: A Tapestry of Tales,” edited by Tom Mack and Andrew Geyer, and published by Lamar University Press in 2013.
... Read More
Free Crowd-funding Workshop Offered Friday, April 4, 2014
The Arts and Technology Program (ATEC) and the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) are hosting a ½ day program on crowdfunding from 11:00-3:00 on April 4th. The purpose of the event is to promote awareness of this topic across campus and to bring together students and faculty who have interest. Please mark your calendars!
WHO: UT Dallas students, faculty, and staff
WHAT: Half-day workshop on crowdfunding and crowdsourcing including:
Overview and trends
Company presentations
Overview of what other universities are doing
Latest developments on equity crow ... Read More
15 Distinguished Faculty Members Honored at Investiture Ceremony
A crowd of family members, colleagues and benefactors gathered to pay tribute as UT Dallas celebrated 15 of its most accomplished faculty members with a formal Investiture Ceremony and reception March 18.
The ceremony honored both the distinguished faculty members and the far-sighted donors who helped establish the endowed chairs and professorships, President David E. Daniel said.
“Without this partnership — key leaders who help invest in the future of the University and great faculty members who bring that vision to realization — we would not be the kind ... Read More
'A Father of the Internet' to Discuss His Role in Developing Technology
Weeks after the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web, one of the “fathers of the Internet" will visit campus to talk about his role in developing new technology.
Vinton G. Cerf will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday,March 26 as part of the University’s new ATEC Distinguished Lecture Series.
Cerf is vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google, and has received such honors as the National Medal of Technology, the Turing Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the creation of the Internet. In his role at Google, Cerf identifies and promotes new technologi ... Read More
Small-Town Texas is the Backdrop for 2 Dramas Opening This Week
UT Dallas students will perform two one-act plays by James McLure in a production that starts Thursday.
Two one-act plays about life in small-town Texas will kick off an arts weekend that will also include a concert tribute to a legendary pop and jazz vocal group.
UT Dallas students will present “Laundry and Bourbon” and “Lone Star” back to back beginning Thursday night and continuing through Saturday. Both works are by playwright James McLure.
“Laundry and Bourbon” is set on the front porch of Roy and Elizabeth’s home in Maynard, Texas, on a hot summer afternoon. E ... Read More
Former Foster Care Child on Path to Succeed as ATEC Student
Tiffany Sweet, an ATEC major from Waxahachie, is a Terry Scholar who hopes to work in film animation.
Tiffany Sweet is not one to let a difficult past define her.
For someone raised in the state foster care system, it might seem insurmountable to tackle a degree program at an academically rigorous university like UT Dallas. But Sweet is well on her way, maintaining a GPA above 3.0 in her first semester as an Arts and Technology (ATEC) major.
“It was hard coming from a place where I was at the top of my class and now I’m in the middle,” Sweet said.
Despite the adjustment ... Read More
Arts and Humanities Adds to Arts, Technology Faculty Ranks
The School of Arts and Humanities has hired two new professors who work in the emerging field of Arts and Technology (ATEC).
These faculty members champion interdisciplinary research that examines how traditional liberal arts can be infused with science and engineering.
“These appointments reflect our commitment to education that connects the arts and humanities with technology and science,” said Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities.
Alongside the new hires, the ATEC program also recently received a new home in the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Te ... Read More
Weekend's Guitar Concerts, Competition Boast International Talent
Juan Carlos Laguna will perform a free concert at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Clark Center.
With several concerts and a competition that feature contenders from across the globe, the 13th annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival brings the best in classical guitar to campus this weekend.
“This year’s edition of the competition is the most international to date,” said Dr. Enric Madriguera, Russell Cleveland Professor in Guitar Studies. “Competitors come from Tokyo, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Amsterdam. In the U.S., guitarists from California to Florida are arriving to ... Read More
Theater Students Learn from 'Fantasticks' Performers
The Fantasticks will be presented this weekend at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. Tickets can be purchased here.
UT Dallas students recently learned skills from members of a touring adaptation of the world’s longest-running musical, which is coming to the Eisemann Center in Richardson. Sponsored by the School of Arts and Humanities, a steampunk version of The Fantasticks stays true to the original funny and romantic story about a boy, a girl and two fathers.
Students from the cast of UT Dallas’ upcoming production Songs for a New World and students in the Advanced Voca ... Read More
A&H Faculty's Published Research Shows Breadth of Interests
From a translation of a sprawling, 464-page Romanian novel to a study on the automobile as conceptual art, faculty from the School of Arts and Humanities have recently produced research on a wide range of topics.
Translation of ‘Blinding’
Dr. Sean Cotter has translated Blinding, a novel written by Romanian author Mircea Cartarescu.
Dr. Sean Cotter, associate professor of translation studies and literature, has translated Blinding (Archipelago Books), a novel written by Romanian author Mircea Cartarescu. The book is part “dream-memoir, part fictive journey through a hallu ... Read More
Tech Executive to Describe Wonders of the Cloud World on Feb. 26
Christian Belady
Christian Belady, general manager of Datacenter Services for Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services and a UT Dallas alumnus, will speak Feb. 26 at the second event in the new ATEC Distinguished Lecture Series.
He helps build and manage the world of cloud computing at Microsoft. Before Microsoft and after earning engineering degrees from Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Belady enrolled at UT Dallas and earned his master’s degree in international management in 1990. He was named a 2010 Distinguished Alumnus.
Can you explain cloud co ... Read More
1st Lecture in ATEC Series Brought Sold-Out Crowd; Campus Readies for Next Speaker
Author Robert Edsel was the first speaker in the ATEC Distinguished Lecture Series on Jan. 22.
Robert Edsel was living in Florence, Italy, when he took the first steps toward discovering a cause that would drive the next 15 years of his life.
Before a sold-out audience of 1,200 people in the new Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building at UT Dallas, Edsel recently described his journey through time, history and heroism in the rescue of thousands of art treasures.
Tickets
Tickets are still available for Christian Belady's appearance, as well as the rest of the serie ... Read More
UT Dallas Social Media Expert to Attend, Live-Tweet State of the Union
Dr. Janet Johnson
Dr. Janet Johnson’s research has centered on the relationship between social media and politics. Now, Johnson will have a first-hand opportunity to see her research brought to life.
The White House has selected the clinical assistant professor to attend and “live-tweet" the State of the Union, which will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to bring practical experience to my research,” said Johnson, who teaches in the Emerging Media and Communication program. “Tweeting from the White House will not only enhance my studi ... Read More
Professor to Perform Lead Role in Abraham Zobell’s Home Move: Final Reel
Arts and Humanities Professor Fred Curchak will perform the lead role in Abraham Zobell’s Home Move: Final Reel by Len Jenkin. This World Premiere is produced by Undermain Theatre at the Dallas City Performance Hall. Undermain is offering UT Dallas students special $10. discount tickets for performances on January 19, 23, 24, 25, 26. Call for tickets: 214 747-5515
From three-time Obie-winner Len Jenkin, Abraham Zobell’s Home Movie: Final Reel… is a play about a man on a Pilgrimage to the Sea, propelled on his journey through song, with the help of a live band, and video ... Read More
Reynolds' Publication Now Available in Ebook Format
Clay Reynolds’ collection of personal essays, Of Snakes and Sex and Playing in the Rain, has been reissued in e-book format by Baen publishers. This collection, originally published in limited edition in 2007 by Stone River Press, a small literary publishing company, contains Reynolds’ observations on such subjects as coffee, urban legends, children’s literature, and , of course, writing. Ranging from the ironic to the serious, the volume emerges from the best of Reynolds’ previously published pieces of nonfiction and marks the completion of republication of all his original book-lengt ... Read More
New Publications from Creative Writing Department
Faculty from the creative writing department have published new works over the summer, including a book-length collection of short stories.
In his new book titled, Vox Populi, Dr. Clay Reynolds, director of creative writing a UT Dallas, puts himself in the shoes of a nameless and sometimes hapless narrator that moves through a series of casual encounters, mostly in the Southwest, with total strangers, average people going about day-to-day, often mundane activities.
“Once in a while, you just need to write a book that’s just for fun. This is one of those books. I hope that those who b ... Read More
Doctoral Candidate is Awarded Fellowship for Cultural Research
The American Association of University Women has awarded Lilian Calles Barger, a doctoral candidate in the School of Arts and Humanities, the American Dissertation Fellowship for 2013-2014.
"I am thrilled to have value ascribed to my project so early in the process. With the support of my committee, the fellowship allows me the opportunity to apply sustained focus in sharpening my arguments and renews the hope of family and friends that I will finish," Barger said.
Barger's dissertation, "Human Liberation from Below: Transnational Origins of Liberation Theology, 1775-1975," provides a c ... Read More
Robert Plant Armstrong Scholarship Promotes Student Success
For Katherine Jin MFA’12, graduate education may have been vastly different had she not received the generous Robert Plant Armstrong Scholarship. Jin, an international student focused on reexamining the role of photographic and video images in art, arrived at UT Dallas via Beijing and Canada. During her three years taking night classes, Jin endured five-hour round trips on public transportation from her home in Fort Worth to the University. Despite her commute, she is extremely appreciative of the support that allowed her to pursue her education. “It was an honor to receive the scholar ... Read More
ATEC program named one of the top graduate game design programs in the nation
UT Dallas’ ATEC program was named by the Princeton Review as one of the top graduate game design program in the nation. The University was ranked 11th. Read more here.
THE PRINCETON REVIEW NAMES TOP UNDERGRAD AND GRAD SCHOOLS TO STUDY GAME DESIGN FOR 2013:
U-Utah #1 On Undergrad List / U-Southern Cal #1 on Grad List
NEW YORK, March 12, 2013 — The Princeton Review (www.princetonreview.com) — one of the nation’s best-known education services companies — today issued its fourth annual report naming the schools with the best programs to study video game design.
The r ... Read More
Eric R. Schlereth, "An Age of Infidels: The Politics of Religious Controversy in the Early United States" (Philadelphia: U. Pennsylvania Press, 2013)
Historian Eric R. Schlereth places religious conflict at the center of early American political culture. He shows ordinary Americans—both faithful believers and Christianity's staunchest critics—struggling with questions about the meaning of tolerance and the limits of religious freedom. In doing so, he casts new light on the ways Americans reconciled their varied religious beliefs with political change at a formative moment in the nation's cultural life.
After the American Revolution, citizens of the new nation felt no guarantee that they would avoid the mire of religious and political ... Read More
Guitar-Violin Duo to Make Texas Debut at UT Dallas
UT Dallas will present the Texas recital debut of Duo Sonidos on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m. in the Alexander Clark Center.
The event is free for students and open to the public.
The Duo consists of guitarist Adam Levin and violinist William Knuth. The two aim to bring new interpretations of chamber music to audiences across the globe while expanding the repertoire for violin and guitar.
Duo Sonidos will perform several original transcriptions of Baroque masterworks in the first half of their program, including pieces by J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, Arcangelo Corelli and Fritz Kreisler. ... Read More
Professor's work featured by the Academy of American Poets
A poem from creative writing prof Susan Briante has been selected by the Academy of American Poets for their Poem-A-Day program.
Briante's poetry has appeared in more than 90 journals including New American Writing, TriQuarterly, and Ploughshares as well as been featured on the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day website and as part of the Poetry in Motion project. Her creative non-fiction has been published in The Believer, Creative Non-Fiction, and Rethinking History. read the poem ... Read More
School Recognizes Faculty, Staff, Alumni with Annual Awards
From left: Assistant Professor Todd Fechter, Dean Dennis Kratz and Professor Emeritus Victor Worsfold. Fechter was selected as the Victor Worsfold Teacher of the Year.
The School of Arts and Humanities has named ATEC Assistant Professor Todd Fechter the Victor Worsfold Teacher of the Year.
Fechter, who has experience working in television and film production, teaches courses in 3D computer animation in the school’s Arts and Technology (ATEC) program. He created the first online ATEC computer animation digital class archive, providing unlimited access to course materials and examp ... Read More
Holiday Sing Continues Longtime Cultural Tradition on Campus
The UT Dallas Chamber Singers, Community Chorale and Wind Ensemble will present the 36th annual Holiday Sing performance this Saturday at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre.
The free concert, UT Dallas’ oldest continuous cultural tradition, is this year titled, A Mostly Baroque Christmas.
“It is a joy to see the community come together every year to celebrate the holiday season and raise their voices in song. Our annual event has become one of the most popular concerts of the season and a delight for children and adults alike,” said Kathryn Evans, who directs the UT Dallas Ch ... Read More
Dr. Alma Bennett, who earned a PhD in the humanities from UT Dallas and was named a distinguished alumni in 2008, passed away
Dr. Alma Bennett, 71, professor of English and humanities, died Oct. 18 from complications associated with kidney cancer. A graveside service was held Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. in the Mizpah Cemetery in Durant, Miss. A memorial service will be held at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts at 2 p.m., Dec. 2. A member of the Clemson faculty since 1991, Bennett was known as a generous scholar and mentor. Author of a book on the writer Mary Gordon, she also edited a collection of conversations with Gordon and published numerous articles on subjects as wide-ranging as Dante and the photographic art ... Read MoreProfessor Re-issues Work in Ebook Format
2011 Spur Award winner and UT Dallas professor Clay Reynolds has re-issued all his works of fiction in ebook format. The ebooks include the historical western and Pulitzer and WWA Spur Award finalist and Violet Crown-winning novel Franklin’s Crossing, along with the historical western The Tentmaker, and novels set in contemporary or near-contemporary times, Monuments, Ars Poetica , Threading the Needle, Players, Agatite, and The Vigil. Larry McMurtry has called Reynolds’ work “ambitious and absorbing.” Reynolds’s novels, which are often set in the American West, are known for ... Read MoreDirector of UT Dallas Asia Center Receives 2012 Constellation Award
Monique Wedderburn, director of the UT Dallas Asia Center, has received a 2012 Constellation Award from The Asian American Contractors Association of Texas (AACATX). Wedderburn was recognized with the Venus Award, which is presented to a woman-owned company or woman that significantly impacts the growth of AACATX members. She received the award at the Second Annual AACATX Awards Luncheon on October 23, 2012. The AACATX awards are designed to thank and highlight those who are giving outstanding opportunities to minority business enterprises. more ... Read MoreFaculty to perform at Undermain Theater in Dallas
BURYING OUR FATHER: A Biblical Debacle Written by Fred Curchack Performed by Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen Wednesdays through Saturdays – October 31 to November 17 Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm ($15.) Fridays at 8:15pm ($20.) and Saturdays at 8:15pm ($25.) Senior, Student, KERA & Group discounts available Tickets: (214) 747-5515 www.undermain.org for easy fee-free online ticketing Undermain Theatre 3200 Main Street. Dallas, TX 75226 (between Hall & Exposition in Deep Ellum) Free attended parking at Trunk & Main ... Read MoreMusical Features Faculty's Original Compositions
Frankenstein the Musical is in a revival production at Dallas' historic Pocket Sandwich Theater. The show's composer is UT Dallas music faculty member Mary Medrick, who originally wrote the score in 1984, a collaboration with the theater's founder and the play's author Rodney Dobbs. A rather spooky musical comedy, the show begins with 19-year-old Mary Shelley, struggling to compete in a ghost storytelling contest with her husband Percy and the infamous Lord Byron, among others. Shelley finds herself dreaming the enduring legend of the creature, with each of her real life associates showing up ... Read MoreProfessor's Book Becomes Hollywood Movie
Dr. Matt Bondurant’s 2008 book, The Wettest County in the World, has made the leap to the big screen, and on Wednesday, Aug. 29, the film adaptation opened in theaters in a movie called, Lawless, starring Shia LaBeouf. Read more. ... Read MoreElectronic Fashion Camp
Amy Pickup, an EMAC grad, is putting on a 3-day camp for young girls interested in engineering, technology and fashion. Campers will discover how microcontrollers work and create their own electronic fashion project using the LilyPad Arduino, a sewable microcontroller that bridges technology and the arts. The camp will be held August 1-3, 2012 at Oil & Cotton in the Bishop Arts District. We're looking for smart and courageous young girls, ages 12-14, to come experiment with female engineers, technologists, media experts and fashionistas to create one-of-a-kind LilyPad Arduino projects ... Read MoreMegan Gray: Undergraduate Advisor of the Year
Megan Gray has been named the 2011-2012 Undergraduate Advisor of the Year. UT Dallas recognized Gray’s excellence in advising with an award of $1,000. "I would like to offer a huge thank you to my students. It is a privilege to get to journey with such a stellar group of people. They, and my colleagues, make the School of Arts and Humanities a fantastic place to work," said Gray. ... Read MoreStudents receive Jonelle and Bryce Jordan Scholarships
Eleven students from the School of Arts and Humanities will receive a total of $15,750, thanks to the Jonelle and Bryce Jordan Scholarship Fund. The fund's annual awards support undergraduate students in music, theater, dance, creative writing, visual arts, and arts and technology. The 2012-2013 recipients will each receive up to $2,500. This year's winners include: Visual Arts Narongsukchai Tintamusik Luke Harnden Pierre Krause Dana Lieja Katherine Crowell Music William Vulcan Eli Alderink Sarah Martinez Creative Writing Robert Howell ATEC Caroline Curley Devin Ew ... Read MoreReadings, Choral Performance to Wrap Up Arts Fest
Prizes Awarded to Students for Best Photography, Painting and Multimedia Works
May 11, 2012
Clair Sumption won best black and white photo with her piece Vicissitude.
The Student Art Spring Festival comes to a close this weekend with readings from creative writing students and the year’s final choral concert.
The festival kicked off last week with the student visual art show, which featured more than 40 works from students enrolled in arts courses. Heyd Fontenot, director of CentralTrak, UT Dallas’ artist residency and gallery, juried the exhibition. Fontenot ... Read More
Creative Writing Students to Spend Summer Working on Craft
Program Boasts List of Student Publications for School Year Lily Ounekeo and Susan Norman, graduate students in the School of Arts and Humanities, have both been accepted to the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Working closely with faculty and a core group of peer writers, Ounekeo and Norman will generate new work and revise work in progress. Admission to the workshop is competitive and drawn from faculty nominations. Norman also will have a short story, "Casco on the Foam Planet," published by the celebrated literary journal, Lite ... Read MoreFest to Feature Colors, Sounds of Spring Arts Classes
It’s spring and hence time for students to show off their creative work from more than 40 School of Arts and Humanities courses. The Student Arts Spring Festival gives audiences the opportunity to take in classical music, jazz, theater, dance, guitar, piano and vocal performances, as well as an art exhibition and reception. The festival, which involves the work of more than 600 students, starts Thursday and stretches over two weeks. Full story available from the UT Dallas News Center. ... Read MoreModern Trombone Master to Jazz Up Campus
Hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz will come to campus Friday night when acclaimed trombonist Wycliffe Gordon performs. Gordon will play at 8 p.m., April 27, in the Alexander Clark Center. The band will include UT Dallas faculty member Kelly Durbin on piano, James Gilyard on bass and Steve Barnes on drums. Gordon is a modern master of the plunger mute, a jazz device that gives brass instruments a distinct sound. Gordon’s technique and signature style have earned him the title of “Trombonist of the Year” from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011. ... Read MoreWinner of 1st Annual Sherry Clarkson Prize Announced: Terje Saar-Hambazaza
Congratulations to Terje Saar-Hambazaza, the winner of the first annual Sherry Clarkson prize for the best conference paper or presentation at the RAW Symposium. The prize is named in honor of Ms. Sherry Clarkson, who served for many years as the Graduate Coordinator in the School of Arts and Humanities. The pool of submissions was quite strong, which shows the quality of this year's presentations. This year's winner is Terje Saar-Hambazaza for "'You're Scared of Me Just Because I'm Myself': Anzia Yezierska and the Reconciling of Multiple Identities." This presentation exemplified the quali ... Read MoreATEC Nurse Training Simulations Singled Out for Awards
Two nursing education research projects developed by the Institute for Interactive Arts and Engineering (IIAE) at UT Dallas in collaboration with the UT Arlington College of Nursing have received national and state recognition this spring.
NursingAP.com uses interactive technology and virtual environments to help graduate students study for practitioner degrees and certifications.
One project — “Can Game Play Teach Student Nurses How to Save Lives?” — has been named a 2012 Computerworld Honors Laureate. This game-based simulation uses 3D infant patients in a synthetic e ... Read More
Interdisciplinary Professor Embodies Blend of Arts, Science
For years, UT Dallas has sought to fuse its long-held strengths in technology with the creativity of the arts and humanities. That philosophical blend is embodied by a new professor who is a champion for interdisciplinary academics.
Dr. Roger F. Malina
Dr. Roger F. Malina is a physicist, astronomer and executive editor of Leonardo publications at MIT Press. He serves in two of the University’s schools, as a distinguished professor of arts and technology in the School of Arts and Humanities, and as a professor of physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
... Read More
Natalie Ring and Stephanie Cole (co-editors), "The Folly of Jim Crow: Rethinking the Segregated South" (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012)
Although the origins, application, and socio-historical implications of the Jim Crow system have been studied and debated for at least the last three-quarters of a century, nuanced understanding of this complex cultural construct is still evolving, according to Stephanie Cole and Natalie J. Ring, co-editors of The Folly of Jim Crow: Rethinking the Segregated South. Indeed, they suggest, scholars may profit from a careful examination of previous assumptions and conclusions along the lines suggested by the studies in this important new collection.
Based on the March 2008 Walter Prescott Webb ... Read More
Arts Week Covers Topics Spanning From China to Dallas
UT Dallas winds up its March arts calendar with explorations of such diverse subject matter as the state of the arts in Dallas and the status of Judaism in China.
All events for the week are free and open to the public.
Xu Xin
Kicking off the events will be a talk Wednesday, March 28, titled, “The Jewish Diaspora in China,” by Dr. Xu Xin, director of the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies at Nanjing University.
The guest speaker is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Dean of the Institute of Jewish Studies at Nanjing University in China. He is al ... Read More
Grad Students to Share Work at Humanities Symposium
More than 50 graduate students from a number of universities will gather this weekend at UT Dallas to share their work and discuss the future of the humanities.
The RAW conference gives students a chance to collect feedback from panel moderators and audience members.
The RAW: Research, Art, Writing symposium, sponsored by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) in the School of Arts and Humanities, offers students a chance to present their scholarly and creative work and receive feedback from panel moderators and audience members.
The interdisciplinary symposium also features ... Read More
Artist Transcends Boundaries Between Music, Space and Memory
The song begins in the horn, forms at either end of this 16-foot-long structure, and moves to 14 speakers in the "body" of the piece as the music swells and distorts.
Deborah Aschheim’s art crosses boundaries and traditional subjects – she connects the invisible worlds of memory and sound with the tangible reality of bodies and buildings. Her exhibit,Method of Loci, opens at CentralTrak on Saturday, March 10, at 8 p.m.
The show takes it name from a method of memory enhancement that uses visualization to organize and recall information. The project has led her to collaborate with mus ... Read More
Guitar Fans and Virtuosos to Gather for Competition
The School of Arts and Humanities is holding its 11th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festivalon March 2-3. The competition will showcase the playing of internationally known classical guitarists and award $8,000 in cash prizes to competition winners.
Duo Melis performs at the 11th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival.
Guest artists this year include Jeff Cogan and Duo Melis.
Jeff Cogan will present “Buying a World Class Guitar.” Cogan served as director of the Guitar Foundation of America’s international guitar competition for more than 20 years.
Duo ... Read More
Novelist Prof to Share Latest Creation at Lecture
The Night Swimmer What do you get when you mix a deep-sea swimmer, a troubled marriage, an Irish pub and a goat that walks upright on two legs? The answer is Dr. Matt Bondurant’s third novel, The Night Swimmer. Bondurant, assistant professor in creative writing and literature, will discuss his new book Wednesday, Feb. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Jonsson Performance Hall. “I'm glad to have the opportunity to share my work with the DFW community, and particularly the students at UT Dallas. I feel it is a public testament to our mission as educators and artists, to provide these kinds of eve ... Read MorePhotography Exhibit Opens Eclectic Arts Week at UT Dallas
The opening of Affinities, a new exhibit of images from the Jerry and Marilyn Comer Photography Collection, will kick off a varied week of arts events at UT Dallas.
Luis Mallo, Passengers, included in the Comer Collection
The exhibit's opening reception is Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 2 p.m. in the University Theatre Gallery.
The Comer Collection captures scenes of American life from the middle to late 20th century. Jerry Comer, who earned a master’s degree in management from UT Dallas in 1977, donated his personal collection of photos to the University in 2004.
Photos in the ... Read More
The Academy of American Poets named Susan Briante's "Utopia Minus" one of its Notable Books of 2011
Ahsahta Press, 2011 Through poems that posit the constructed landscapes of American cities as their vantage points, Briante’s second collection is a study of collapse and what gets built up again after the breakdown. Rachel Levitsky notes that Briante is a “detritus artist, a gleaner working in the banal of the contemporary world, molding the pieces she finds into vivid mosaics.” The sites of these poems are strip malls, chain stores, and Ground Zero, but the commentary on urban sprawl and capitalism in the collection is beautifully balanced by rich glimpses of the personal. In the ... Read MoreEmerging Media Prof David Parry contributes to article on "cloud-based personal-storage services"
Sitting on Cloud Mine In a mobile world, cloud-based personal-storage services make it easier to manage documents across devices, and to collaborate with peers and students. If your pockets are so stuffed with student thumb drives that they bulge like a squirrel's cheeks…you know it's time for a change. If the presentation on your desktop bears little resemblance to the version on your laptop…you know it's time for a change. It sounds like the lead-in to a comedy routine, but it's no laughing matter when you realize you've been working on an outdated file for hours. Fortunately, like a g ... Read MoreVideo Game to Help U.S. Troops Wins New Award
For the third time in two years, the First Person Cultural Trainer (FPCT), a research project from the UT Dallas Arts and Technology (ATEC) program, has won a national award for serious gaming.
FPCT received the Best Game award in the Government Category of the 2011 Serious Games Showcase and Challenge. FPCT is sponsored by U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command G-2 Intelligence Support (TRADOC). The Serious Games Showcase is part of the Interservice/Interindustry Training and Simulation Education Conference (I/ITSEC), and was held in Orlando, Fla., from November 28 through December ... Read More
Exhibit to Examine Sound as Art and Image
The School of Arts and Humanities opens its spring season by examining the relationship between sound and art with the mixed-media exhibit Sonic Architectonic.
Curated by visual arts faculty member Lorraine Tady, the exhibit features both local and national artists who work directly with noise or frequency, examining what is heard or felt through sound waves, and some who work with images that suggest sound. Other artists in the exhibit anticipate our relationship to sound by addressing our expectations and cognitive reflexes.
96-Tears no. 3 by John Pomara, professor of visual ar ... Read More
Art Exhibit to Showcase Works of 6 UT Dallas Women
Danielle Georgiou and Hillary Holsonback are both current residents at CentralTrak, UT Dallas’ artist residency and gallery.
Six emerging female artists, all current or former UT Dallas students, are presenting their work together in the exhibit A Fraudulent Desire to Exist.
The show, which is curated by UT Dallas professors John Pomara and Greg Metz, features the work of Cassandra Emswiler, Danielle Georgiou, Emily Loving, Hillary Holsonback, Robin Myrick and Sally Glass.
The opening reception for the show will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, at Steve Paul Productions, ... Read More
UT Dallas Dance Resident Named a Top Performance of the Year by Theater Jones
John-Mario Sevilla Residency Performance, University of Texas at Dallas at UTD's University Theatre, Richardson (March 10) How Mr. Sevilla managed to get away with gags like shoving a cake into a friend's mouth in Pie in the Sky could be explained only by comic timing and an atmosphere of the surreal. Other than that bit of nuttiness, the program had the advantage of some stellar dancing and fast action. Read more… ... Read MoreAwards Recognize A&H Staff, Faculty and Alumni
The School of Arts and Humanities has recently recognized outstanding faculty, staff and alumni with a number of awards. “The recipients are dedicated, effective and deservedly award-winning teachers, staff and alumni who are improving the lives of students and the community,” said Dr. Dennis M. Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. Dr. Dan Wickberg, associate professor of history, was named the Victor Worsfold Teacher of the Year. “I am humbled by this recognition. It is a great honor and a confirmation of my methods and goals as teacher,” said Wickberg. ... Read MoreFilm Professor Unwraps a Box of Holiday Movie Classics
Dr. Adrienne L. McLean, professor of film studies at The University of Texas at Dallas, has compiled a list of her top movies for the holiday season.
“The most significant films are likely to be those that you and your family have turned into traditions yourselves,” said McLean.
She says some families might watch Stephen King horror movies every holiday, and others might be theater bound for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which opens Dec. 21 but which is obviously not a celebration-themed family flick.
The holidays are also probably marked as much by favorite television shows ... Read More
CentralTrak Artist’s Exhibit Maps Sound to Image
Shannon Novak began his artistic career as a pianist – he composed and performed his own music at an early age. When he started working in the visual arts, however, he didn’t anticipate that his musical training would inform his craft.
Novak’s exhibit at the CentralTrak gallery, One Song, Three Composers, uses geometric forms to represent the intersections of sound, color, form, time, space and social context.
The installation examines sound as exploding outward from a focal point of three pianos set in a triangle. The three pianos represent the fusion of three theories that rela ... Read More
Staff Awards Recognize Outstanding Service to UT Dallas
Whenever a smoke detector or a fire alarm on campus is set off, whether it is during the day or at three in the morning, Rey Salinas is one of the first to respond.
Salinas, who works with the department of Environmental Health and Safety at UT Dallas as the occupational general safety coordinator, was recognized alongside five other staff employees during the semi-annual CARE Awards ceremony this month.
President David E. Daniel presented each award recipient with a clock and certificate of appreciation.
From left: CARE Award recipients Rey Salinas (Environmental Health and Safet ... Read More
Festival to Showcase Creativity from UT Dallas Arts Courses
Starting this week, more than 600 UT Dallas students from more than 40 courses will be sharing their art with the public as part of The Student Art Fall Festival.
The festival, which stretches across two weeks, invites audiences to roam from one building to another, taking in classical, jazz, dance, guitar, piano and vocal performances, as well as an art exhibition and reception.
Highlights for the festival include a concert by Musica Nova, which features the University’s Advanced Orchestra/ Chamber Music Ensemble. Students will perform with UT Dallas faculty and other professional ... Read More
CentralTrak Hosts Family Day: December 3
On Saturday, December 3, CentralTrak will be hosting a family day in the gallery, for parents and their children to come in an experience the current exhibit, "One Song, Three Composers," in an unique way. The gallery will be transformed into a workshop space for families to create their own color collages in response to visiting artist Shannon Novak's work. The collages that are created will be transcribed and played by a musician. This activity works toward the theory of synesthesia—the idea that one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound pro ... Read MoreGlasstire Reviews Seriality Exhibition, curated by John Pomara
Seriality, curated by John Pomara, presents the work of ten primarily North Texas artists who embrace seriality through form, process and content. more ... Read MoreTranslation Honors Awarded at ALTA’s Annual Conference
The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), which is housed at UT Dallas, presented top awards to two separate collections of poetry at its annual conference, held in Kansas City on Nov. 17.
Lisa Rose Bradford received the 2011 National Translation Award for her translation of Between Words: Juan Gelman’s Public Letter (Coimbra Editions, 2010). The $5,000 prize is given annually to the translator whose work, by virtue of both its quality and significance, has made the most valuable contribution to literary translation.
Lisa Rose Bradford won the National Translation A ... Read More
Sci-Fi Writer Imagines a Future Without Capitalism
A look at capitalism's future by science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson leads off a series of UT Dallas arts events in a week that also includes a dance performance, jazz concert and an art exhibit opening. Best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy, Robinson will give a talk Wednesday, Nov. 16, titled Valuing the Earth and Future Generations: Imagining Post Capitalism. Robinson argues that our current economic system undervalues both the environment and future human generations and leaves us ill-prepared for future changes. “The problem is that the future is so hard to ima ... Read MoreInternet Creates Digital Portal into Private Lives
At the dawning of the Internet age, some believed the vast digital network would put unlimited freedom at everyone’s fingertips.
But connecting the world has brought watchful eyes, as the Internet also created digital portals into the private lives of the masses.
This unintended consequence is discussed in Ubiquitous Surveillance, a new digital publication edited by Dr. David Parry.
Dr. David Parry
“Advances in technology, an increasingly regulated and monitored digital network, and a general atmosphere of securitization have yielded a world of ubiquitous, if not always vi ... Read More
Broadway Tune Fest is Back for a 4th Year
The UT Dallas Chamber Singers and students from the Musical Theatre Workshop will take a trip to Broadway this week with a family-friendly concert, Best of Broadway IV. The performance will feature songs and choruses from the shows Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie Get Your Gun, State Fair, A Little Night Music and Legally Blonde. Kathryn Evans, head of vocal and choral music at UT Dallas, has directed the performance since its inaugural season. “Five years ago, I did a concert for Halloween that combined classical choruses and ‘creepy’ Broadway show tunes,” said Evan ... Read MoreConfucius Institute Events to Explore China's Culture
China’s breathtaking mountains, graceful visual arts and historic emergence from a feudal past are all subjects to be explored during Chinese Culture Week. Visiting Chinese scholars will shed light on their country’s cultural and aesthetic traditions in a series of events organized by the UT Dallas Confucius Institute. Delivering the first lecture will be Chinese cultural scholar Kam Louie, dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Hong Kong. Louie will discuss “Confucius in China and Abroad” on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall. Louie is ... Read MoreA&H Faculty Member, Susan Briante, Interviewed by The Poetry Foundation
“I wish more poets would talk about money,” writes Susan Briante, assistant professor at UT Dallas, in an essay called Notes Towards the Poetics of the Dow. And some do, certainly. Philip Larkin listened to it sing. Howard Nemerov dissected a nickel (figuratively). The poets of Occupy Wall Street seem to be unstoppable. But Briante has approached the poetics of the economy with a singular focus in the past few years, adopting the stock market as an inspiration, a character, and a poem generator. At first, the stock market hovered in the background of her poems, a specter troubling ... Read MorePhilosophers' Lessons on Aging Lead Off A&H Events
What do the sages of antiquity have to tell a modern audience about growing old? More than we may realize, says William B. Irvine, author of A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy.
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine, Oct. 26.
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber, Oct. 27.
The Wright State University philosophy scholar will lecture Wednesday, Oct. 26, about the Stoic philosophers’ advice on aging well.
The presentation is a collaboration between two UT Dallas centers: the Center for Vital Longev ... Read More
Halloween Screenings: Film Prof Picks Top 5 Scary Flicks
To help make the most of the Halloween season, Dr. Adrienne L. McLean, professor offilm studies at UT Dallas, has compiled a list of her favorite horror films.
“These films will, if you allow yourself to succumb to them, scare you rigid, not from blood or gore, but from what you sometimes cannot (and will never) see, what you must imagine, situations that are disturbing, things that may or not be real or possible,” said McLean.
“Even when they make you giggle at one or another of their implausibilities or, in the case of the older films, general campiness, you will likely find you ... Read More
University Celebrates Achievements of Recently Published Professors
Faculty members who are also published authors were the focus of a recent McDermott Library celebration. The 6th Annual Faculty Author Reception recognized 16 writers and nine editors of books published during the last academic year.
Dr. David Patterson (left) celebrates publication of his book A Genealogy of Evil: Anti-Semitism from Nazism to Islamic Jihad with Dr. Susan Chizeck and Dr. William Pervin.
Dr. Nils Roemer, a professor of historical studies in the School of Arts and Humanities, had the busiest publishing year. He wrote German City, Jewish Memory: The Story of Worms ... Read More
The University of Texas at Dallas Hosts Huawei (USA)
The University of Texas at Dallas recently hosted representatives from Huawei Technology Co. Ltd. University leaders held preliminary meetings aimed at increasing understanding of their organizations. Mr. Cui and Mr. Xun toured the University of Texas at Dallas and met with Deans Kratz, Pirkul and Spong to gain first-hand knowledge of the Schools research and program activities and to identify ways for potential collaboration.
Huawei employs 110,000 people worldwide and is the world’s second largest producer of telecoms equipment. Huawei’s main headquarters is located in Shenzhen, China ... Read More
Border Expert to Examine Drug Cartel Problem
Sylvia Longmire, a former Air Force special agent and a senior intelligence analyst for the state of California, will shed light on a timely, violent issue when she presents a lecture Wednesday, Oct. 19, based on her new book, Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico’s Drug Wars.
The consultant and writer speaks at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Cartel examines the drug cartel problem from its roots in Mexico to its consequences felt throughout North America.
Channeling her long experience working on border issues, Longmire will ... Read More
Exhibit Seeks the Beautiful Amid the Bureaucratic
On Saturday at 7 p.m., CentralTrak will host the opening reception for CIncArt: The Convention on Incorporated Art. CIncArt is a group exhibition highlighting 10 contemporary art projects within a trade show format. “It has become commonplace for artists to create work in the form of bureaus, laboratories, museums, companies, etc.,” said Tom Russotti, CentralTrak resident and curator of the exhibition. “Artists, artist groups and art projects variously employ the forms and techniques of organizational structures in both their work and practice. CIncArtexamines this phenomenon ... Read MoreClassical Concert to Feature Trio in Residence at UT Dallas
The Clavier Trio will perform “Café Music” by American composer Paul Schoenfield, as well as works by Joseph Haydn and Johannes Brahms, in a concert Friday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall.
The Clavier Trio is the ensemble in residence at UT Dallas.
The Clavier Trio is the current ensemble in residence at the University.
Its members include cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi, pianist David Korevaar and Dallas Symphony Orchestra violinist Arkady Fomin.
The Clavier Trio formed at the Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, Colo., in 1997 and performed in the ... Read More
2 Students Write Their Way to the Top in State Contest
Two UT Dallas students have won top prizes in the Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers (TACWT) Student Competition.
Dr. Betty Wiesepape
Sara Keeth, a student enrolled in Dr. Betty Wiesepape’s creative nonfiction class, took first place in the graduate creative non-fiction competition. Michael J. Kaufman, a student in Dr. Matt Bondurant’s creative writing fiction class, took third in the undergraduate fiction category.
Dr. Matt Bondurant
“Michael demonstrated an ability to enter strange, exotic worlds and tell compelling stories with an ease and author ... Read More
Arts Options Abound for Visitors on Family Day
Family Day weekend returns to campus this year on Saturday, Oct. 1, and brings with it multiple arts and entertainment options for parents and relatives to sample after they tour the University’s new buildings and facilities.
“Family day is an opportunity for parents and other family members to return to campus to spend time with their students,” said Cynthia Jenkins, assistant vice president for student affairs. “We host these special events so they can share time together while catching up on the happenings of the semester so far.”
Arts attractions include two musical perfor ... Read More
The School of Arts and Humanities announces: The Gavin Hambly Scholarship Competition, 2011
A $500 scholarship, awarded annually in honor of the late distinguished historian of the Ancient Near East and Mughal India and beloved professor of Historical Studies at UT Dallas. Only Historical Studies majors with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible. A student can become a candidate for this scholarship by self-application or by nomination by a faculty member in Arts and Humanities. In the first scenario, the student must submit a 250-word personal statement and secure two academic letters of reference. The second scenario is slightly more elaborate: The student must be nominated by an ... Read MoreCentralTrak Invites Weekend Visitors to Look as Well as Listen
CentralTrak, the University of Texas at Dallas artist residency and gallery, will offer art to be seen as well as heard in two free events this weekend.
“I hope for a good turnout,” said Heyd Fontenot, the director of CentralTrak. “We want people to come see the space where UT Dallas students live and work.”
On Friday, in a mix of poetry and painting, Mike Guinn will offer a spoken-word performance related to art hanging at the gallery. The featured artist is El Franco Lee II, whose socially reflective paintings confront controversial and unsettling subject matter— ... Read More
Guest Instructors Help Dance Students Stretch Skills
Coming to UT Dallas for an extensive residency program, Birgitt Bodingbauer and Simone Grindel will work closely with students to share insights on their artistic method.
Birgitt Bodingbauer
These two award-winning choreographers from Berlin will perform some of their own works as well as choreograph pieces for UT Dallas dance students.
“This is a new experience – working with this number of students in a new language is a challenge, but I’m feeding off the student’s energy – they’re shaping the performance themselves,” said Bodingbauer, who started a dance company i ... Read More
UT Dallas Art Students Slated for Busy Weekend of Openings
UT Dallas artists have a number of exhibits opening this weekend. Students will be showing their work all over the Dallas area in a variety of settings from McKinney to the Dallas Design District. All the events are free and open to the public.
"Social Studies": Visual Arts Building
Reception 6:30-8:30 p.m., Sept. 9
Exhibit open through Oct. 16
Artists: Holly Gaskins, Christopher Grider, Kerry Hennigin, Hillary Holsonback, Ronit Ilan, Melanie Levin, Emily Loving, Vargha Manshadi, Cynthia Miller, Amy Pickup, Lori Snyder, Lupita Murillo Tinnen, David Witherspoon
•
... Read More
Professor to Share Impressionism Expertise Abroad
Dr. Richard R. Brettell, professor of art and aesthetic studies, has been awarded the 2011 Humanitas Visiting Professorship in the History of Art at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Brettell, who holds the Margaret M. McDermott Distinguished Chair in Art and Aesthetic Studies at UT Dallas, will give a lecture series at Cambridge titled, Is There Anything Left to Say About Impressionism? The series will include three lectures and one symposium between Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. Brettell’s first lecture, Impressionism and Anarcho-Syndicalism: The Suppressed Politics of an Apolitical ... Read MoreSongs in the Key of Life: UT Vocal Quintet Offers Up "The Meaning of Life"
"If classical music in general suffers from the perception of elitism, then early music groups suffer more than most from that dreaded label. Even most classical music buffs are not interested, mostly because they don't know much about it and fear two hours of boredom... Not so, insists Kathryn C. Evans,...this music was sort of the ABBA, well maybe the Four Seasons, of its time" read more ... Read MoreUT Dallas Student Exhibit Featured at Mckinney Art Walk
Please join us at Second Floor Gallery, Saturday, September 10, for the reception of student exhibition, Solvent 2! The gallery will be open all day as a participant in downtown McKinney's monthly second Saturday art walk. The evening reception from 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm will feature live music and drinks. ... Read MoreAckerman Center’s Friends Lend a Hand
Generous support from several donors recently helped furnish the new home of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies. The new center contains a media room, a secondary site for the Arnold A. Jaffe Holocaust Library Collection and a computer lab—all of which make studying one of the most important and tragic periods in history more accessible. Funds raised by the Ackerman Center’s Advisory Council furnished the offices in the Erik Jonsson Building with everything from video screens and artwork to couches and conference tables. “Our advocates have equipped us with resources and too ... Read MoreProfessor Explores Dynamics of Online Networking
Birds of a feather flock together in cyberspace.
At least that’s what Dr. Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communication at UT Dallas, has shown in a research article published in the journal First Monday.
Examining an online community using social network analysis, Shen tested the social drivers that shaped the collaboration dynamics among a group of users from SourceForge, the largest open source community on the Web.
Peter Monge
Who Connects with Whom? A Social Network Analysis of an Online Open Source Software Community co-written by Pete ... Read More
UT Dallas PhD's Work Touches on Couple's Relationship
Miriam Friedman has penned books, short stories, poems and reviews, but lately she's been writing for the theater, including A Discussion of the 'L' Word, which runs through Sunday at Country Playhouse as part of the 21st annual "10x10" showcase of local dramatists. "It is so thrilling to see your words come to life on stage," said Friedman, who has a doctorate in humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas with a concentration in women's studies. One character in 'L' Word is called "Woman." The other character is "Man." "They're not married. They've just been living together ... Read MoreStudents Honored for Arts Accomplishments
Eleven students from the School of Arts and Humanities will receive a total of $16,000, thanks to the Jonelle and Bryce Jordan Scholarship Fund.
The fund's annual awards support undergraduate students in music, theater, dance, creative writing, visual arts, and arts and technology. The 2011 recipients will each receive up to $2,500.
“The students who were selected are extremely talented and contribute to the University and community in many ways," said Dr. Shelley D. Lane, associate dean of undergraduate education in the School of Arts and Humanities. "Their accomplishments are evide ... Read More
Video Showcases Faculty Member's Novel
Dr. Matt Bondurant talks about his book "The Wettest County in the World" and upcoming movie based on the book starring Shia Labeouf. Watch YouTube Video ... Read MoreDallas Gallery selects UT Dallas Artists
The New Texas Talent Exhibit Juried show at Craighead Green Gallery in Dallas has chosen UT Dallas artists for its opening Saturday, Aug. 13, including: Adjunct Lecturer, Visual Arts: Mary Ellen Lacy ATEC grad student: Lori Robertson Current Visual Arts Student: Stephanie Hargrove UT Dallas Visual Arts alumni: Grant Billingsley ... Read MoreLiterature Professors Offer Book Lists to Beat the Heat
Triple-digit temperatures have discouraged poolside reading and sent many North Texans indoors.
UT Dallas literature experts have summertime book recommendations that promise distraction from the sweltering heat.
“What's needed for good summer reading is complicated plots, suspense and humor,” said Founders Professor of Arts and Humanities Dr. Frederick Turner.
Dr. Frederick Turner
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
“The ideal summer reading is Patrick O’Brian’s Napoleonic naval novel series about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin,” Turner says. ... Read More
CentralTrak Enters New Season With New Director
Centraltrak, a Deep Ellum artist residency and gallery that is part of the UT Dallas School of Arts and Humanities, has appointed Heyd Fontenot as its new director.
Fontenot studied radio-television-film production at UT Austin. He has more than 25 years’ experience in film production, including his most recent role as field producer for the History Channel’s Swamp People.
Heyd Fontenot is the new director of CentralTrak.
“CentralTrak’s environment and community of practicing artists creates quite an effect on what an artist makes and how they make it,” Fonten ... Read More
UT Dallas Mourns Arts Benefactor Nancy Hamon
The University of Texas at Dallas lost a friend and a supporter of arts scholarship when Dallas philanthropist and civic leader Nancy B. Hamon died Saturday at age 92.
Hamon’s generosity to the University dates back to 1970 and includes endowing a chair, supporting an extensive museum studies program, and contributing to the CentralTrak artist residency and gallery.
UT Dallas President David E. Daniel said: “Nancy Hamon was a great supporter of education and of UT Dallas. Many institutions benefited from her vision and desire to make Dallas a better place to live for all people. Wi ... Read More
ATEC Grad Students to Speak at Oxford Conference
Five graduate students in the UT Dallas Arts and Technology (ATEC) program will present their work at this week’s Global Conference on Videogame Cultures (VGC) at Oxford University in England. The conference, to be held at Mansfield College July 8-10, aims to explore the issues and implications created by the mass use of computers and videogames for entertainment. Participants will focus on the impact of innovative games for human communication and culture. The students and the papers they will present are: Jumanne Donahue, “The Cultural Connection: Capturing and Applying ... Read MoreProfessor Rounds Up Wild West Tales by Colorful Writer
Dr. Clay Reynolds, director of the Creative Writing program at UT Dallas, has compiled a collection of novelettes from the 19th-century novelist Edward Zane Carroll Judson – better known by his pen name Ned Buntline.
Reynolds’ compilation, The Hero of a Hundred Fights: Collected Stories from the Dime Novel King, from Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill Hickok, documents Buntline’s body of work as the so-called “King of the Dime Novel.”
Dr. Clay Reynolds is the director of the Creative Writing program at UT Dallas.
In the new book, Reynolds gives an in-depth introduction to Buntli ... Read More
Professor and Student Cross the Balkans for Poetry
In 1990, Gjekë Marinaj was fleeing through the mountains from his home country of Albania into the former Yugoslavia. He was being pursued by Albanian secret police with tracker dogs. Marinaj’s crime: writing a poem.
“Horses” was a thinly veiled satire on the totalitarian oppressive system of the time. The same day the poem was printed in the newspaper, Marinaj was ordered to police headquarters. He never showed.
Eventually, he made his way to the United States and is now working on his doctorate in literature at UT Dallas. His research and work involve the philosophy of transla ... Read More
ATEC Student's Whimsical Graphic Novel Takes Flight
Building on the design and animation skills she has developed in the Arts and Technology program, UT Dallas student Alyssa Lee recently published Candy on a Plane, her first graphic novel for children.
Candy on a Plane is Alyssa Lee's first graphic novel for children.
The book and a collection of art and animations – spawned from wondering, “What if clouds were made of cotton candy?” – has been a labor of love. Lee said, “I've worked on Candy on a Plane between classes since 2009, and several people have been following its development.”
The project grew into much ... Read More
UT Regents Approve Plans to Build ATEC a New Home
The UT System Board of Regents has approved construction of a 155,000-square-foot facility at UT Dallas that will house programs in visual arts, emerging media technology and multimedia communications, as well as a 1,200-seat auditorium. Designed as a showcase to the visual arts and a highly adaptable technology hub for the Arts and Technology program, the $60 million building is slated for completion in 2013. Dr. David E. Daniel, president of UT Dallas, said: “We are in a growth phase, and there has been a chokepoint for us in terms of new facilities. The building, with its 2,150 ne ... Read MoreATEC Prof Stages Audiovisual Exhibit in France
With a new exhibition in France, Dr. Frank Dufour, assistant professor of sound design in UT Dallas’ Arts and Technology (ATEC) program, has officially gone global.
“Acoustic Shadows: An Exploration of Sense of Space” is an experimental interactive sound installation Dufour created alongside wife Kristin Lee through the entity Agency 5970. The piece is currently on display at The Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence, France. Dufour worked on the sound and music aspects, while his wife tackled the visual side.
Dr. Frank Dufour
Two ATEC graduate students have been working with the ... Read More
The Family That Plays Together Stays Together?
“Get off the computer and go play outside.”
So go the words heard in homes around the country as parents and children clash over the social benefits of video games.
Dr. Cindy Shen
But parents needn’t worry so much, according to Dr. Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, an assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communication at UT Dallas. Her recent research article in the Communication Researchjournal argues that online games can actually bolster family communication.
“Even though most people think that spending large amounts of time playing online games can be harmful to one's soci ... Read More
ATEC Wins Multiple Honors for Training Games
Two recent projects developed by research teams within the Arts and Technology (ATEC) program at The University of Texas at Dallas have earned industry awards.
One award was presented at the GameTech 2011 Conference in Orlando, Fla., in March for the First Person Cultural Trainer or (FPCT), a 3D interactive training game that teaches soldiers the values and norms of Iraqi and Afghan cultures.
FPCT was honored for “designing and developing a training process that meets training objectives, engages the learner and provides creative training for our war fighters,” according to event ... Read More
Art Expert to Lead Discussion on Private Collecting
As part of a new series of community-centered events, the UT Dallas Development Board is hosting a presentation titled, “The Art of Private Collecting – The Texas Experience,” with Dr. Richard Brettell, Margaret M. McDermott Distinguished Chair in Art and Aesthetic Studies at UT Dallas. Brettell will share insights from his book From the Private Collections of Texas: European Art, Ancient to Modern from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Thursday, April 14 at the Dallas Museum of Art Horchow Auditorium. The event is free of charge and open to the public. Full story available from the UT Dallas New ... Read MorePhD Candidate Places Second in Art Competition
T.J. Griffin earned Second Prize at the 2011 Rising Eyes of Texas: an annual exhibition for undergraduate and graduate students emerging in the visual arts. ... Read MoreAckerman Center For Holocaust Studies Celebrates New Location
The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies has moved into a new home on the UT Dallas campus. Their new suite, on the 4th floor of the Jonsson Academic Center, hosts a media room, computer lab and lending library, which is "always full of students studying," according to Pfister. On Sunday, April 3, at 4 p.m., the Ackerman Center will host an open house to showcase the new surroundings. This event, held in the Arts and Humanities Foyer on the 4th floor of the Jonsson Academic Center, is open to the public - please RSVP to [email protected] ... Read MoreFaculty Member cast in play featured at Horton Foote Festival
Akin Babatunde will be playing "Doug" in "Dividing the Estate ," March 11 - April 9 at the Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre (2400 Flora Street, Dallas). The play is part of the Horton Foote Festival. A hit on Broadway last year, "Dividing the Estate" is a clear-eyed, witty portrayal of a family slow to surrender its sense of entitlement--and quick to start a feeding frenzy when the matriarch passes on. ... Read MoreGraduate Game Design Program Ranked in Top 10
The University of Texas at Dallas has been included in The Princeton Review's list of the “Top Schools for Video Game Design Study for 2011,” based on a survey of administrators at 150 schools offering video game design programs or degrees.
One game developed at ATEC gives military enlistees a virtual village where they can practice interacting with people of other cultures.
UT Dallas made the list of top 10 graduate programs for its innovative Arts and Technology (ATEC) program.
The Princeton Review – in conjunction with GamePro magazine – started ranking vide ... Read More
Graduate Guitar Student Strikes the Right Note
As The University of Texas at Dallas prepares to host visiting young guitarists at the 10th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival on March 4-5, one of the University’s own guitar students is earning accolades as well. 10th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival Renowned guitarist David Russell returns to UT Dallas. He will perform, along with Serbian-born guitarist Nemanja Ostoich, at the festival, which runs from March 4-5. For more information, visit the festival website. UT Dallas guitar graduate student and lecturer Eddie Healy recently had “Reflections” ... Read MoreCentralTrak Exhibit Ponders Race and Culture
What does black culture have to do with architecture? In “The Black Architecture Project,” a new exhibition at CentralTrak, architectural theorist and designer Darell W. Fields has set out to find some answers.
“Architecture is inherently social,” says Fields, a lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas and an artist in residence at the University's CentralTrak artist residency. “It is the most compelling demonstration of material culture.”
“But ‘real’ architecture is only a mask. ... The mask, always in a state of denial, must deny any black associations,” Field ... Read More
Author to Discuss Story of an Unwitting Medical Hero
Author Rebecca Skloot will visit The University of Texas at Dallas on Wednesday, March 2, to discuss her best-selling book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The lecture, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the UT Dallas Conference Center, is being offered by the University’s Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology in partnership with Arts & Letters Live, the Dallas Museum of Art’s literary and performing arts series. Skloot’s nonfiction book tells the story of tobacco farmer Lacks, a poor Baltimore mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 31. Doct ... Read MoreStudents Get Positive Review for Permanent Collection
The North Dallas Gazette, Tues., Feb. 22 by Rick A. Elina: "... Mr. North, a black character capably played by white actor, Jonathon Horne, has been named head of the Morris Foundation. From the first moment that Mr. North enters, he does so with strides so purposeful, there is little doubt that the new guard has now taken over the watch... Now enter Paul Barrow, a white character played by black actor Bill Hass... Mr. Hass convincingly portrays his character as a loyal protector of the past. The stage is now set for a clash between the old guard and the new. The object of their ensuing bat ... Read MoreVisiting Writer Is One-Man Multimedia Showcase
Mark Winegardner, who was hand-picked to write two sequels to Mario Puzo’s The Godfather and has published a number of other novels and short stories, will give a reading of new short fiction on Feb. 23 at The University of Texas at Dallas. The reading will be followed by a question-and-answer session on topics including fiction, writing, video games, graphic novels, digital arts and media, the future of publishing and, of course, The Godfather. The event is scheduled for 8 p.m. in Jonsson Performance Hall. “Mark is a good fit for us here at UT Dallas because of his wide-rangi ... Read MoreProfessor Draws Social Media Lessons from Egypt’s Revolt
Social media didn’t lead to the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, but this new system of communication certainly played a role in the process of the revolt. Dr. David Parry, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communication at The University of Texas at Dallas, argues that an Internet-equipped public is substantially different from a non-Internet-enabled one, and that while we haven’t been deluded by the Internet’s possibilities, we ought to be careful not to overestimate them. “What happened in Egypt and Tunisia would have looked much different, played out different ... Read MoreGame Creators Have Designs on Making Learning Fun
Two teams of Arts and Technology (ATEC) and Computer Science students from The University of Texas at Dallas have entered the first annual National STEM Video Game Challenge. Pick the Winning Game Winners won’t be announced until mid-March, but public voting for the STEM Video Game Challenge Voter’s Choice Award is open through Feb. 25. A person may "applaud" more than one submission, but only once per team. Click here to vote. More Online Could Playing Video Games at School Help Kids Learn More? Dr. Tom Linehan, director of Arts and Technology (ATEC) at UT Dallas, ... Read MoreFaculty Member Receives Honor for Essay
Dr. Monica Rankin's essay, "La ropa cósmica: Identity and Fashion in 1940s Mexico," published in Studies in Latin American Popular Culture (SLAPC), Vol. 28 (2010), has been selected as the "Honorable Mention" for the Twenty-Fifth Annual Carlos and Guillermo Vigil award given for the best article in each issue. The announcement of the honor will be made in the next issue of SLAPC, Vol. 29 (2011), scheduled to be in print by May of this year. ... Read MoreNew Video Exhibition at CentralTrak Explores What Happens When Things Go Wrong
Glitch exhibition Jan. 15 - Feb. 5 Technology is often seen as the answer to many problems, but it can also be the cause. Glitch is a video exhibition at CentralTrak, The University of Texas at Dallas Artists Residency, which highlights the recent investigations of a dynamic group of artists who are investigating digital error. What normally would be considered a malfunction of computers, networks and interfaces either by design or by accident is exploited here in dramatic fashion, whether through video, stills, or sound. Glitch explores the possibilities and spaces and moments that are ... Read MoreCharissa Terranova: Gallery Walk Through
You are invited to a gallery walk through with Charissa Terranova Thursday, January 27 at 6pm Dallas Contemporary 161 Glass Street Dallas, Texas 75207 214-821-2522 The event is free, please rsvp at [email protected] Listen to Charissa Terranova's perspective on current exhibition Christian Wulffen: Bridges and Constructions. Charissa N. Terranova is Assistant Professor of Aesthetic Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas. She lectures and teaches seminars on art and architectural history, theory, and criticism and media and new media theory. She is a scholarly wr ... Read MoreFilm Professor Takes a ‘Swan’ Dive into Ballerina Imagery
From White Nights to Billy Elliot, ballet has found its way, time and again, onto the silver screen and into the hearts of otherwise unlikely audiences. With Oscar nominations gracing Black Swan, ballet is once again on point in Hollywood and beyond. But the film isn’t all tutus and curtain calls – it reveals a darker shade of pink.
In her 2008 book Dying Swans and Madmen: Ballet, the Body, and Narrative Cinema, Dr. Adrienne L. McLean, professor of film and aesthetic studies at The University of Texas at Dallas, explores the symbiosis of ballet and film. Drawing on examples that ra ... Read More
Virtual Medical World Has Real-Life Value
Researchers from UT Dallas and the UT Arlington College of Nursing have created a virtual environment where graduate students can train online for the medical challenges that await them in the real world.
NursingAP.com is designed to help Advanced Practice Nursing students hone critical skills interactively, on their own schedules via distance learning.
Dr. Marjorie Zielke
“Medical simulation offers the potential to be critical technology for many reasons,” says Dr. Marjorie Zielke, assistant professor of Arts and Technology (ATEC) at UT Dallas and principal investigator for ... Read More
Colleagues Thank a Champion of the Arts at UT Dallas
Moments after introducing Santa Claus at the 34th Annual Holiday Sing, UT Dallas faculty member (and Holiday Sing director) Kathryn Evans received a holiday gift of her own. Evans was presented with a special Distinguished Service Award to honor her 16 years at UT Dallas. Winston Stone, director of the UT Dallas Wind Ensemble, presented the award to Evans, who received a standing ovation from the packed audience. Evans served as associate dean of the arts until September, when she stepped down to pursue a doctoral degree in Arts and Technology (ATEC) at UT Dallas. Evans continues to teac ... Read MoreKorean Students Get the American College Experience
Three Korean student interns at The University of Texas at Dallas have since returned home, but their memories will last a lifetime. The students were the first participants in the new Global Communication and Leadership Institute (GCLI), which plays a key role in the development of a global humanities program designed to foster international understanding. On December 7, Seungeun Lee, Yeonggyeong Park and Heechan Song returned to Seoul, where they are students at Hanyang University, after spending the past two semesters at UT Dallas under the watchful eye of Tom Lambert, senior lecturer in ... Read MoreNew American Director of FRAME Announced
Dr. Charlotte Eyerman, an expert in 19th-century French art and a leading authority in modern and contemporary art, has been appointed American Director of FRAME (French Regional and American Museum Exchange).
FRAME, whose American headquarters is based at The University of Texas at Dallas, is a formal collaboration of 12 museums in France and 12 museums in North America that serves as a catalyst for cultural exchange between France and the United States.
Dr. Charlotte Eyerman
Dr. Eyerman has held curatorial positions at the J. Paul Getty Museum in the Department of Paintings, a ... Read More
New Name, Same Spirit: Sojourn is now Reunion
For UT Dallas’ literary journal, the title is new but the mission is the same.
Now known as Reunion: The Dallas Review, the magazine will keep doing what it’s done for more than two decades: publishing exceptional examples of short fiction, drama, visual art, poetry, translation work, non-fiction and interviews.
Previously known as Sojourn, the magazine remains dedicated to cultivating the local arts community and promoting the work of talented writers and artists, both locally and across the globe.
Editor Mickey Calderone explains the change in appearance: “We decided to rebr ... Read More
UT Dallas Faculty Member Wins Award
Akin Babatunde won the 2010 Audelco Award for Best Director/Musical Production for "Blind Lemon Blues," of which he is the co-author (with fellow UT Dallas alum Alan Govenar), director, musical arranger, choreographer and star. The Audelco Awards, which honor excellence in Black Theatre, were presented at Harlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Inc.'s Marian Anderson Theatre in New York, on Monday, November 15. ... Read MoreATEC Students Unveil 2nd Game About Life Lessons
With the launch of its second serious game, the UT Dallas Values Game Initiative once again hopes to provoke deep discussions and morality checks. Endless Life, created by gaming students in the UT Dallas Arts and Technology (ATEC) program, presents a humorous view of what life-extending technology could do to a society. The game made its debut online Nov. 15. “As science and technology allow us to extend our lives indefinitely, how will we deal with the monotony of everyday life?” Jacob Naasz, one of the game’s core developers, writes on the game website. “And when death doesn ... Read MoreUT Dallas Faculty Member has Radio Interview
Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth was interviewed on KERA's "THINK" program on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010. She was promoting her new book, When the Danube Ran Red, an extraordinary and moving account of Ozsváth's own experience of the Holocaust. Tune in to 90.1 FM to hear her interview! Click here to listen ... Read MoreConfucius Institute to Host Chinese Business Scholar
Dr. Xiang Bing, founding dean of China’s first private, nonprofit and independent business school, will discuss “Globalization of the Chinese Economy” on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The lecture, sponsored by The Confucius Institute at The University of Texas at Dallas, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Jonsson Performance Hall. Xiang writes frequently on the challenges of globalization for Chinese firms. He has played a critical role in helping Chinese and foreign business companies forge cooperative ventures, and has been touring the States to help business leaders in China and the U.S. to e ... Read MorePhD Alumna's Short Story Selected for Presentation
PhD alumna, Lori Stephens, short story, "Epidural," is selected by the "Texas Bound" committee for presentation during their program on April 11, 2011. They will use the story as a "closer" for the evening. The story was originally written in a graduate short fiction workshop taught by Dr. Clay Reynolds. The committee has designated it as a "star story," meaning they will try to obtain the services of a major celebrity actress to read it. Dr. Stephens teaches English at SMU. Her first novel will be released in the Spring of 2011 and she is scheduled to present a reading on UT Dallas campus ... Read MoreGuitarist to Bring His Captivating Style to Campus
Internationally known classical guitarist Carlos Pérez will bring his charismatic and creative style to UT Dallas for a performance on Friday, Nov. 5. The concert is at 8 p.m. in Jonsson Performance Hall. He will also teach a master class to UT Dallas guitar students during his visit. Chilean-born Pérez has played in famous venues in more than 30 countries, including London’s Royal Festival Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philarmonie and the Teatro Monumental in Madrid. Russell Cleveland, chair of the UT Dallas Guitar Board, calls Pérez “one of the finest solois ... Read MoreLiterary Studies Student Selected for Research Award
Literary studies student Sally Stewart has been selected to receive a University of Texas at Dallas Undergraduate Research Scholar Award. The award carries with it a $500 stipend for Stewart and an additional $300 in research support funds for her faculty advisor, Dr. Theresa Towner. Says Towner, "Sally won the research award to support her honors thesis project, which is a study of vampires in literature and their cultural significance as it has changed over time. Specifically, she treats Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles," and Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse se ... Read MoreALTA Honors Translations of Czech, Chinese Works
The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), which is housed at The University of Texas at Dallas, presented two prestigious awards at its annual conference in Philadelphia on Oct. 21.
Alex Zucker received the 2010 National Translation Award for his translation of Petra Hůlová’s All This Belongs to Me (Northwestern University Press, 2009).The $5,000 prize is given annually to the translator whose work, by virtue of both its quality and significance, has made the most valuable contribution to literary translation.
ALTA also presented the inaugural Lucien Stryk Asian Tra ... Read More
UT Dallas Faculty Member on Conference Discussion Panel
Dr. Marge Zielke is part of a panel discussion at the 4th Annual Technology Trends Conference, held Oct. 18 at the Westin Park Central Hotel in Dallas. Zielke will speak on "Social Networking as a Tool, " addressing the future of social networking, as well as challenges and risks that go along with it. Register online at www.ndcc.org. ... Read MoreUT Dallas Faculty Member Nominated for Four Awards
Akin Babatunde was recently nominated in four categories for the coveted New York Audelco Award for Excellence in Black Theater. His show, "Blind Lemon Blues," received the nomination for Best Director, Best Choreographer, Best Ensemble and Best Musical Production of the Year . Babatunde says he is thrilled to be nominated in the same category as famed director and choreographer Susan Stroman. In addition to being on the faculty at UT Dallas, Babatunde is serving as an adjunct professor this Fall, teaching two courses in "Fine Arts Appreciation" at Mountain View College, and will be a guest ... Read MoreCognitive Scientist Rethinks Boundaries of Being
“As our worlds become smarter, and get to know us better and better,” writes cognitive scientist Andy Clark, “it becomes harder and harder to say where the world stops and the person begins.” What role does one’s environment plays in shaping the nature of conscious experience? Clark, the chair of logic and metaphysics at Edinburgh University, will discuss this and other related topics in his lecture, “Natural-born Cyborgs? Reflections on Bodies, Minds and Human Enhancement,” on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Davidson Auditorium in the School of Management at The Univ ... Read MoreUT Dallas Faculty and Student winners at the Hub Shorts Film Festival
Micki Saba, Michele Hanlon and UT Dallas graduate student Danielle Georgiou recently had dance video works presented by the Hub Shorts Film Festival Dance for Camera Series. Hanlon's "The Guitarist" placed second in the Producer's Pick category and took first place in the Audience Award competition. Georgiou's "Roam" placed third in Producer's Pick, second in Audience Award and won first place in the Box Office category. ... Read MoreAcclaimed Actor Staging Arthur Miller's ‘All My Sons’
Literary icon Arthur Miller’s American classic, All My Sons, takes the stage in the University Theatre at The University of Texas at Dallas, Oct. 7-9 and Oct. 14–16. The play is directed by Dallas-based actor and UT Dallas lecturer Akin Babatunde, whose play was recently nominated in four categories for the coveted New York Audelco Awards for Excellence in Black Theater. His off-Broadway bio-musical, Blind Lemon Blues, received nominations for Best Director, Best Choreographer, Best Ensemble and Best Musical Production of the Year. He was nominated alongside director and choreograp ... Read MoreEMAC Professor Challenges Old School News Approaches
Go digital or go home. That was the message Dr. Dave Parry, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communication (EMAC) at UT Dallas, told an audience of journalists at the National Conference of Editorial Writers (NCEW), held Sept. 22–25 in Dallas. UT Dallas was a sponsor of the event, which included an appearance by Gov. Rick Perry and a keynote address by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In a session titled, “Emerging Media: What Works, What Doesn’t: How You Can Get Ahead of the Curve,” Parry sat on a panel alongside Paul Burka, senior executive editor of Te ... Read MoreUT Dallas Students Outwrite Rivals in Competition
UT Dallas dominated the recent Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers (TACWT) Student Competition, winning a total of four awards.
In the Graduate Fiction category, Douglas Frank took first place with his short story, “The Last Summer of Fireflies.” For Undergraduate Fiction, first place was awarded to Paige Cunningham for her story, “Pens & Needles,” and third place went to Jimmie Markham’s story, “Organic.” In the Undergraduate Poetry category, Chaz Lilly’s set of six poems, “Invention and other poems,” took third place.
All are current or former student ... Read More