Michael Stoff was raised in Merrick, New York, and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He received a bachelor’s in history and American studies from Rutgers College, and a master’s of philosophy in history and doctorate of philosophy in history from Yale University. He has taught at UT Austin for 36 […]
Humanists Make Great Doctors
Dr. Kimberly Monday is a Plan II alumna, the 1988 Texas Parents Association’s Outstanding Female Student and a Dean’s Distinguished Graduate from Huntsville, Texas. She attended Baylor College of Medicine and completed her neurological residency there before taking a fellowship at Emory University. She is the owner of the Houston Neurological Institute and president of […]
No Stone Unturned
Zachary Stone is a Plan II senior from Dallas, Texas. He has served as the chief justice of UT Austin’s Student Government, been published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and will be attending the UT Austin School of Law on a Massey Scholarship, the school’s top merit award. Why Plan II? […]
Under the Microscope: Undergraduate Research Week 2016
The fields of study within the College of Liberal Arts are vast, and the number of topics that merit in-depth investigation are seemingly endless. Each year, liberal arts undergraduates at UT Austin get first-hand experience in conducting academic research that can have an impact on themselves, the academic community and even society as a whole. […]
Passion for Social Activism Inspires Truman Scholar
A passion for learning and public service inspires the life and work of Zoraima Pelaez, a Liberal Arts Honors and humanities junior at UT Austin who was named a 2016 Truman Scholar. Congress created the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975 as the nation’s living memorial to President Harry S. Truman. It has since […]
UT Austin Student Developing App That Can Help Diagnose Skin Cancer
A psychology and biology student at The University of Texas at Austin is using the accessibility provided by the web and smartphones to help people who could be in medical need. Rachel Graubard, a Liberal Arts Honors (LAH) senior from Houston, Texas, has been working on an app that can diagnose and monitor skin cancer since […]
Getting It Done: Q&A with UTurn Mentor Kelley Doll
The transition to college can be a rough one, and it’s not unusual for students to end up on academic probation after their freshman year. Government senior Kelley Doll took time away after her tough first year to regroup. She worked full time and use online courses at a community college to reestablish a good academic […]
Government Grad Explains How Liberal Arts and Tech Can Come Together
John Newcomb, a recent government alum who graduated in December, used his liberal arts education and preparation from Liberal Arts Career Services to help him land a job at Facebook. Read more with Newcomb on his college experience, the value of an internship and the power of critical thinking below. What made you want to […]
Economics Student Takes the Road Less Traveled to Campus
Tyler DiGiovanni, an economics senior with a Spanish minor, isn’t your typical undergraduate student. At 27, he’s lived abroad, transferred schools, taken time off to create a new company and reevaluated his path countless times. All of that led him to the UT Austin economics program. Prior to college, DiGiovanni spent 2008-10 living Buenos Aires, […]
Spark Your Interests: Five Liberal Arts Classes That Ignite Critical Thinking
It’s not uncommon for the College of Liberal Arts to break the Registrar’s website. Not on purpose — the interdisciplinary nature of the courses offered in liberal arts do not always mesh well with a system that was designed around rigid department codes. The level of collaboration among faculty members across departments to create in-depth, fascinating […]
Owning Your Challenges: Q&A with the 2015-16 Larry Temple Scholars
Each year, two liberal arts students are awarded the Larry Temple Scholarship, which is designed to recognize students in the college with superior academic merit. The recipients of the 2015-16 Larry Temple Scholarship are Irene Gomez and Maximiliano Rombado. They were selected by the scholarship’s committee from a group of 10 finalists. First awarded in […]
A Gigantic Step Forward: LAC President Details ’15-’16 Plans
Initially denied an interview to join Liberal Arts Council his first semester on campus, Austin Reynolds received an interview slot through a last-minute cancellation and earned his spot in the organization with an impressive question and answer session. Two years later, the English honors junior from Texarkana, Texas, became the organization’s 2015-16 president. The following […]
Students Make an Impact with 2015 Summer Internships
This summer, liberal arts students took to professional settings with internships that helped sharpen their skills and develop their roles as employees. Below, read about three students who interned in a variety of settings, from nonprofit organizations, to innovative local companies, to reputable news organizations. Madeleine Toups Major: Government and Liberal Arts Honors senior Hometown: […]
Field of Dreams
Larry Carver’s Got a Marshall on First, a Truman on Second and a Rhodes on Third It’s been more than 20 years since Larry Carver began working with UT Austin students applying for the nation’s most prestigious graduate school fellowships, and he can still tell you the names of all the nominees from memory. It’s […]
Mission to Map
On El Camino Real with Nathan Garza As a boy growing up in San Antonio, Nathan Garza spent a lot of time hiking on trails. His Boy Scout troop organized and led the Mission Trail Hike for years. Scouts from San Antonio and surrounding areas would gather at Mission Espada and begin their two-day hike […]
Diagnosing Disease Faster: Q&A with Courtney Koepke
Courtney Koepke is a Plan II Honors and biomedical engineering junior from Austin, Texas. She works as an undergraduate research assistant at UT Austin’s Laboratory of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Bionanotechnology. What made you want to be a research assistant? As a freshman entering college, I didn’t know much about research or understand the important […]
Promoting National Security: Q&A With Mark Jbeily
Mark Jbeily is a Plan II Honors and Naval ROTC senior from Austin, Texas. He is a recipient of the 2015 British Marshall scholarship, which will fund his pursuit of a Master of Philosophy in international relations at the University of Oxford. Jbeily is also a Naval ROTC battalion commander, a Bill Archer fellow and […]
‘15 Minute History’ Lauded as One of the Best Podcasts of 2014
Since its launch in July 2013, UT Austin’s “15 Minute History” has topped the iTunes U charts more than 20 times, surpassing content produced by organizations such as NASA, Smithsonian Libraries, TED and Harvard University. Selected as one of iTunes U Best Podcasts of 2014, “15 Minute History” features short, accessible discussions from faculty members […]
Undergraduate Research Week 2015: Liberal Arts Students Present the Evidence
The fields of study within the College of Liberal Arts are vast, and the number of topics that merit in-depth investigation are seemingly endless. Each year, liberal arts undergraduates at The University of Texas at Austin get first-hand experience in conducting academic research that can have an impact on themselves, the academic community and even […]
Honors Day 2015: Q&A with 3 Liberal Arts Honorees
More than 1,000 liberal arts students are being recognized this Saturday in a UT Austin tradition that began in 1948. The University of Texas at Austin holds Honors Day each year to recognize students who have achieved academic excellence. The Honors Day Convocation serves as a prelude to commencement and is attended by UT faculty […]
2015 Awards and Honors
March Twelve graduating seniors have been named Dean’s Distinguished Graduates. Each year, the College of Liberal Arts honors 12 seniors with the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Award for their leadership, scholarly achievements and service to the community. The honorees are: Reema Ali, History (Special Honors) / Economics Nathan Carmichael, Classical Archaeology (Special Honors) / Anthropology / Classics Jonathan Cortez, […]
With Liberty and Justice for All: Liberal Arts Student Interns with Nonprofit Law Firm
Valentina Gudiño is an anthropology and international relations & global studies senior who was born in Cabimas, Venezuela and grew up in Houston, Texas. This semester, she’s working 10 hours per week as an intern at the Equal Justice Center. Monica Chartier, programs manager for Liberal Arts Career Services, says roughly one third of students who […]
Fighting the World’s Fight: Q&A with Sai Gourisankar
Sai Gourisankar is a Plan II Honors and chemical engineering senior from Fort Worth, Texas. He is a recipient of the 2015 Rhodes scholarship, as well as being a Dedman distinguished scholar, a Goldwater scholar and an Astronaut Foundation scholar. What does winning a Rhodes scholarship mean to you? It enables me to study at […]
Liberal Arts Backs Entrepreneurship
Major Ellis, an economics junior from San Angelo, Texas, says entrepreneurism runs in the family. “My father started his own company about 30 years ago,” Ellis says. “Growing up with that experience revealed to me not only the challenge but also the significance of leading and succeeding as an entrepreneur.” He chose to study liberal […]
Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance Introduces New Residents to Austin: Q&A with Founding Member Sarah Fischer
Sarah Fischer is an international relations & global studies and journalism sophomore from Mechanicsville, Maryland. She is a founding member of the Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance, which started last spring with grant from the Liberal Arts Honors program. How did the Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance come about? Last Spring, I attended a volunteer orientation at […]