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Around CLASS and Campus

President Khator reflects on Ike

We Want To Hear From You!

Feature

One of the disadvantages of being a writer and former journalist is that I’m always sharing news and information. It’s also an advantage in times of crisis, because it provides instant therapy. Recipients of my Ike email updates may have other, less flattering, names for it.

I was in a staff meeting on the Tuesday before Ike invaded our shores. One participant said we shouldn’t worry, because the Gulf is big and wide and the chances of Ike hitting us were pretty small. I offered my prediction that we’d probably see a lot of wind, rain, and flooding, something akin to Tropical Storm Allison back in 2001. Only without the flooding, I added.

The next night, I watched my wife go throughout the house packing her clothes and electronic equipment. “You better start packing,” she admonished. I replied that I would wait until morning, still clinging to my prediction of the previous day.

Thursday morning arrived with the news that my daughter and son-in-law were skeedaddling to Austin and that we’d better follow. A quick look at the hurricane tracker confirmed that I should not go into the weather-forecasting business.

My wife and I, along with her three cats, ended up at our younger daughter’s apartment in Austin, while my older daughter and her husband sheltered at my wife’s uncle’s house, also in Austin. We were fortunate.

Modern communication technology has its drawbacks, particularly for information junkies. I fired up my laptop and took over my daughter’s television so I could follow the evacuation of the Galveston-Houston area in front of Ike’s advance. I would not leave my makeshift command post for the next three days.

As I did during Allison and Hurricane Rita, I provided email updates to friends, family, and colleagues. One of those friends is a former colleague at an Austin television station where I was a producer and anchor back in the 80s. Being the good journalist that he is, he tracked us down and asked if we’d agree to an interview. I felt strange, knowing that thousands of other Gulf Coast refugees in Austin were staying in shelters, not in comfortable surroundings like ours. But, our stories and circumstances were valid chapters in the overall tale of what may be the largest evacuation in Houston’s history.

As with most journalists, I’ve covered all sorts of weather stories resulting from tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, blizzards, flash floods, and those slow-rising river waters that accompany Midwestern floods in spring. I’m still not sure which takes the worst toll on the psyche, the tornadoes and flash floods that wipe out neighborhoods and whole towns with little warning, or hurricanes and river flooding that approach by the inch and underscore the helpless state of humans when confronted by a determined Mother Nature.

By late Friday night, I had four Houston TV stations and a Houston radio station pulled up on my computer screen. The television remote control allowed me to flip among three or four weather and news outlets. At one point, two Austin stations took live feeds from sister stations in Houston, meaning I was sitting in Austin and watching Houston coverage of Ike. About 1 a.m. on Saturday, someone reported that Ike had taken a turn to the west and all indications pointed toward landfall farther down the coast. That was just a juke, as Ike squared his shoulders and set his eyes on Galveston.

The rest we know, because we, and you, came through it.

My need to share information continued when word came that the university was opening for business on Tuesday. I knew we could not return so soon, but modern technology allowed me to do my Houston work from Austin. On Thursday, I contacted Nhan Nguyen, our College’s former Web Content Manager, who moved to another job across campus a couple of week ago. Nhan’s the person who took my original ideas about Graffit-e and turned them into the excellent newsletter you’re now reading. We communicated by email, instant messages, and telephone. Within hours, Nhan put up a special CLASS home page that we updated through Friday with information about the campus and links to myriad sources we thought folks might need. We’re still adding to it, so please check it out.

Now, we want to hear from you. If you have personal stories and photos you’d like to share with other CLASSmates, you can send them to me at jdpowell@uh.edu. We’ll put them in a special section in the next Graffit-e. Meantime, please know that all of us here in Agnes Arnold have you in our thoughts and prayers during this time of recovery and restoration.

John David Powell
Interim Director of Communication
Graffit-e editor

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A Message From Dean Antel

If you are reading this month’s CLASS newsletter, I know that some level of order has returned to your life. I realize that each of you suffered some degree of loss, ranging from minor property damage to the total loss of your homes and personal property. Please know your CLASS family has you in our thoughts and prayers.

Although our ability to help you may be limited, we still want to do what we can. That’s why we set up a special CLASS home page where you can find information that may be helpful to you or to someone you know. Please share with us any information you think might be of help to one of your fellow students or colleagues.

Hurricane Ike demonstrated in a very real and profound way the fragility of our lives, and particularly the lives of our students. Many of our students are non-traditional. This means they are older students, many with families, who try to balance their time at home with their responsibilities at work and here at school. Their roads to recovery include repairing their homes and returning to their classrooms during a time when they may not have paychecks because their places of employment no longer exist.

Today, CLASS faculty, staff, and alumni have a unique opportunity to help our students recover from Ike by providing the financial assistance they may need to stay in school as they rebuild their lives. The annual Faculty and Staff Campaign is how we can do this. This year’s campaign, Building our Future (which we could think of as Rebuilding our Future) also allows for alumni to take part and to be counted in the University’s alumni participation rates that help determine national rankings.

You can direct your contribution to any of several areas within the University, including four we’ve established within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences:

Dean’s Fund for Excellence in Research and Instruction - HC10099RN
CLASS Undergraduate Scholarship Fund - HC36304RA
CLASS Graduate Student Scholarship Fund - HC43134RN
CLASS Staff Scholarship Fund - HC43135RN

As the cost of a college education goes up, these funds become increasingly important to our students and to our staff colleagues working on their degrees.

Last fall, for example, CLASS students received nearly $17.9 million in financial assistance, which included grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study, or a combination of two or more of these crucial forms of assistance. Scholarships, however, accounted for a small portion of that total. One student received a $250 scholarship out of more than $7,700 in assistance, while another student received more than $3,200 in scholarships and grants.

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of your participation. Even a small contribution from you can make the difference for one of our students between delaying an education and graduating with pride and distinction. Your participation in the Faculty and Staff Campaign will help assure the continued accessibility to a high-quality college education for future generations of well-deserving students.

Please visit the Faculty and Staff Campaign Web page for complete information on how to participate. On behalf of our students and your colleagues, thank you for your consideration and for your support.

Dean John Antel

Faculty

Hurricane Ike disrupted life throughout the Gulf Coast, including the production of this month’s Graffit-e.

We’re taking this opportunity share with you a link to an article written by Thomas DeGregori, Professor of Economics. The Do’s and Don’ts of Disaster Relief appeared on the Sept. 6, 2005, online edition of American Council on Science and Health. Prof. DeGregori is an expert in economic development and disaster relief.

The new academic year means new faculty for CLASS. Below are the new faces in the classrooms. Our apologies in advance if we’ve left out someone. Let us know and we’ll make the correction in next month’s Graffit-e.

Meantime, make sure to say “hi” if you meet one of our new faculty members.

But, before we do the big introductions, we want to pass along the following email we received from Brandy Robichau, the Associate Director of Community Relations at the School of Theatre and Dance:

As a welcome to our new CLASS faculty, the School of Theatre and Dance would like to offer them a 20 percent discount on the 2008-2009 season of productions. The subscription includes a ticket to five shows, plus a pair of free tickets to an additional production chosen from three options: our Theatre for Young Audiences show, a Mitchell Center for the Arts show, and our Dance concerts.

New CLASS faculty prices are:

Fridays - $60
Saturdays - $48
Sundays - $40

Regular subscription prices are:

Fridays - $75
Saturdays - $60
Sundays - $50

Single ticket prices are $20. All UH faculty and staff can purchase $15 tickets.

The deadline for this offer to new faculty is October 1. They should contact me directly at 713-743-5645 or bmrobichau@uh.edu.

And now, on with the intros . . .

African American Studies

• Michael Tillotson, Visiting Scholar

Air Force ROTC

• First Lieutenant Quoc Vo, Commandant of Cadets

School of Art

The School of Art is pleased to welcome three new full-time faculty members to campus!

• Margarita Cabrera, Visiting Assistant Professor (Sculpture), was born in Monterey, Mexico. Her work has been included in various exhibitions, among them Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Nexus Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston; Trabajo Mexicano/Mexican Work, Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Ketchum, Idaho; and Domestic Odyssey, San Jose Museum of Art. In 2008, she was a resident artist at ArtPace in San Antonio, and had her fourth solo exhibition at Sara Meltzer Gallery in New York City. Cabrera is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. (Margarita Cabrera, 2006 Bicicleta Verde (Green) Vinyl, foam, string and wire 43 x 74 x 30 inches )


• Noelle Mason, Assistant Professor (Sculpture), has exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent solo exhibitions at the Antena Gallery in Chicago and at the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign. She is a recipient of an Illinois Art Council International Artist Grant, 1a space artist grant, the Jerome fellowship from the Franconia Sculpture Park, and was a 2004 resident at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In addition to her individual practice, Noelle has been a member of i.e., an international collective of seven artists, since 2005. In her trans-disciplinary practice, Noelle transforms appropriated images, objects, and contexts to expose the advantages gained through the persuasive power of vision and representation. (Noelle Mason, 2006 Ground Control)


• Linda Post, Visiting Assistant Professor (Photography and Digital Media), has shown her multi-media installations in prestigious national and international exhibitions nationally and internationally. One-person New York exhibitions include venues such as Incident Report Viewing Station; the Chocolate Factory and artMoving Projects. Linda has been included in numerous group exhibitions in major museums, galleries, and art festivals, including New York’s The Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C; Haus Der Kunst in Munich, Germany; Insa Art Space in Seoul, Korea; Portikus in Frankfurt, Germany; and the Melbourne International Arts Festival in Australia. Her video work has been seen in New Television (national broadcast); the SeoulNYmax Festival curated by Nam Jun Paik; and Park 4DTV Broadcast in Germany and The Netherlands. Her work has been reviewed in publications including Artforum, Art in America, The New York Times, Time Out (London), Photography Quarterly, Le Voyeur (Paris), and Index Magazine. (Linda Post, Window Project, installation at artMoving Projects )

Jack J. Valenti School of Communication

• Craig Cieslikowski (’05 Mass Communication Studies), Assistant Professor of Communication

Communication Sciences and Disorders

• Ferenc Bunta, Assistant Professor, focuses his research on bilingual and cross-linguistic phonological acquisition. Ferenc received his Ph.D. from the Arizona State University Department of Speech and Hearing Science, and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Temple University with a joint appointment in the Bilingual Language Laboratory and the Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.
  
  
• Rachel Aghara, Assistant Professor, received her Master’s and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in Communication Sciences and Disorders with an emphasis on bilingual language development. Prior to coming to UH, Rachel was a postdoctoral fellow in the Developmental Pediatrics Department at the University of Texas Health Science Center, where she focused on early language and literacy development in at-risk populations.

English

• Paul Butler, Assistant Professor, is a specialist in the area of Rhetoric, Composition and Pedagogy. He is the author of Out of Style: Reanimating Stylistic Study in Composition and Rhetoric. Paul joins us from the University of Nevada, Reno.
  
  
• Sally Connolly, Assistant Professor (Creative Writing), is a specialist in the area of Contemporary American and British Poetry. Sally joins us from Wake Forest University.
  
  
• Martha Serpas (’98, Ph.D. Creative Writing), Visiting Professor, also joins the Creative Writing Program for the Fall Semester. Martha has published the Dirty Side of the Storm and Cote Blanche.
  


• Jennifer Wingard, Assistant Professor, is a specialist in the area of Rhetoric, Composition and Pedagogy. Jennifer recently defended her doctoral dissertation at Syracuse University.
  
  
• Matthew Zapruder, Visiting Professor, is a widely published poet and translator who joins the Creative Writing Program for the Fall Semester. His first book of poetry, American Linden, was the winner of the Tupelo Press Editors’ Prize.

Hispanic Studies

• Flavia Belpoliti, Lecturer and coordinator of the Spanish Linguistics program
  
  
• Aymará Boggiano, Assistant Professor, in the Spanish as a Second Language program
  
  
• Michelle Nasser, Visiting Professor, in Latin American Literature
  
  
• Myriam Sarrazola, Assistant Professor, in the Spanish as a Second Language program

History

• James Schafer, Assistant Professor, received his B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan in 1996. After working as a laboratory technician for several years, he matriculated to Johns Hopkins University where he earned his Ph.D. in the History of Medicine in 2007. Before joining the UH History Department, where he teaches medical history, James was a Visiting Faculty Fellow in the Great Works Symposium at Drexel University from 2007 to 2008.

Military Science

• Lt. Col. Kurt Robinson, Professor of Military Science and Chair, is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Stephen F. Austin State University ROTC program. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry, he has served in units in the United States, Korea, and Iraq. He holds a BA in Criminal Justice and an MS in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic Course and the Combined Logistics Officer Advance Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, and the US Army Command and General Staff College.
  
  
• Capt. Nicholas Catechis, Assistant Professor of Military Science
  
  
• MSG Al Francis

Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music

• Lucy Arner, Clinical Professor, Opera, will focus on coaching voice and conducting our opera productions. The Cuban native with degrees from Baldwin-Wallace College and Indiana University served on the staffs of several opera companies, most recently the Metropolitan Opera. She also worked at various music festivals, including Aspen and, this summer, Tanglewood.
  
  
• Estevan César Azcona, Visiting Scholar in the Moores School and in the Center for Mexican American Studies, brings his expertise in Chicano and Latin American ethnomusicology, Chicano folklore, and U.S. regional and popular music, among other topics. He will work on a research project in the fall and teach a course for us in the spring. He graduated this past May with a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from The University of Texas at Austin.
  
  
• Rhona Brink (’74 Music Teacher Education) Lecturer in Music Education, joined the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra after graduating from UH. Upon her return to Houston, she became active in various kinds of teaching, including the Kodaly method. Over the past two years, she has played a major role in the Abiola Initiative in Music Education of the Preparatory and Continuing Studies Program, which presents classes at the Third Ward Head Start Center, Yellowstone Academy, and the UH Child Care Center.
  
  
• Aralee Dorough, Affiliate Artist, Flute, has served as principal flutist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra since 1991. She studied with Robert Willoughby at Oberlin, where she received the Bachelor of Music, and later did graduate work at Yale. In 1993, she recorded the Mozart Concerto in G with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony on the IMP label. She teaches at the Festival Institute at Round Top and the Texas Music Festival.
  
  
• Charlotte Eads, Lecturer, Music Education, was the orchestra director at South Houston High School in Pasadena for many years. Since her retirement from that position, she has been a private cello instructor and a clinician for Hal Leonard Corporation.
  
  
• Jennifer Keeney, Affiliate Artist, Flute, is the former principal flutist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the New World Symphony. In Houston, she is a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. Jennifer is a graduate of the High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, Houston and the University of Michigan, where she earned her Bachelor of Music. Her MM is from Rice University.


• Tali Morgulis, Assistant Professor, Piano, earned her DMA at New England Conservatory in Boston, with further study in Tel Aviv. She previously taught at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, and is an active recitalist and chamber music artist.
  
  
• Melanie Sonnenberg, Mezzo-Soprano, Visiting Professor, Voice, brings impressive credentials to our voice area, having appeared with a number of opera companies, including Teatro San Carlo, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera, and San Diego Opera. Most recently, she has been on the faculties of American University in Washington, D.C., and Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J.
  
  
• Hector Vasquez, Baritone, Affiliate Artist, Voice, sang leading roles with several opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera and those in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Houston. He has performed as soloist with many major orchestras, including orchestras in Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. He taught voice at both the University of Southern California and California State University at Los Angeles.

Philosophy

• Josh Brown, Assistant Professor, joins us from the University of Michigan


• Tamler Sommers, Assistant Professor, was hired from University of Minnesota. He will be a joint appointment with The Honors College. He received his Ph.D. from Duke University.

Political Science

• Tanya Bagashka, Assistant Professor and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rochester, is teaching Post Communist Societies in Transition. Her research and teaching interests include comparative politics, Russian and Eastern-European politics, international and comparative political economy. Her current work focuses on the role of political institutions in the post-communist transition.


• Scott Basinger, Assistant Professor


• Ryan Kennedy, Assistant Professor


• Dennis Rasmussen, Assistant Professor


• Lydia Tiede, Assistant Professor

Psychology

• Qian Lu, Assistant Professor, received her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her undergraduate degree at Shandong Medical University.

School of Theatre and Dance

• Mark Bly, Distinguished Professor, has helped launch more than 200 original plays for theater companies across the country. He will teach dramaturgy and playwriting classes as part of the Alley Theatre and UH School of Theatre and Dance Master of Fine Arts Professional Training Program. Mark also will serve as the Alley’s senior dramaturge and director of its new play program. He recently served Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage as a senior dramaturge and oversaw new play development. He is the former Associate Artistic Director at Yale Repertory Theatre and Chair of the Yale School of Drama’s playwriting program. Mark also handled dramaturge duties for the Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minn. Bly earned his M.F.A. at Yale University School of Drama, his M.A. in English at Boston College, and his B.A. from University of Minnesota.


• Rebecca Valls, Assistant Professor of Dance, is the former director of the dance program at Rice University. She has taught dance for more than 20 years with choreography presented in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and France.

Women’s Studies

• Linda Veazey, Visiting Scholar

Find out more faculty news on the CLASS News and Events page.

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Students

CLASS Cougars compete in fall sports

While thousands of CLASS majors balance academics with families, jobs, and parties, our CLASS student-athletes add athletics to their busy mix of extracurricular activities.

Below is a list of CLASS Cougars, along with their academic ranks, majors, and hometowns.

Swimming

Sasha Schwendenwei
Senior, Communication and English-Creative Writing
Randburg, South Africa

Diving

Anastasia Pozdniakova
RS Junior, Art History
Elektrostal, Russia, and Silver medalist in the 3-meter synchronized diving at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Women’s Cross-Country

Clarissa Payton,
Freshman, Sociology
Converse, Texas

Volleyball

Alik Cardoso de sa Junior, Sociology Sao Paulo, Brazil	Barbara Freitas Senior, Sociology Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Kelsey King Senior, Psychology San Antonio, Texas

Soccer

Nicole Echeverria Junior, Psychology Sugar Land, Texas	Maegan Kiphart Senior, Psychology Parker, Colo.	Christine Nieva Junior, Sociology Mesquite, Texas	Shelby Scott Senior, Psychology Mesquite, Texas

Football

Ben Bell RS Junior, Economics Stephenville, Texas	Carson Blackmon, Sophomore, Sociology Tatum, Texas	Jonathan Gibson Junior, Economics Allen, Texas	Tyrell Graham, RS Junior, Sociology Houston, Texas

Stephen James Senior, Sociology Houston, Texas	Avion Johnson Junior, Sociology Sacramento, Calif.	Kierrie Johnson Junior, Sociology Houston, Texas	Clinton Leal, Junior, Sociology Kingwood, Texas

Chris Mitchel RS Junior, Sociology Houston, Texas	Chris Pilot Senior, Sociology Lufkin, Texas	Isaiah Thompson Sophomore, Comm. Tatum, Texas	Sebastian Vollmer Senior, Economics Kaarst, Germany

GO COOGS!!!!

Poet wins award, gets book deal

Anna Journey, a second-year Ph.D. student in Creative Writing, was one of five winners nationally in the National Poetry Series 2008. Her manuscript was selected for publication by Thomas Lux.

Student’s research makes Rather news show

Ronnie Turner, a Journalism major and a writer for The Daily Cougar, got a bit more than expected from his summer research fellowship. He landed a spot in an HDNet broadcast of former UH student and CBS News guy Dan Rather on his appropriately named Dan Rather Reports.

Turner was featured in an interview on Quentin Mease, the founder of the South Central YMCA on Wheeler Avenue. Turner researched the history of the Third Ward facility as part of the UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which he plans to use for his honor’s thesis.

“I interviewed Mr. Mease and looked through photos and papers and really came to know him,” Turner said. “Professor [Orson] Cook from The Honors College (featured in the April edition of Graffit-e) knew someone from Dan Rather Reports who happened to be in Houston to speak with Mr. Mease. They interviewed me about my research, as well.”

Mease came to Houston to work for the YMCA after World War II, pushed for the Third Ward facility when he saw the poor conditions of other YMCAs in African-American communities. The South Central location became a critical presence in Houston.

The Dan Rather Reports program on 50 years of race relations in the United States was scheduled to premier on Aug. 26. You don’t need an HD (high-definition) television and a cable subscription to HDNet to watch the programs. If you don’t mind waiting for several days after they air, you can go online to HDNet and catch up. (Marisa Ramirez contributed to this story)

Sometimes it’s hard to be a student and a fairy

By Sarah Krusleski of The Daily Cougar

Escorting wenches and barbarians is all in a day's work for Political Science junior Blair Ault.

As the Texas Renaissance Festival entertainment and marketing assistant, her duties include writing copy for collectable programs, directing scenarios for actors and planning promotions with local shops and conventions.

After one Texas Renaissance Festival performer treated the then 10-year-old Ault to a tour of the grounds, she joined the performance troupe as one of Cinderella's stepsisters.

For the next three years Ault found a niche as a fairy. She spoke in rhyme and gave fairy dust to small children.

"Your target audience is children because they are the ones that are really excited to see you," Ault said.

Ault even fainted when someone said they didn't believe in fairies until members of the cast revived her with a vigorous round of clapping. Folk tales claim a declaration of disbelief from spoiled children mortally wounds fairies unless true believers clap their hands.

"It's really hard to concentrate and be a fairy," Ault said.

For her last performance, Ault played a German woman. Her group broke away from strict portrayal of the period by raving whenever techno music played.

"It may not fit, but the audience likes it," Ault said.

After taking a break from performing at the festival to study at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and then the University of Houston, Ault returned to the festival in 2006 as a marketing intern and was hired into her current position.

Challenges of the position include explaining attractions of the festival to newcomers.

"It's sort of engaging people with the idea that this is a 16th century village. People can watch glassworks, comedy acts, wander around gardens. It really is an experience, and people don't seem to understand that," Ault said.

Photo credit: Austin Miller

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Academics

Texas theatre educators start UH program

The inaugural Summer Master of Arts class of 16 professional theatre educators from across Texas started their three-year program this summer at the School of Theatre and Dance. They took classes in Dramaturgy, the Teaching of Acting and Voice, and Scenic Design.

The summer session culminated in a trip to New York City where they saw six shows, took a choreography workshop at the Lincoln Center, and a Viewpoints workshop with the SITI Company.

New doctoral concentration in Rhetoric and Composition

The Department of English is developing a doctoral concentration in Rhetoric and Composition that will draw on the rich cultural diversity of Houston and the University to explore aspects of writing and writing pedagogy in the multi-cultural classroom, and the history and theory of rhetoric. Two tenure-track faculty members in the field join the Department in this year: Paul Butler, coming to us from the University of Nevada, Reno, and Jennifer Wingard, who recently defended her doctoral dissertation at Syracuse University.

As part of this commitment to understanding the issues facing the study and effective practice of writing instruction and rhetorical theory in the 21st century, the Department is inaugurating a fellowship program modeled on postdoctoral teaching awards. Houston Writing Fellowships consist of teaching-scholars who will be part of the ongoing exploration of Rhetoric, Composition, and Pedagogy.

This Fall, five Writing Fellows comprise the inaugural cohort of Houston Writing Fellows:

• Ryan Call, M.F.A., Creative Writing, George Mason University, and former coordinator of the Arlington Campus Writing Center, George Mason University;


• Darin Ciccotelli, (’08, Ph.D. Creative Writing and Literature), former Managing Editor, Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Art;


• Mary Gray, (’07, Ph.D., English), former instructor and researcher at the UH Writing Center;


• Brad Telford, (‘08, Ph.D., Creative Writing and Literature), translator of The Story of My Voice / L’histoire de ma voix by GenevieÃve Huttin (forthcoming, September 2009);


• Jeanine Walker, (‘08, Ph.D., Creative Writing and Literature), formerly Senior Writer, Writers in the Schools (Houston); and Senior Reader, Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Art.

UT-Pan American students complete Ph.D.s at UH

Eight doctoral students at the University of Texas – Pan American are taking classes this semester in our department of Modern and Classical Languages through interactive video. They expect to complete their Ph.D.s in Spanish through a combination of distance education and traditional classroom courses.

Over the summer, MCL piloted some online Spanish courses through its Community Outreach program. Ten employees working for a national company and located at different locations in Texas completed a 12-week synchronous customized course designed to improve their knowledge of Spanish.

ComD addresses shortage

A serious shortage of Speech-Language Pathologists exists today, particularly in the public schools. In fact, the Houston Independent School District, the largest in Texas and the seventh largest in the nation, has one of the largest shortages of Speech-Language Pathologists in the state.

Our Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders developed a pilot program to provide the pre-professional “leveling” courses for school teachers who may want to acquire the master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. This program gives teachers the opportunity to take classes here on campus in the summer, and through distance learning during the school year. This set up allows them to maintain their teaching positions while acquiring the prerequisite courses for application to graduate school. The program began this past summer with great success.

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Alumni

Sean Hill (MFA ’03, Creative Writing and Literature), a native of Milledgeville, Ga., is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Sean received the 2003 Michener Fellowship for poetry. He has also received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bush Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, a Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellowship at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and work-study scholarships to Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

Sean recently received a Travel and Study Grant from the Jerome Foundation. Callaloo, Indiana Review, and Ploughshares are among the publications that published his poems.

Blood Ties & Brown Liquor (2008, University of Georgia Press, 82 pages), his debut collection, is his vision of Milledgeville, an African-American southern community, from before the War of Northern Aggression to the present.

Mark Doty, a John and Rebecca Moores Professor in Creative Writing, and author of Fire to Fire: New & Selected Poems (2008, HarperCollins, 336 pages) says of Sean’s collection:

“Milledgeville, Georgia, exists for most readers through the lens of one writer, a brilliant and famous white woman who lies in the cemetery's high ground, safely above the floodwaters. But lower down lie the buried citizens of another, less seen community. Sean Hill's songs are native to his town. Formally various, richly textured, they voice unwritten history with an acute sense of the deep sound of a place, the stream of blood and talk that courses through this writer's living hands.”

Edward Hirsch, a former Creative Writing Faculty member, and author of Poet's Choice (2006, Harcourt, 448 pages), says:

“Sean Hill has given us a deeply moving fictive exploration — an excavation! — of the world that shaped him. Silas Wright is his personal entryway to the historical past and these fully realized lyrics are the forms of his poetic truth.”

Graphic Communication at The Main Event

Thanks to its comprehensive Graphic Communications program, the University of Houston is a hotbed for emerging designers and artists.

Alumni, students and faculty celebrated the growth of this innovative program at “The Main Event,” on Sept. 11 at the River Oaks Theatre. This festive social event featured a lecture from UH alumnus and award-winning graphic designer Brian Diecks (’91 Graphic Communication).

Diecks is a 17-year veteran of entertainment marketing and design. His work has been featured on ESPN, Comedy Central, TNT, Food Network, Independent Film Channel, and Showtime.

“The Main Event” was presented by the UH Graphic Alumni Partnership, with proceeds benefiting UH graphic communications scholarships. UHGAP promotes the value of design education and the role of graphic design in society. It also connects UH design alumni with each other and with the graphic communications program. You really gotta check out its cool Web page! (Mike Emery contributed to this story)

FotoFest presents Mechanical Perceptions, a group show of works by School of Art alumni Mei-Mei Liem (06, Photography/Digital Media), Eileen Maxson (’02, Photography), Brian Piana (’07 Photography/Digital Media), Soody Sharifi (’81 Industrial Engineering, ’04 MFA Photography) and Anderson Wrangle (’01, Photography).

The curators are Stephan Hillerbrand, Assistant Professor of Art and Area Coordinator; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston senior curator Toby Kamps; and artist Ariane Roesch (’07, Photography/Digital Media).

Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.
1113 Vine, Suite 101 Houston, Texas 713-223-5522

LaBove heads forensics at Wiley

Shannon LaBove (’00 Political Science) will guide Wiley College’s new forensics program. Shannon most recently served as Director of Forensics and instructor of speech communication at Central Texas College in Killeen. She also holds a master’s in speech communication from West Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law. (Photo: Courtney Case/Marshall, Texas News Messenger)

Kim Montgomery (’05 Communication) is the new education columnist for OnlyKaty.com. Kim is the Community Outreach Coordinator for Houston Community College Northwest.

After graduation, Kim worked as a Transfer Admission Counselor for the UH Office of Admissions. Kim was also the founding advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa Alumni Association of the University of Houston, the alumni group for the two-year college international honors association.

Valenti Alumni Board has new leaders

The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication Alumni Association elected new officers at its annual meeting in August.

Cheyenna Smith Brehm (’97 Journalism)
Immediate Past President

Natalie Wong Camarata (’06 Journalism)
President

Kimberly Stoilis (’03 Journalism)
President Elect

Sandra Zamora (’07 Media Production)
Secretary

Emilee Fontenot (’05 Public Relations Studies)
Treasurer

Kimberly (Kim) Maraldo (’03 Public Relations/Advertising) and Ashly Alberto (’02 Media Production)
Fishing Tournament Chairs

Jocquelene English (’07 Public Relations/Advertising)
Homecoming Chair

Tempest Solcich ('05 Media Productions)
Education Chair

Jim Brown (’82 Speech Communication)
Communication Chair

Calvin Pollard (’98 Radio and Television) and Sally Swanson (’86 Radio and Television)
General Board Members

In Memoriam

Jeannene Zimmerman Aug. 7, 2008

Jerry Dane Campbell, Aug. 23, 2008

John M. Druary, Aug. 25, 2008

Avanelle L. (Sue) Schneider, Aug. 28, 2008

Olle J. Lorehn, Sept. 4, 2008

Read more about CLASS alumni on our Web page. If you would like to share your accomplishments with your CLASS family, please send us an email note.

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Discovery

This month, we thought we’d replace our usual video interview of a faculty researcher by CLASS Interim Communication Director John David Powell with information about the new online Research Room set up by the Department of Sociology.

The Research Room is a guide to social science research that’s chockfull of interesting stuff and answers to some basic research questions, such as: What is social science research? What makes this research scientific? Why do we need theory?

Click on the screen to watch Alice Cepeda, Assistant Professor of Sociology, talk about the challenges of working with high-risk populations. And you thought university research was boring.

Center for Public Policy looks at lotto demos

The Center for Public Policy once again will provide critical information for the Texas Lottery on the demographics of its players. State law requires lottery officials to do an annual study of its consumers, so they hired CPP for the job for the second year in a row.

“The last survey found a 7-percent decrease in lottery play from 2006, with 38 percent of respondents indicating they had played a Texas Lottery game in 2007,” said CPP Director Jim Granato.

The new study, as with the previous one, will survey cell phone and landline users to be more inclusive and reflective of the general population. Respondents will be asked about their playing habits, such as the types of games played and the amount of money spent weekly and monthly on games, in addition to demographic and income information.

Last year’s survey also found:

• more full-time employees played Texas Lottery games, but those who were unemployed spent more when they played
• those earning between $12,000 and $19, 9999 a year spent more per month on Texas Lottery games than those who earned more than $100,000 a year
• McAllen, Irving, and Austin had the highest participation rates, while Lubbock and El Paso had the lowest.

Results will be released by the end of the year and will be available online. (Marisa Ramirez contributed to this story)

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Around CLASS and Campus

President Khator reflects on Ike

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:
 
We are  10 days beyond Hurricane Ike and even though many of us continue to be without  power and challenged by difficult situations, it is time to look in the rear  view mirror.
 
The decision to open the University Tuesday, Sept.  16, has upset many. I am writing to acknowledge your messages and, in the  spirit of transparency, answer two fundamental questions:  how emergency  decisions are made in general, and why this particular decision was made.  
 
How emergency decisions are made in  general

The University of Houston has two documents that guide  our management of an emergency and the recovery afterward: the Emergency  Management Plan and the Continuity of Business Plan.  Both plans are  monitored by an Emergency Management Committee consisting of 55 members from  all walks of university life - plant operations, security, academic affairs,  student affairs, research, advancement, deans, faculty, staff, and students.  When an emergency occurs (or a critical situation arises like in the case of  Ike), a small group of emergency management personnel called the Emergency  Management Team (EMT) begins to meet to secure the campus and monitor the  situation regularly.  
 
The president is kept informed by the  head of the EMT. When the situation reaches a level requiring the president's  decision (such as opening and closing of the university), the group involves  the president and presents a comprehensive assessment (including physical  conditions, residence halls, academic operations, security, city conditions  etc.).  Based on these assessments and other external assessments as  available, the president decides to open or close the  campus.
 
Why the decision to open early was made?   
 
Since the ultimate decision to open or close the  university rests solely with the president, I take full responsibility for  making the call to open on Tuesday.
 
On Sunday evening, Sept. 14,  the assessment from the team was generally positive -- the campus was  functional (electricity was working and with the exception of the Architecture  building, there was minimal structural damage), city and county staff were  called in to work on Monday, and academic operations were declared to be ready  to begin on Tuesday. Each member of the EMT gave his or her assessment based  on the best information available to them at the time. I made the decision  based on the best information available to me at the time.
 
We had  three options in front us: (1) close the campus and force every one to stay  out; (2) open the campus and force everyone to come in; and (3) open the  campus and allow people to make individual choices based on personal  situations but without fear of penalty.  During our discussion today with  the Faculty Senate, some suggested we should have opened the campus for  "services only," but this option wasn't really available to us. Either the  campus is functional and therefore ready to carry on its educational mission  or it is not functional and should be closed.  Universities that have  kept their campus closed specifically declared it unsafe and forced people to  stay out.  Rice University, in an area with many large trees down, also  opened that campus and held classes Tuesday. Some schools have, however,  allowed faculty/staff to come in one day earlier than students to clean up and  prepare for learning.
 
As you know, we opted for option 3.  
 
I thought it was the best choice because  it would allow  people to come in to their Cougar home to attend classes, find  air-conditioning, get their cell phones charged, use computers, get hot meals,  help each other, and finally, to start to think about helping those who fared  less well.  Many messages were sent out letting students know of the no  exam/relaxed attendance policy, as well as to encourage people to come to the  campus only if they felt safe to do so.  
 
We all know that  the best thought-out plans do not always guarantee the expected results. What  were the obstacles?  Our preliminary analysis points to the following  three areas:
 

1. Our communications systems were not designed to  adequately address a scenario where vast numbers of us had no power, and  therefore, no access to email, limited cell phone functionality or access to  TV news reports. We quickly learned that a message sent was not necessarily  a message received. Televisions and radio were only offering brief three or  four word messages on what was open/closed. Three-quarters of our faculty  and staff members were not registered for emergency PIER text messaging. And  the vast majority of us had no power to view the Web site.  The result  was that most people either had no information or had partial information.  They knew the University was opening but did not know about the flexibility  that they had.

2. Our primary assumption did not hold up - people did  not fully understand "individual flexibility" since we had never exercised  it before under these circumstances.  Staff members continued to call  with questions about what we meant, and how they should log their leave  time. Eighty-nine percent of the students surveyed in a class of 300-plus  said they were worried about their exams and attendance.

3. It  became very difficult for professors and students to operationalize the  intended "flexibility."  Some did not have the tools to exercise it  (professors did not have cell phone numbers of their students to inform them  if they could not make the class), and others did not know what material  they should or should not cover in class.

Life after Ike

Around CLASS and Campus is that portion of the newsletter where we tell you about things happening here. Well, Ike happened here, so we figured we’d show you some of the storm’s effects on campus.

Oscar Gutierrez (’67 Journalism), Director of University Advancement Projects, also handles some of President Khator’s communication. Oscar took these pictures when he toured the campus and as he accompanied President Khator to the FEMA POD at Robertson Stadium

Dean Antel and POD volunteer

Damage to Campus Recreation and Wellness Center

Damage to Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture building

Downed trees on campus

POD volunteers

President Khator with City Councilmember James Rodriguez (’98)

President Khator and POD volunteers

President Khator loading ice

President Khator with State Senator Rodney Ellis

Homecoming 2008: Old Traditions and New Beginnings

Come celebrate your Cougar Spirit at the 2008 University of Houston Homecoming celebrating Old Traditions and New Beginnings. Enjoy a week of fun, food, friends, family, and football the week of Nov. 1 -8, ending with the big game against Tulane at Robertson Stadium. Find out everything you’d want to know about this year’s Homecoming, and more, on the UH Homecoming Web page.

GO COOGS!!!!!

Who got here first???

Were the earliest Americans Asian? Were they European? The latest news about the first migrations to the Americas is radically changing what we’ve always believed about our hemisphere.

Two of the top authorities, Michael Collins, Director of the Gault Site, and Dennis Stanford, Director of Archaeology, The Smithsonian Museum, reveal the latest information in a special evening moderated by Houston radio personality Sam Malone who confronts the experts, asks the hard questions, and brings his own special brand of humor to the presentation. The result will be a lively, fun-filled, interesting evening of surprises and new understanding. The event is free for UH students.

Thurs., Oct. 16, at 7:00 p.m.
Cullen Performance Hall

For more information, contact the Department of Anthropology at 713- 743-3780.

Uncle Andy wants you (to come see his Polaroids at Blaffer Gallery)

Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston will run an exhibition of more than 50 photos in Celebutants, Groupies and Friends: A Photographic Legacy from the Andy Warhol Foundation, through Oct. 18.

Among the famous faces captured by Warhol’s camera are Jamie Lee Curtis, late Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell, 80s rock icon Billy Squier, Princess Caroline, and singer/actress Pia Zadora.

“The photos are most valuable because they are a rarely seen glimpse into Warhol’s working process, especially for his famous portraits,” says Michael Guidry, curator of the UH University Art Collections. “Warhol would take many, many Polaroids of his clients, posing them, putting high contrast make-up on them. Some are very flattering and some not so flattering. Most of the Polaroids were studies for paintings and the black and white photos are a mix of travel and party pictures of his friends and social network.”

The Warhol Foundation’s gift was made as part of the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program in honor of the foundation’s 20th anniversary. As one of the participating institutions in this program, UH received approximately 150 photographs selected by Jenny Moore, curator of the Photographic Legacy Program.

The UH Art Collection includes an assortment of public works on display throughout the campus. Works include murals, paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and tapestries. Public tours of these works are presented by Blaffer Gallery and can be arranged by calling 713-743-9971. A list of works can be viewed at the UH Art Collection web site. (Mike Emery contributed to this article.)

School of Theatre and Dance Raises Curtain on Season of Premieres

Contemporary works by veteran, emerging artists highlight 2008-2009 productions

New plays take center stage at the University of Houston. During the upcoming 2008-2009 season, the School of Theatre and Dance will present local debuts and world premieres of works by rising playwrights and esteemed masters of the craft.

Among the highlights of the season are the world premiere of Nathaniel Freeman’s Hurricane Katrina-inspired Bridges on Oct. 3; the local debut of Louis Sachar’s stage adaptation of his popular children’s book Holes on Oct. 13; and the Houston opening of former faculty member and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee’s latest production, Peter and Jerry on Feb. 13, 2009.

“We are offering a season that is both accessible and relevant to all our subscribers and friends,” said Steven Wallace, director of the School of Theatre and Dance.

“It’s a challenging slate full of vigor, intellect and intensity. As we train the next generation of theater and dance artists, we are conscious of presenting a body of work that we hope will connect artists and audiences across age and ethnicity.”

The following five productions are included in the School’s subscription series. Tickets for individual productions will be available Sept. 2. For additional details, call 713-743-2929 or visit the School’s box office.

• Oct. 3 - 12, 2008
  Bridges by Nathaniel Freeman; Directed by Steven Wallace, World Premiere

Presented in collaboration with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, this world premiere production focuses on the oral histories of Hurricane Katrina survivors who were stranded on the I-10 overpass after their neighborhood was decimated. The script was adapted from interviews gathered as part of the UH Surviving Rita and Katrina Project.

Mary Zimmerman

Zimmerman’s stunning Tony Award-winning adaptation of some of Roman poet Ovid's humorous, heartbreaking myths is set in and around a large pool. An ensemble cast depicts the transformations that define the human experience. Created at Northwestern University, Metamorphoses was produced at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and the Berkeley Stage Company before moving to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre in 2002. That year, Zimmerman earned the Tony Award for Best Direction for this play.

Edward Albee

Fifty years ago, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and former UH professor Albee dazzled audiences with the provocative A Zoo Story, which detailed a Central Park meeting between Peter, a publishing executive, and Jerry, a disturbed young man. In 2008, Albee added a first act, Homelife, which details Peter’s marriage and the events leading up to his meeting with Jerry. Paired as Peter and Jerry, the combined works will have its local debut after its New York debut.

Charles L. Mee

The artwork of Robert Rauschenberg has long intrigued and challenged art aficionados. This imaginative production explores the American landscape through a creative lens that is inspired by the recently departed artist. Not unlike his unique “combine” paintings, the play melds a host of diverse characters, settings, music, dancing, and stories.

Amy Lanasa and Mark Medoff

What do you do when your sister is a convict, your momma can't kick her bingo habit, and your husband is still missing from your honeymoon skydiving trip two years ago? Lock yourself in your trailer, of course. This comedy farce, by up-and-coming playwright Lanasa, won the Best Short Play Award at the 2001 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival.

In addition to the subscription series, the School of Theatre and Dance will debut its Theatre for Young Audiences program with a production that runs during the week for school children:

Adapted from Sachar’s book and the film of the same name, Holes tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, a young man sentenced to hard labor in West Texas for a crime he did not commit. Between dodging poisonous yellow-spotted lizards and trying to play nice with other inmates, he finds himself unraveling a century-old mystery.

The school will continue to develop new work for dance and theatre with these annual offerings:

• Nov. 22 - 23, 2008
  Emerging Choreographers Showcase

The creative energies of up-and-coming choreographers are showcased in this annual concert that has become a favorite among dance enthusiasts.

• April 24 - 26, 2009
  Spring Dance Concert

Dance aficionados look forward to this annual show featuring contemporary works by faculty and guest artists that is set on the pre-professional dance company, the UH Dance Ensemble.

• April 30 - May 3, 2009
  New Play Festival

The New Play Festival offers Houstonians a chance to enjoy the city’s freshest theater. Tomorrow’s star scribes develop scripts under the supervision of Tony winner and UH professor Mark Medoff and present them during intimate readings.

Each season, the School of Theatre and Dance produces five plays performed in the Wortham Theatre and the Jose Quintero Theatre, two dance concerts, student productions, the New Play Festival, the Houston Shakespeare Festival and the Children's Theatre Festival. (Mike Emery contributed to this article.)

The Women's Studies program is preparing for two major event for the upcoming Fall semester.

The 2008 Women's Conference on "Gender, Creativity and the New Longevity", November 13 -15.

The conference will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, artists, and practitioners to consider the social and personal consequences of the new longevity.

The exhibition: Thrive (DiverseWorks, Houston) November 14 - December 20.

Time plays through the work of fifteen notable Houston artists, all women, in Thrive.

This event was organized in conjunction with the UH conference Gender, Creativity, and the New Longevity. The exhibition and accompanying programs are a co-presentation of DiverseWorks and the Women’s Studies program.

You can read more about these events in next month's issue of Graffit-e.

Annual Cougar Marching Band Dinner/Concert
Friday, November 21

Underwritten by Sterling Bank

Come support the "Spirit of Houston" Cougar Marching Band in a fun-filled, exciting evening of music and dance. All proceeds benefit the Cougar Marching Band/Cheer/Dance scholarship and program funds.

Dinner 6:30 p.m., Moores School of Music Courtyard
Concert 8:00 p.m., Moores Opera House

UH Entrance 16 at Cullen Boulevard
Tickets: 713-743-3388

Mitchell Center’s fall season kicks off with Damaged Romanticism in Music

The idea of damaged romanticism hinges on the possibility that initial conditions of loss and disappointment can be tempered with defiant optimism. Instead of descending into disillusionment, hopelessness or despair, what begins as morbidity can be transformed into creative reconstruction.

This fall, the concept is being explored by the University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts through Damaged Romanticism in Music, a distinctive series of concerts, performances, readings and discussions. The series is co-presented with Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston and is inspired by the exhibition Damaged Romanticism, on view at Blaffer through Nov. 15.

In September, the Mitchell Center kicks off the music series with the Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music and a three-day festival celebrating the 70th birth-year of Grammy Award-winning composer Joan Tower, with pianist and chamber musician Melvin Chen. The series continues throughout October and November with dynamic events that blend music, conversation and poetry including a multi-media performance and concert presented in collaboration with Da Camera of Houston.

Damaged Romanticism in Music features additional notable talents such as poet and former UH faculty member Adam Zagajewski, musician and Da Camera artistic director Sarah Rothenberg, The Foundation for Modern Music, the Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and the AURA Contemporary Ensemble.

All Damaged Romanticism in Music events are listed below, and additional details can be found at the Mitchell Center for the Arts Web site. To learn more about the Blaffer Gallery exhibition, visit Blaffer’s Web site.

Chopin in Paris: Epigraph for a Condemned Book

8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18
Roy and Lillie Cullen Theater at the Wortham Theater Center, 500 Texas St.
Presented in collaboration with Da Camera of Houston.

A unique tapestry of music by Chopin, text by Baudelaire and images by Delacroix reveals some of the creative works that inspired Damaged Romanticism. Conceived, directed and performed by Mitchell Center artist-in-residence and Da Camera artistic director Sarah Rothenberg.

7 p.m.: Pre-concert conversation with Sarah Rothenberg and poet Richard Howard.

For tickets and Information, call Da Camera at 713-524-5050.

Damaged Romanticism Concert

8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8
Moores Opera House at UH, Entrance 16 off Cullen Boulevard.
Presented in collaboration with Da Camera of Houston.

A concert featuring a roster of international artists performing works by Karim Al-Zand, Stephen Hartke, Wolfgang Rihm, Alfred Schnittke and Franz Schubert juxtaposed with projected images from Blaffer Gallery’s Damaged Romanticism exhibition.

7 p.m.: Pre-concert conversation with Sarah Rothenberg and Terrie Sultan, director of the Parrish Art Museum and co-curator of Damaged Romanticism.

Post-Concert Reception and Exhibition Viewing at Blaffer Gallery.

For tickets and information, call Da Camera 713-524-5050.

Foundation for Modern Music Concert

6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 12
Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, Entrance 16 off Cullen Boulevard.

The works of composers Henryk Górecki Schnittke and Osvaldo Golijov are performed in an intimate gallery setting.

Free Admission.
For reservations and information, call Blaffer Gallery, 713-743-9521.

Poetry and Music: A Conversation

7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21
The Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross St.

Renowned poet and former UH faculty member Adam Zagajewski joins forces with Sarah Rothenberg for an evening of readings, performances and conversations in conjunction with the exhibition.

Free Admission.
For reservations and information, call the Mitchell Center Hotline at 713-743-5548.

Crowne Plaza, Houston, Downtown
November 14-15, 2008

The two general themes for the conference:

1. Mapping the Contact Zone(s) of Nuestra América.

Rather than revisit “contact zones” as initiated and dominated by European travelers, merchants and conquistadors, the conference seeks to investigate later evolutions of the “contact zone” with its potential as a space for a multiplicity of diverse cultural clashes and/or syntheses. The conference advocates for a more thorough mapping of cultural, political, linguistic, gendered and historical connections or disconnections between individuals and groups of any particular “contact zone.” The evolving nature of the metropolis as found in New York City, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Antonio, Albuquerque and San Francisco, among others, should be ideal places to imagine the mutability and multiplicity of the “contact zone,” but so are places visited by violence and forced displacemen

2. The bicentennial of Hispanic newspapers in the United States.

In September 1808, the first issue of El Misisipí was published in New Orleans. It was the first Spanish-language newspaper to be published north of the Rio Grande and was soon followed by others in the Northeast, Texas and Florida. Since the beginnings of Hispanic publishing in all areas that became part of the United States, Latinos have made the newspaper, as well as other types of periodicals, the most important and prolific medium for their political, social, literary and religious expression, even more so than books. In the process of recovery of our written legacy, thousands more texts worthy of preservation and study have been found in newspapers than in books.

For more information about the conference, visit the Arte Público Press Web site (http://www.arte.uh.edu/recovery/publications/media/recovery_conf_2008_call.do

New from Arte Público Press

The Case Runner
by Carlos Cisneros

In this legal thriller set on the Texas-Mexico border, a young lawyer finds himself caught up in a wrongful death case that involves insurance fraud, theft, and maybe even murder.

Alejandro “Alex” del Fuerte, fresh out of law school, is returning home to South Texas, ready to open his solo practice, humble as it may be. He’s got dreams of making his mark in the world and in the courtroom. But when he meets Porfirio “Pilo” Medina, who just crossed the border in search of his wife and son, Alex is suddenly dragged into a world of wrongdoings and political pay-offs rarely covered in law school.

The mystery deepens when Pilo is murdered, seemingly to cover up the truth about his wife and child’s disappearance and a conspiracy to scam insurance companies out of millions of dollars. Alex fears that his short career as an attorney—not to mention his life—will come to a sudden end, as the heavyweight players involved will stop at nothing to keep him from exposing their dirty secrets, even if it means resorting to blackmail, bribery, and even murder.

As Alex’s lofty ideals and dreams are dashed, and his own ethics and morals come into question, he must also fend off his girlfriend’s father, Lieutenant Governor Rene Yarrington, the most influential person in Texas politics. Rampant corruption and big-money politics are set against the rich backdrop of border culture, with its distinctive way of life and unique perspective. And Alex, something between saint and sinner, is an apt guide to both the light and dark sides of the region.

Carlos Cisneros, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and South Texas College of Law in Houston, practices law in Brownsville, Texas, where he lives with his family. The Case Runner is his first novel.

More Moores news

Greetings!

We have a very exciting Fall season beginning with our season opener Collage 2008, our free annual season preview presenting our faculty, students, and performing ensembles in concert. Over 600 performers will play samples from our jazz, symphony, choral, opera, and band programs, as well as chamber music and solo artists.

Two special festivals will celebrate the birthdays of composers, Joan Tower and Sam Adler. The Edythe Bates Old Moores Opera Center will present Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld sung in a witty English version written by our opera producer/director Buck Ross. The annual "Spirit of Houston" Cougar Marching Band Concert welcomes everyone to come and support the band in a fun-filled, exciting evening of music and dance. Our fall season will close with a performance of Handel's Messiah.

Included below is our season pass form that shows pricing options. You can print and mail the form or call us directly at 713-743-3388 to order your passes.

Please join us and enjoy our vibrant season of performances at the Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music!

September

Friday, September 26, 7:30 pm RS $15/10
AURA CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Rob Smith, director
Jaemi Blair Loeb, assistant director
Works by Tower

Saturday, September 27, 7:30 pm RS $15/10
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Franz Anton Krager, conductor
Blake Wilkins, percussion
Melvin Chen,* piano
Works by Tower, Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

Festival in collaboration with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Gallery's Damaged Romanticism exhibition.

October

Friday, October 3, 7:30 pm $10/5
Hail Britannia
CONCERT CHORALE, CONCERT WOMEN'S CHORUS, UNIVERSITY MEN'S/WOMEN'S CHORUSES, FLOREAT
Betsy Cook Weber, Richard Robbins, Justin Smith, Jennette Roesner, conductors Works by Britten, Gilbert and Sullivan, Purcell, Williams, Holst, Keane/Faulkner

Sunday, October 5, 3 pm $10/5
WIND ENSEMBLE
David Bertman, director

Monday, October 6, 7:30 pm $10/5
WINDS OF TEXAS
Peggy Russell, flute
Robin Hough, oboe
Jeffrey Lerner, clarinet
Nancy Goodearl,* French horn
Jeffrey Robinson, bassoon
Timothy Hester, piano
Works by Pilss, Thuille, Nielsen
Dudley Recital Hall

Tuesday, October 7, 7:30 pm $10/5
SYMPHONIC BAND SYMPHONIC WINDS
David Bertman, John Alstrin, directors
Works by Maslanka, Jenkins, Whitacre, Fillmore

Wednesday, October 8, 7:30 pm $10/5
JAZZ ORCHESTRA JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Noe Marmolejo, director

Sunday, October 12, 3 pm $10/5
FACULTY WIND QUINTET
Kimberly Clark, flute
Anne Leek, oboe
Chester Rowell, clarinet
Cheryl Huddleston, bassoon
Roger Kaza, French horn
French works by Francaix, Taffanel, others
Dudley Recital Hall

Wednesday, October 15, 7:30 pm Free
Thursday, October 16, 1 pm Free
TENNECO SERIES MASTER CLASS
Frank Campos,* trumpet
(Professor, Ithaca College)
Dudley Recital Hall

Monday, October 20, 7:30 pm Free
A.I. LACK SERIES RECITAL
Quartetto Italiano di Clarinetti*
(Maurizio Morganti, Carlo Franceschi, soprano clarinets; Giovanni Lanzini, alto clarinet; Augusto Lanzini, bass clarinet)
Robert Nelson: Quartet for Clarinet (United States premiere)
Dudley Recital Hall

EDYTHE BATES OLD / MOORES OPERA CENTER:

Buck Ross, producer/director
Lucy Arner, music director

Friday, October 24, 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 25, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 26, 2 pm
Monday, October 27, 7:30 pm RS $15/10
Orpheus in the Underworld
by Jacques Offenbach

Let's go to hell! Greek mythology has never been the same since Offenbach got through with it. Sung in a witty English version by Buck Ross, we start the year off with a wild, naughty, comic romp that concludes with an infernal can-can!

Sung in English with English surtitles

Thursday, October 30, 7:30 pm $10/5
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Dominique Røyem, Jaemi Blair Loeb, Roger Kalia, conductors

November

Saturday, November 1, 7:30 pm
TEXAS COLLEGIATE WOMEN'S CHORUS FESTIVAL CONCERT WOMEN'S CHOIR with University of Texas - San Antonio,* Texas Women's University,* Texas A&M,* University of Texas - Austin,* Texas State University*
Richard Robbins, Gary Mabry,*, Joni Jensen,* Jess Wade,* Annie Byrom,* Lynn Brinckmeyer,* Sandra Snow (faculty, Michigan State),* conductors
University of Texas, Austin, Bass Recital Hall
Info: 512-471-5401

Monday, November 3, 7:30 pm $10/5
Landmarks
PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Blake Wilkins, director
Works by Varese, Xenakis, Hollo, DeSantis, Fitkin

Saturday, November 8, 8 pm
Damaged Romanticism
DA CAMERA OF HOUSTON* Vera Beths,* Kyung Sun Lee, violins
Hsin-Yun Huang,* Ivo van der Werff,* violas
Norman Fischer,* Sonia Wieder-Atherton,* cellos
Timothy Hester, Sarah Rothenberg,* pianos
7 pm Pre-concert lecture with Terrie Sultan and Sarah Rothenberg. In collaboration with Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and in conjunction with Blaffer Gallery's Damaged Romanticism exhibition.
Tickets/Info: 713-524-5050 DaCamera.com

Sunday, November 9, 3 pm $10/5
Andrzej Grabiec, violin
Jeffrey Lerner, clarinet
Timothy Hester, piano
Works by Thompson, Harbison, Dohnanyi, Beethoven

Monday, November 10, 7 pm Free
18th ANNUAL CHORAL INVITATIONAL CONCERT CHORALE
with Clear Lake, Kerr, Klein Collins, Seven Lakes high schools* Betsy Cook Weber, LaRinda Horan,* Patsy Dupree,* Jan Juneau,* Shannon Carter,* conductors

Tuesday, November 11, 7:30 pm Free
COLLEGIATE CHORAL FESTIVAL CONCERT CHORALE
with Houston Baptist University,* University of St. Thomas* Betsy Cook Weber, John Yarrington,* Brady Knapp,* conductors

SAMUEL ADLER FESTIVAL
(Celebrating Adler's 80th Birthday)

Thursday, November 13, 7:30 pm RS $15/10
CHORAL ARTISTS WIND ENSEMBLE
Charles Hausmann, David Bertman, directors
Works by Adler, Maroney, Piston, Welcher

Friday, November 14, 7:30 pm RS $15/10 100-80-60-40-30
AURA CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Rob Smith, director Jaemi Blair Loeb, assistant director
Works by Carter, Adler, Welcher, Smith, Maroney

Sunday, November 16, 7:30 pm $10/5
Blake Wilkins, percussion
Kimberly Clark, flute
Andrzej Grabiec, violin
Randall Griffin, clarinet
Paula Page, harp
Timothy Hester, piano
Alec Warren, percussion
Works by Toru Takemitsu

Tuesday, November 18, 7:30 pm $10/5
JAZZ ORCHESTRA JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Noe Marmolejo, director

Friday, November 21 Dinner 6:30 pm, MSM Courtyard
Concert 8 pm, MOH
ANNUAL COUGAR MARCHING BAND DINNER/CONCERT
Underwritten by Sterling Bank
David Bertman, director

Come support the "Spirit of Houston" Cougar Marching Band in a fun-filled, exciting evening of music and dance. All proceeds benefit the Cougar Marching Band/Cheer/Dance scholarship and program funds. Info: UHbands.com

Sunday, November 23, 6 pm
17th Century Vespers
COLLEGIUM MUSICUM
Matthew Dirst, director
Richard Robbins, conductor
Works by Leandro Gallerano
Christ the King Lutheran Church Rice Blvd at Greenbriar
Info: 713-523-2864

Tuesday, November 25, 7:30 pm $10/5
SYMPHONIC BAND
SYMPHONIC WINDS
David Bertman, John Alstrin, directors
Works by Creston, Wilson, Tichelli, Sousa, Holst, Lauridsen

Saturday, November 29, 7:30 pm
PREPARTORY & CONTINUING STUDIES and HOUSTON GRAND OPERA*
present a GIRLS CHORUS premiere concert with HGO STUDIO ARTISTS*
Britten: Ceremony of Carols
Villa de Matel 6510 Lawndale Street
Info: 713-228-OPERA (6737)
HoustonGrandOpera.org

December

Wednesday, December 3, 7:30 pm Free
Christmas in the Chapel
SYMPHONIC BRASS, CONCERT WOMEN'S CHORUS, UNIVERSITY MEN'S/WOMEN'S CHORUSES, FLOREAT David Bertman, Richard Robbins, Justin Smith, Jennette Roesner, conductors
Works by Pinkham, Gabrieli, Michael Haydn, Wessman, Morales, Stroope
UH Main Chapel, A.D. Bruce Religion Center

Friday, December 5, 7:30 pm RS $15/10
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Franz Anton Krager, conductor
Winners - 2008 Concerto Competition
Dvorák: Symphony No. 6

Sunday, December 7, 3 pm RS $10/5
CONCERT CHORALE
with ARS LYRICA HOUSTON*
Matthew Dirst, conductor
Handel: Messiah

* Guest Artist/Group
RS Reserved Seating

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