25 Years of Small Seminars and Big Ideas Keeping the Message Alive

25 Years of Small Seminars Donna DeCesare’s New Book, and Big Ideas “Children in a World of If an honors program can be reduced Gangs” to a single tag line, “small seminars, big Donna DeCesare’s new book, “Unsettled/ ideas” might just do the trick. While our Desasosiego: Children in a World of College is a leader in teaching new and Gangs/Los niños en un mundo de las old media, Senior Fellows continues to pandillas,” is the culmination of 30 years give our best and brightest a forum to of photographing gang members and discuss the critical issues of the day and their families. Through striking images of all time. DeCesare uncovers the effects of decades Continued on page 2 of war and gang violence on the lives of youths in Central America and in refugee Keeping the Message Alive: communities in the United States. Student Interviews Eliza Continued on page 3 Gilkyson for Class on Woody Belo Center for New Media Guthrie Wins Merit Award For her Symposium paper, Journalism major Sarah Grace Sweeney interviewed heralded folk singer Eliza Gilkyson about how she became such a poignant social critic working in the folk Any student will tell you the Belo center tradition. for New Media is a great place to be. The Continued on page 4 American Institute of Architects seems to agree, awarding the BMC its top prize for Senior and Alumni Spotlights “Merit Design.” Page 7 Continued on page 7 1 Senior Fellows provides the intimate, timeless and Letter from the Director: indispensible learning experiences it always has. And Senior Fellows students and faculty continue to like it 25 Years of Small that way. The heart of this learning experience, since the Seminars and Big Ideas program first took shape in 1988, is our seminar classes, and 2012-13 was a banner year for them. I owe By Dave Junker, a special thanks to the following faculty – some of the Director of Senior best in the nation in their fields - for teaching these Fellows great classes: There’s never • Sharon Jarvis and Ashley Muddiman been a bad time (Communication Studies), “Campaign to be in Senior Communication” Fellows. But one could make a case • Kevin Thomas (Advertising and Public Relations), for this being the “Making Sense of the World Through Ads” best time. It’s as if we’re celebrating our 25-year anniversary in • Nancy Schiesari (Radio-Television-Film), “Art and a brand new state-of-the-art building, and Roderick Cinema” P. Hart, Dean of the College of Communication and founder of Senior Fellows, was stepping back into the • Joshua Gunn (Communication Studies), “Is classroom to teach a special topics course in the fall. Communication (Science) Fiction?” If it sounds like it’s too good to be true, that’s only because it really is that good. We are turning 25 this • Tracy Dahlby (Journalism), “Storytelling in Digital fall, the impressive Belo Center for New Media is our Times” new home and Dean Hart is teaching a Senior Fellows seminar. I know from our students how meaningful these His class is called “American Voices,” and it draws classes were. Apart from having talented faculty, this on his long career as one of the nation’s leading comes as a result of the time and effort that our faculty communication scholars to examine the questions, put into them. I see this effort in myriad ways, from “What’s unique about American speech, American film, the time faculty put into planning their courses, to the American advertising, American politics, the American thought and resourcefulness that goes into recruiting press?” Judging by the number of students trying to guest speakers and coordinating special outings and get into the class, I’m clearly not the only one feeling events. Some examples: downright giddy about it. For “Art and Cinema,” a class that examined the The energy many ways modern art movements have shaped film is palpable all “If it sounds too making, Nancy Schiesari took her students to the around. Another Blanton Museum for a guided tour and special lecture. good to be true, measure is the high For “Is Communication number of students that’s only because it (Science) Fiction,” applying for Joshua Gunn recruited admission in 2013- really is that good.” Professor Thomas Frentz, 14. This spring, 80 a communication and students applied for only 30 slots. That’s nearly double science fiction scholar the number of students who applied two years ago. from the University of While this makes for an agonizing selection process, Arkansas, to give a talk on it affirms the relevance of our mission and the quality the ways science fiction of our programming. At a time when higher education tests our assumptions about communication. Professor is becoming more virtual, data-driven, and impersonal, Gunn also invited students to his house for a dinner 2 party honoring their guest, an experience not many which will serve to provide input on a range of matters undergraduates enjoy. from academic programming to social activities. Tracy Dahlby In this issue of Backstories, you’ll see some examples recruited a host of of what all the buzz is about. Among the highlights great guests for his are interviews with graduating seniors Gracelin class “Storytelling Baskaran and Nicole Bernard as well and two more in Digital Times,” with fascinating alumni Gayle Rosenstein Klein and including Joe Januszewski, proving that Senior Fellows do big songwriter things in the classroom and even bigger things when Darden Smith they leave it. You can also read a feature on singer- and philosophy songwriter Eliza Gilkyson -- written by student Sarah professor Paul Grace Sweeney -- and an article about Donna De Woodruff. Perhaps most memorable was the visit by Cesare’s powerful new book. Gioia Timpanelli, a world-renowned storyteller, who Please let us know if you have any comments, gave an intimate storytelling session to the class and questions or “big ideas” from those “small seminars” a formal lecture on storytelling that was open to the you took when you were in Senior Fellows. We’d love to public. hear from you. UT Austin Classics Professor Thomas G. Palaima attended Timpanelli’s storytelling session and was so Sincerely, moved by it that he wrote a commentary for the Austin Dave American-Statesman. It’s no wonder that students are looking forward to next year’s classes and programming. In addition to New Book of Dean Hart’s return, we have veteran Senior Fellows teachers Karin Wilkins from Radio-Television-Film Photojournalism by and Gene Burd from Journalism joining the 2013- 14 roster. And joining us for the first time will be Professor DeCesare Wins Advertising and Public Relations Lecturer Tamara Bell as well as longtime Journalism Professor Donna De Praise Cesare (who recently wrote a book on her experience Donna DeCesare’s new book, “Unsettled/ photographing the lives of children exposed to war - Desasosiego: Children in a World of Gangs/Los niños you can read about in this issue of Backstories). en un mundo de las pandillas,” is the culmination of We wrapped up a great year with a reception at 30 years of photographing gang members and their the Texas Union. We had a great turnout and a families. Through striking images DeCesare uncovers wonderful time was had by all. Though most of the the effects of decades of war and gang violence on time was reserved for conversation, I had the honor of the lives of youths in Central America and in refugee announcing the winner of the Top Paper in Symposium communities in the United States. award, which went to Communication Studies major In the fall, DeCesare will be teaching a Senior Kaytiann Severin for her application of interpersonal Fellows seminar, Archive Detectives: Telling Stories communication theory to political discourse. About The Past Through Archival Research, building Congratulations on a job well done! on her experience as a photojournalist and her training At the reception, I also announced that Senior as a scholar to investigate the visual resources available Fellows will be getting its own room in the Belo Center to us at the world-class libraries on campus. for New Media, a space where Senior Fellows can A photojournalist and associate professor in the socialize, study together and plan social activities. This School of Journalism in the College of Communication, is part of an effort to build community to a greater DeCesare began covering Central America during the degree within Senior Fellows. A driving force of this civil wars of the 1980s, focusing on the disrupted lives effort are students Sterling Whittemore, Meg Weiss of children and youths. She continued her photography and Allison Heinrich, who volunteered to serve on the project in Central American refugee communities in inaugural Senior Fellows Student Advisory Council, Continued on page 4 3 the United States in the 1990s and postwar Central America since 2000, documenting a history of repression, violence and trauma in which gangs — trapped by social neglect — are as much a symptom as a cause. More than a photographic documentation, the bilingual “Unsettled/Desasosiego,” published by the University of Texas Press, is a memoir of her decades as a war photojournalist, using photographs and personal narrative to trace the evolution and expansion of the notorious 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha gangs from the barrios of Los Angeles to the shanties of Central America. The images and accounts show how decades interview subjects when third-year journalism student of war and violence — as well as the illegal drug Sarah Grace Sweeney was told that she could try some trade — have created a culture that allows gangs to original reporting for her final paper in Symposium, flourish.

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