NEWS FROM CLASS | CLASS EVENT CALENDAR | CLASS IN THE MEDIA

News from CLASS

• Lifetime scholarly achievement of Dr. Lois Parkinson Zamora recognized
• Dr. Christy Ma Guidhir awarded outstanding monograph prize
• Dr. Leandra Zarnow granted NEH summer stipend
• UH mourns loss of Communication Professor William Hawes 
• What does it take to Build a 21st arts community in Houston? – Houston Public Media
• At the CounterCurrent Festival, Explosion of Art and Violins – Houstonia Magazine 
• Online Psychology Degree ranked 8th in the nation 
• Center for Public History celebrates 30 years 
• Master of Public Administration Program honors Public Official of the Year
• Graphic design and creative writing students “unfold” innovative Houston maps
• Valenti students learn the ropes at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Student Spotlight: Samantha Noel and Chloe Stowell

CLASS Event Calendar

April 3 – 18: The 37th Annual Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition
Presented by the School of Art and Blaffer Art Museum
The exhibition debut of 2015 graduates Daniela Antelo, Laura Fletcher, Daniel Haas, Seth Lapeyrouse, Melinda Laszczynski, Evan Lee, Margaret McMillan, Sebastian Montes, Eric Ockrassa, Caroline Roberts, Caroline Sharpless and Jason Wheeler.
Friday, April 3rd: 7 – 9 p.m. Opening Reception
Blaffer Art Museum

April 8: "This Is It"
Hosted by the School of Art
This is the annual fundraising event in support of graduate scholarships for the School of Art's Master of Fine Arts program.
Wednesday, April 8th: 6 – 8 p.m.
Blaffer Art Museum

April 9: Lecture – “Beyond the Legend: Cesar Chavez, Charismatic Leadership and the Relevance of Accountability”
Presented by the Center for Mexican American Studies
Matt Garcia, professor of history and transborder studies at Arizona State University and director of its Center for Comparative Border Studies, will discuss Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers Association and its failed efforts to attain a sustainable labor union.
Thursday, April 9th: 1 p.m.
UH Student Center South, Room 257 (Entrance 1 off of University Blvd)

April 10: Civic Engagement Boot Camp
Presented by the Hobby Center for Public Policy
Former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego will lead the non-partisan workshop with interactive sessions that require participants to think critically and commit to making a difference.  The free boot camp is open to students and community members, but is limited to 20 participants. To register, send an email to Isaiah Warner, inwarner@central.uh.edu with CEBC in the subject line. Include your name, phone number and email address.
Friday, April 10th: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. with lunch provided
McElhinney Hall

April 10 – 13: Rappaccini's Daughter opera by Daniel Catan
Presented by Moores School of Opera
Lose yourself in Dr. Rappaccini’s enticing garden, which is not only filled with his experimental poisonous plants, but also contains his equally lethal, yet seductive, daughter. Based on a Nathaniel Hawthorne story as retold by the Nobel Prize winning Octavio Paz, the opera explores a Garden of Eden gone awry with lush, sinfully sensuous music awash in orchestral color. This is the last in our series of all of the completed operas of Daniel Catán. Sung in the original Spanish with English surtitles.
    7:30 p.m., April 10, 11, 13
    2 p.m., April 12
Tickets are $20 and $12 for students and seniors. To purchase, call 713-743-3313 or visit the Moores online box office.

April 14 – 19: CounterCurrent
Presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts
Countercurrent is a festival of bold experimental art that occupies a range of unexpected sites in the city of Houston. It includes audio and visual installation, live performance and participatory events by artists from around the world. Collaborations with dynamic organizations and artists in the Houston community are included as well as fresh new works by faculty and students. Click here to get free tickets.
At venues throughout Houston.

April 16: Ligatures: Authors & Artists in Conversations – The Future of the Book
Presented by the Gulf Coast Literary Journal
Join Roberto Tejada, Chitra Ganesh, Suzanne Bloom of M A N U A L, and the Guest Art Lies Editor, Raphael Rubinstein for a conversation about the art of the book: as idea, art object, its future, and much more.
Thursday, April 16th:  6 p.m.
The Printing Museum. 1324 West Clay Street, Houston, TX 77019

For more events, check the CLASS calendar.

CLASS Faculty in the Media

	WalletHub’s recent study examining 2015’s Best & Worst Run Cities in America featured comments by Steven Craig, Interim Dean of CLASS. The study was also featured in the Houston Chronicle article, Texas dominates Best Run Cities rankings. He was also featured on the Houston Matters program, Flush with Revenue, Should Texas Cut Property Taxes or Pay for Long-Overdue Projects?
	Speech-Language pathology is a profession that is in high demand according to the Houston Chronicle article, Talk it up: Demand for speech-language pathologists is healthy.  Lynn Maher, department chair of communication sciences and disorders, described the educational background required for this career in the story.
	Director of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Elizabeth Gregory, was a featured commentator on the Houston Matters program titled, Bill Would Allow Women to Sue Their Employers Over Equal Pay.
	Professor of Creative Writing Antonya Nelson recently gave a lecture and reading at the University of Montana. The Missoulian article,  Acclaimed fiction author Antonya Nelson to lecture, read at UM described the event.
	To mark the 20th anniversary of the end publication of the Houston Post, Houston Matters aired the program, Remembering the Houston Post, 20 Years After its Demise. Garth Jowett, professor of communications, discussed the two newspaper town dynamic Houston once had on the program.
	According to the Houston Matters program, Makeshift Border Towns: Improving Life in Texas ‘Colonias’, all along the Texas/Mexico border — and the border of neighboring states — are residential areas called “colonias.” During the program, Jeronimo Cortina, assistant professor of political science, discussed the impact of these housing areas on the community.
	Susan Scarrow, chair of political science, wrote an article for the Oxford University Press Blog titled, Counting party members and why party members count.
	Distinguished Visiting Professor of Playwriting, Theresa Rebeck, is directing the Alley Theatre’s production of “All My Sons.” The Houston Press highlighted her in their article, Playwright Theresa Rebeck Directs the Alley Production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.
	Robert Zaretsky, professor of modern and classical languages, wrote the following articles: Houellebecq Skewers French Academe for The Chronicle of Higher Education The Novel France Can't Put Down Depicts Muslim Future — Or Does It? in The Jewish Daily Forward Dancing With the Le Pens for Foreign Policy Nicolas Sarkozy Is Pulling a Netanyahu Ahead of the French Elections in New Republic
	Jade Simmons, who teaches a graduate-level course on artist career development in the Program in Arts Leadership, recently performed at Elgin Community College near Chicago. The event was highlighted in the Chicago Tribune article, From the community: Classical pianist Jade Simmons to perform at ECC for Black History Month.