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Dear Alumni and Friends,
Our world is nothing like it was since I last shared news about the university’s global engagement efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted each of us in countless ways, and I can only hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and safe. UT Austin has continued to work tirelessly to support our students, staff, researchers and faculty on campus and abroad. And, these challenging times have demonstrated in tangible ways, that we are not only interconnected, but that we must address global challenges in collaboration and transnationally.
At UT Austin, the commitment to global engagement remains resolute. The pause on travel mobility has given us the space to innovate and enhance global education in ways that had not been considered viable or necessary before. With our pioneer spirit, we have enhanced meaningful global learning experiences, connected with UT alumni, supported our international students and scholars, and strengthened our transnational partnerships.
A couple of weeks ago, Longhorns returned resilient and full of hope, to classes online and to the Forty Acres, and today I reflect on our accomplishments for the past six months:
- Launched the new Texas Global website, including a stunning interactive map that demonstrates UT’s research and creative activity around the world;
- Welcomed a new class of international students by offering robust virtual orientation programming to integrate them into Longhorn family;
- Designed and directed advanced entrepreneurship training with personalized mentoring to a select group of 30 women business owners from West Bengal as part of the Breaking the Glass Ceiling empowerment program, a joint initiative with the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata, India;
- Awarded 27 grants to UT faculty to develop and deliver Global Virtual Exchanges with an anticipated reach of more than 1,200 students at UT and universities abroad;
- Hosted the first Texas Global Dialogues, in collaboration with the Texas Exes, initiating a new series of events that connects UT faculty, industry experts, and alumni living across the globe;
- Awarded three faculty members the inaugural Global Career Launch grant to lead student research and internships abroad;
- Selected the first recipient of the Dr. Cécile DeWitt-Morette France-UT Endowed Excellence Award, bringing UT and France together in research activities.
These milestones illustrate the significance of our partnerships on campus and abroad, of our deep and lasting connections to alumni, and of the importance of equipping our graduates with a global mindset.
I invite you to read additional global engagement activities in this newsletter and to join us in our efforts as we bring the world to UT and UT to the world.
Sincerely,
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Sonia Feigenbaum, Ph.D.
Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement
and Chief International Officer
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The University of Texas at Austin rose in U.S. News & World Report’s latest undergraduate ranking, climbing six spots to No. 42 among national universities — the highest UT has ranked since 1985. Among public universities, UT now ranks No. 13 nationally, up one spot from last year, and remains the top public university in Texas.
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UT Austin was hailed as No. 33 in the world, No. 21 in the U.S. and No. 7 among U.S. public universities in the latest Center for World University Rankings. The rankings take into consideration education quality, alumni employment rates, faculty quality, research output, publishing, influence and citations.
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The U.S. Department of State recognized UT as the No. 2 top producer for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program in 2018-2019. The recognition demonstrates the university’s commitment to making international academic experiences more accessible and inclusive for U.S. students of all backgrounds.
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GLOBAL STORIES AND NEWS ———
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Research and Creative Activity
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Researchers at UT Austin, the National Institutes of Health and Ghent University in Belgium are studying virus-fighting antibodies that may lead to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 with the help of a llama named Winter.
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Weiwen Zeng, a doctoral student in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, developed a crisis-intervention training program for social workers handling COVID-19 relief in Wuhan, China, now serving as a model for supporting first responders elsewhere.
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In 2020, as the annual International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ) took place as an online-only conference for the first time due to the pandemic, so did the Coloquio Iberoamericano de Periodismo Digital, with record attendance. A recording of the Coloquio can be viewed on YouTube.
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Admiral Bobby Inman, veteran of the CIA and NSA and a UT alumnus, discussed global challenges for business and the economy, from coronavirus to cyberthreats, in a Texas McCombs Presents virtual event entitled “Global Hot Spots: Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities” with McCombs Distinguished Senior Lecturer John Doggett.
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Manuel Rausch, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and his international student team are looking into the onset of thromboembolism as a result of COVID-19.
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A new analysis led by researchers at the Jackson School of Geosciences has found that a mysterious fossil discovered by Chilean scientists in Antarctica in 2011 is a giant, soft-shell egg from 66 million years ago. Known previously as "The Thing," it was one of the most confounding fossils housed by Chile’s National Museum of Natural History.
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The Society of Petroleum Engineers honored
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Researchers from UT Austin and Lancaster University have uncovered new patterns in the way authors choose words. In a study published in Science Advances, the international team recorded the use of common words across thousands of stories, mapping a universal blueprint for storytelling.
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The President’s Award for Global Learning was among the most impactful experiences for McCombs graduate Timia Bethea, whose interdisciplinary team researched colorism and developed a website for continued advocacy and education on the pervasive global issue.
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Five UT students studying abroad in France, South Korea, Sweden and the U.K. are sharing their experiences to inform and inspire Longhorns to study, intern and research abroad in a changing world that requires drive, resilience, initiative and a global mindset.
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On a program coordinated by the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, a group of UT students and faculty members delved into Ukraine’s recent election, gathering survey data and traveling across the country to explore the state of democracy in Ukraine and the role of social media in politics.
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Jaime Ortega from Panama and Sujin Park from South Korea reflect on their experiences studying at the English Language Center (ELC), in person and online, as the ELC began offering all of its programs virtually to serve international students and English language learners all over the world.
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During the summer, students representing 15 colleges and schools participated in a series of virtual forums which included skill-building workshops, career advice panels, and in-depth discussions on critical issues in Latin America presented by leading UT faculty, regional experts and alumni across the Americas.
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With support from the Global Virtual Exchange Initiative, associate professor Jason Cons and his colleague at the University of Newcastle in Australia engaged their students in comparing and contrasting their physical environments in Austin and Newcastle, shifting to further examine how they were impacted by COVID-19.
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In collaboration with the U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata, the Global Innovation Lab delivered a series of capacity-building webinars for women entrepreneurs across South Asia. Thirty women-owned businesses participated in the advanced portion of the program, resulting in a new partnership to create upcycled fashion for people with disabilities.
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Culminating a research project for Diplomacy Lab, a U.S. State Department initiative, a team of international relations and global studies students presented their foreign policy recommendations to the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in a live-streamed event on Sept. 8.
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Originally from Greece, cherished English Language Center faculty member and program coordinator, Fotini Terzi, shares her experiences as an international student in the U.S. and how it informs her approach to encouraging and supporting her students.
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More than 100 alumni representing 11 countries across Latin America gathered virtually for the Texas Global Dialogues: Journalism in Latin America, the first event in a new series coordinated by Texas Global and the Texas Exes for UT alumni covering critical global issues.
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From founding the Texas Iron Spikes to endowing student scholarships for Longhorns and establishing the Vo Family Auditorium in the new UT Admissions Welcome Center, UT alumnus Andrew Phong Vo’s impact stands out in locations all across the Forty Acres and beyond.
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Amy Kalbach (M.G.P.S. ’13) has taken her passion for international development policy to Africa and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) — the United Nations' migration agency. She recently became the head of Sub-Office for the IOM's Abyei Administrative Area, representing both the IOM Sudan and IOM South Sudan offices.
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Texas Global is pleased to offer two new opportunities for UT Austin students and alumni to network, connect and collaborate with Longhorns around the world. Join UT's global community on Linkedin and Hookedin to find professional opportunities, participate in alumni events and get access to the latest news.
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September 15–16, 2020
During UT Austin’s annual day of giving, Texas Global invites you to be part of the university’s global engagement efforts by supporting scholarships for international students at UT and students pursuing international internships.
September 17–November 19, 2020
Patrick Olivelle, Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies, will give a talk titled "Reimagining India's Ancient Past: Old Fashioned Philology Meets New Methodologies" as part of the Fall 2020 South Asia Seminar Series.
September 22, 2020
Watch the Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, presented by the 2018-2021 U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies grant recipients for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, live on YouTube.
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October 1, 2020
Co-editors Daniel M. Brinks (University of Texas at Austin), Steven Levitsky (Harvard University), and María Victoria Murillo (Columbia University) will discuss their recent publication, The Politics of Institutional Weakness in Latin America (Cambridge).
October 4, 2020–January 10, 2021
The Blanton Museum of Art’s exhibition Expanding Abstraction will explore how painting was transformed in between 1958 and 1983 decades. Many of the works are large scale and have rarely been shown before.
October 15, 2020
Join the Jackson School of Geosciences on Zoom to hear from Dr. Jérôme Gaillardet on chemical potamology, the global role of chemical weathering in the Earth’s chemical engine, and geochemistry of sediments transported by rivers and produced by chemical weathering in soils.
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@JCHartzell: A big smile on my face as I read this story about a good friend of mine & @UTexasMcCombs alum, @andrewPVo. We are so grateful for the work he does to build opportunities for the next generation of Longhorn students and business leaders! #HookEm
@UTAustin: Arriving at UT, Heather Rice had no intention of learning Russian. Now a lecturer in Slavic and Eurasian Studies, she’s spent the past two decades studying and teaching the language and culture: https://utex.as/2F2llHu
@thedailytexan: Gen Z for the Trees, an initiative created by junior Roshan Khan, aims to educate Generation Z on the importance of rainforests.
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