
The UTRGV College of Liberal Arts will host NEXUS, an open symposium featuring guest speakers, workshops and information, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday in PlainsCapital Bank El Gran Salรณn on the Brownsville campus.
Walter Diaz, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said the idea behind the symposium is to have the liberal arts recognized in the community.
โNEXUS has a strong community engagement component, too,โ Diaz said. โClose engagement to students, and the thing is also to get the liberal arts out there. We live in a time where everything is about science, technology, engineering and math. STEM this, STEM that, but the truth is that liberal arts careers are extremely competitive. Thereโs a lot of research that shows that graduates with a liberal arts background actually do much better in the later market.โ
Colin Charlton, chair of the Department of Writing and Language Studies and main organizer of NEXUS, said various topics will be highlighted by speakers and workshops.
โSo, weโre talking about the classroom,โ Charlton said. โWeโre talking about the college and weโve got people talking about specific initiatives that theyโre doing that are kind of collaborative and interdisciplinary.โ
The symposium kicks off with an exhibit revolving around the history of Fort Brown from 5:45 to 7:15 tonight on the second floor of the UTRGV Brownsville library, and presentations will begin Tuesday in PlainsCapital Bank El Gran Salรณn.
They include:
–โGender and Womenโs Studies,โ presented by History Associate Professor Linda English et al., from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday;ย
–โPlenary on Teaching,โ presented by 2017 Regentsโ Outstanding Teaching Award recipients Assistant Professor Alyssa Guadalupe Cavazos, Lecturer Andrew S. Hollinger and Amy A. Weimer, an associate dean for the Department of Psychological Science, from 9:25 to 9:55 a.m. Wednesday;
–โSea Turtle Puppet Group,โ presented by Writing & Language Studies Lecturer Pamela Herring, from 11:25 to 11:55 a.m. Wednesday;
–and โCurrent Issues in Reading, Studying, Teaching and Writing Childrenโs and Young Adult Literature,โ presented by Literatures & Cultural Studies Professor Diana Dominguez and Associate Professors David Bowles and Amy Cummins, from 11:25-11:55 a.m. Thursday.
Planning for NEXUS started a year ago and is the first symposium organized by the College of Liberal Arts since UTRGV was established in 2015.
โI think weโre doing a lot of different things to try and experiment to find out what appeals to students and faculty,โ Charlton said. โWe really wanted to re-present what the College of Liberal Arts does for the university and the community, and to try and build a place for people to come and talk about that, instead of just having that vision given to them. โฆ Weโre inviting students and faculty to have meaningful interactions.โ
Diaz encourages students, faculty and staff from both Brownsville and Edinburg to attend.
โWe really encourage everyone to go by,โ he said. โThere are different sessions, panels and discussions of interest to faculty, the students, to the community and staff also.โ
For more information on the College of Liberal Arts, visit www.utrgv.edu/cla.