Studying abroad advances career goals

Athletic training master degree program prepares students for growing industry
Long-term childhood poverty contributes to young adult obesity rates
Provost Summer Read Program creates community among first-time students

CLASS faculty members, please register now to lead a one-hour seminar discussion for the Provost Summer Read Program. Your participation will help to launch UH’s inaugural common book program and create a welcoming experience for our first-year students. This year's book is Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges by Byron Pitts. To register, login using your Cougarnet ID and password at www.uh.edu/provostsummerread. Email questions to psrbook@uh.edu.

CLASS’s two oldest graduates last semester, Robert Lincoln Straight and Stephen Doiron, were featured in several media outlets recently:
CLASS student Cody Miller was featured in the Houston Chronicle for his attempt to break the Guiness World Record for the number of disc golf holes completed in 24 hours. The article, UH student attempting to break Guinness record for disc golf holes in 24 hours, details his attempt.

David Tomas Martinez, Ph.D. candidate in creative writing and author of the recently-published poetry collection Hustle, was featured in a UH Moment spotlight that aired on Houston Public Media’s KUHF-88.7 FM.

Nancy Beck Young, Chair of the Department of History, discussed the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and why it is still relevant today on ABC 13’s program, CrossRoads.

Marathoner and Health and Human Performance lecturer, Caryn Honig, was featured in the Houston Chronicle article, Houston runners show solidarity for Boston Marathon.

Research conducted by the Hobby Center for Public Policy was featured in a Ft. Bend News article, titled Bigger and bigger in Texas: Demographic study shows substantial growth.

Art Professor Abinadi Meza has received the prestigious Rome Prize which recognizes excellence in arts and humanities, and rewards recipients with fellowships and stipends that support residencies in Rome. An article about the honor ran in Here Entertainment, titled UH Art Professor Abinadi Meza Receives Prestigious Rome Prize.

“Funny Once: Stories,” a book by professor of English Antonya Nelson, was featured in the Houston Chronicle article, 12 New (and New-ish) Books with a Texas Flavor.

The article, Deep reading: 'an island in the sea of technology', which appeared in The Guardian, included a brief review of English professor David Mikics’s book, Slow Reading in a Hurried Age. Mikics’s book was also discussed in the article, Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down! which ran in Education Week.

Robert Zaretsky, professor of history, authored several published articles recently:
Professor of History and African-American Studies, Gerald Horne, was featured in the Noozhawk article, Author, Historian Gerald Horne to Deliver UCSB’s Shirley Kennedy Memorial Lecture.

Paul Gregory, professor of Economics, authored an article titled, Paul Roderick Gregory: Putin’s Ukrainian executioners worse than Stalin’s which ran in the Kyiv Post.

Inside Higher Ed ran an article written by professor of psychology, Arturo Hernandez, titled, The Disappearing California Dream. The article compares his college experience with the experiences of his parents, and his daughter.

A new study by assistant professor of Health and Human Performance, Daphne Hernandez, finds childhood poverty reaches into the lives of white, Hispanic and African-American young adult women, contributing to their propensity to be overweight and obese. The study was featured in the RedOrbit article, Long-Term Childhood Poverty Contributes To Young Adult Obesity Rates and in the Medical News Today article, The impact of extended childhood poverty on obesity rates in young adults.

The Texas Music Festival celebrates its 25th season this summer and Houston media outlets have taken notice. CultureMap Houston is publishing a new story each week of the festival, spotlighting its conductors, orchestra fellows and staff. That effort includes the article Texas Music Fest opens with special concert: Recently deceased Houston icon honored by Mahler magic.

The curator of the Menil Collection’s latest exhibition, "A Thin Wall of Air: Charles James," is Susan Sutton, an art history alumna of the School of Art and a Menil assistant curator. The Menil exhibition offers an intimate take on the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute's big summer show, "Charles James: Beyond Fashion." The Houston Chronicle profiled Sutton recently.

Voxxi recently ran a feature article about Barbara Padilla, who earned her Master’s Degree from the Moores School of Music.  The story details Padilla’s journey from a young student in Mexico, to her repeated battle with cancer, to her graduate work at UH and concludes by describing the upcoming release of her first album.

CLASS alumna Brittaney Wilmore was one of 12 finalists in "My Black is Beautiful," a marketing campaign searching for six women to serve as ambassadors in inspiring other women to be their best selves. The six grand prize winners were selected by public vote through Facebook that was open until midnight on June 1. The new ambassadors will be announced on June 29. Good luck, Brittaney.

Send Alumni/ae career updates and media mentions to CLASS Director of Communication Shannon Buggs — sbuggs@uh.edu

June 1 — Sept. 6: Candice Breitz: The Woods exhibition at Blaffer Art Museum
The Woods delivers a trilogy of video installations exploring the performance of childhood and capturing adolescent actors on and off camera working in the entertainment industries in Los Angeles (Hollywood), Mumbai (Bollywood) and Lagos (Nollywood.)

June 1 — Aug. 30: Francesca DiMattio: Housewares exhibition at Blaffer Art Museum
Housewares’ paintings and sculpture depict familiar objects within unfamiliar contexts. Furniture, architecture, and household items collide in the paintings, while the sculptures incorporate the traditional and radical to challenge notions of the decorative and femininity.
Brown Bag Gallery Talk on this exhibition at noon, June 18.

June 6 — 28: Texas Music Festival: Bringing classical music rising stars to Houston for 25 years
Presented by the Moores School of Music.
The 25th anniversary season is dedicated to the memory of David Tomatz, the festival’s co-founding director. Highlights include the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition finals on June 8, the Classical Minds Guitar Institute and Competition running June 10 — 15, and the Saturday Orchestra Series every Saturday evening in June. Review the month-long schedule of concerts and events and purchase tickets at http://www.uh.edu/class/music/tmf/.

For more events, check the CLASS calendar.