Austin College Magazine

Student Achievers

Summer with a Nobel Peace Prize Winner

A hometown summer job is a pretty common way for college students to spend their time between spring and fall academic terms. Austin College economics and business administration major Redwanul Hoque ’10 found his 2007 summer away from campus anything but common. Hoque, an international student from Bangladesh, spent his summer in Dhaka on a four-week internship with Grameen Bank and Mohammad Yunus,co-2006 Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Grameen Bank and Yunus were honored “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below,” according to the Nobel Prize Web site. Yunus established Grameen Bank in 1983 after attending Dhaka University of Bangladesh and earning a doctorate in economics while on a Fulbright scholarship at Vanderbilt. He established the bank with the motivation to eradicate poverty by providing small personal loans, called micro lending, to the poor with suitable terms and “by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves,” according to the Web site.

“He believed in the concept of credit as a basic human right and detested the conventional view of banking that required individuals to have collateral for taking out loans,” Hoque said of Yunus. Hoque said the internship program at Grameen Bank was setup to “make students and the next generation of potential bankers aware of the fact that micro credit could be the most effective eradicator of poverty in economies.”

Hoque spent his time learning about the bank’s lending processes, visiting bank branches, and meeting borrowers — 95 percent of whom were female, he said.

“Describing the four weeks spent at Grameen Bank merely as an eye-opening experience would be an understatement,” Hoque said. “I had the privilege to interact with the women and men who were benefited by the micro loan programs of the bank and also to observe how the entire system of Grameen Bank worked.”

Hoque also had the opportunity to meet and talk with Yunus for one day. “He is indeed an inspirational personality,” Hoque said. “Always cheerful and humble, he explained to us that he was glad the interns present there took the initiative of learning about the bank and that it made him feel proud.” It’s not in every summer job that a college student has the chance to work with a Nobel Laureate.

Student Works for Burma Awareness

Claire Balani ’10 helped coordinate a candlelight vigil Oct. 6 in Dallas for the Global Day of Action for Burma, which included demonstrations in cities around the world. She hoped the Dallas event, with some 200 participants, would raise awareness of the plight of the Burmese people. The effort was welcomed by the Venerable Panna Dipa, who moved to the U.S. 12 years ago to teach Buddhism and meditation and has lived in Garland more than a year.

Balani became interested in Burma through involvement with Amnesty International. “Iread about a prisoner of conscience named Ma Khin Khin Leh who was sentenced to life imprisonment for holding a peaceful protest against the government in her village. Even under the military junta, life imprisonment for a woman is a very rare occurrence. So, I was shocked by the depravity of the junta, and the stark oppression and impoverishment that the ordinary people must deal with every day. I looked online to learn more about Burma and found the U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB).

”Balani traveled to the Thailand-Burma border in March with USCB and interned with the program in summer2007 through an Austin College Lilly internship. As a regional coordinator for USCB, she helps create new student and community chapters in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

“I've worked on many human rights issues,” Balani said, “but in many ways Burma found me. It’s an issue that once you find out about it, you just can’t let it go. You have to do something.”

Exploring a Changing World

Like many Austin College students, when Jordan DiBona ‘08 graduates in May, he won’t have received all his undergraduate education from Austin College professors, classes, or textbooks. Jordan, a double major in business administration and Asian studies, spent summer and fall 2006 as well as spring 2007 in Beijing, China. “Before I went to China, I often felt as if I was idly standing by while China was beginning to change the world we live in,” he said. “I wanted to know how it was doing that, and I wanted to be a part of it.

”Jordan’s interest in Asia was sparked by Don Rodgers, assistant professor of political science, who taught Jordan’s freshman Communication/Inquiry course at Austin College. As a sophomore, Jordan already planned to study abroad his junior year. He decided to fulfill his foreign language requirement at the same time so picked the Chinese language, studied abroad in that country, and returned to the United States bilingual. “No other school could have allowed me the opportunity to graduate with three terms of Chinese under my belt, a double major, a year in Beijing, and internships abroad,” Jordan said.

During his fall term abroad, Jordan completed an internship at a publishing company. He explained that he worked on several articles of his employer’s choice, but none were published despite his strong desire and efforts. It wasn’t until his internship was at an end that he learned his boss wanted an English speaker to help her son prepare for a test. After the internship, Jordan emailed her and offered to assist her son. Though his boss had already found a tutor, one of Jordan’s articles appeared in the next issue of the magazine. “Going the extra mile to prove that you want, as opposed to need, a relationship goes a very long way in China,” he said.

Jordan also discovered that his perceptions of China as a communist nation were different from what he actually experienced. “Before going to China, I had visions of censorship and unhappy people shying away from what it was they really wanted to say,” Jordan said. “Politics is a common topic of conversation in China, and while a level of censorship does indeed exist, the overall vibe is nothing of complete government control or a ‘rule with an iron fist’ mentality.”

Jordan discovered there was more to learn from China than just the language. “Going abroad changed everything for me,” Jordan said. “While it accelerated my life, it also helped me gain the ability to slow down and really put my shoulder into something that matters to me. The most important thing I learned about the world is that it isn’t as big as I thought it was.”

Jordan next plans to put his shoulder behind law school. “I put a high value on academic momentum, and I don’t want to lose it,” Jordan said. “I’ve taken the LSAT and plan to enter law school and study international law.”

Student and Faculty Teams ‘Put Their Heads Together’

Two minds are better than one, especially when student and faculty minds come together at Austin College where student-faculty collaboration is highly encouraged because of the benefits to both students and professors. “I believe that undergraduate research is one of the most important learning experiences students can have because it puts them into situations where no one knows what is going to happen or what the right answer is,” said Karla McCain, assistant professor of chemistry. “I see doing research with undergraduate students not only as the means to pursue my own scholarly interests, but also as an important part of my teaching and mentoring of Austin College chemistry students.”

The number of Austin College chemistry, biology, and physics students participating in research projects with faculty members has seen tremendous growth in recent years. From 2002 to 2007, almost 75 percent of students in the sciences were involved in some type of student-faculty research — compared to 25 percent from 1997 to 2001. Each year, the Science Division holds a poster session to allow students to present and display their research. In spring 2007, 30 students participated and that number may grow to 40 in 2008, said Kelly Reed, associate professor of biology.“ Traditionally, we do it as a poster session because in science that is a common avenue of presenting your work,” she said.

Reed is taking collaboration a step further through the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute undergraduate research program. Reed and her entire spring 2008 microbiology class will undertake genome sequencing for the program. “It involves a lot of troubleshooting, which we just don’t have time to do in a regular course,” said Reed. “In these sorts of experiences, students really get the opportunity to see what it’s like being a scientist. ”

Beyond the Sciences

Though the sciences may offer an abundance of opportunities for student-faculty collaboration, similar opportunities can be found throughout humanities and social science courses as well.

The theatre program received funding for a Mellon faculty/student special project to develop a multi-media set design for the fall 2006 theatre production of How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel. The director wanted to use imagery of roads, cars, driving, and driver education, and to extend the imagery into the set, using projections of still and moving images. Developing that set required researching equipment and set-up options, researching and selecting appropriate images from available sources, and creating new images. The faculty/student research team of Kirk Everist, assistant professor of communication studies, and department majors Rachel Aker ’07 and Hannah Hubbard ’08 spent many hours researching and collecting images as well as studying possible projection setups to enhance the production. In all, they collected or created more than 2,000 images, including video and photos of cast members in costume. The images were loaded onto computers and projected by three projectors onto three screens that formed the backdrop for the production.

Mark Hamilton’08 is completing majors in biology and English and is a prime example of student-faculty collaboration. Though he considered himself “aliterature person,” he became interested in a career in biomedical research after a summer project with Brad Smucker, assistant professor of chemistry. In his final year at Austin College, Hamilton is using micro-arrays to study yeast cells with Lance Barton, assistant professor of biology, while also writing an honors thesis in English with Roger Platizky, professor of English.

Platizky has worked with a number of students on honors theses and Mellon research projects. “One of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a teacher at Austin College for the past 17 years has been directing the projects of some of our most talented student writers and researchers,” he said. “As a researcher and scholar myself, I am grateful for the opportunity Austin College has given me to work with such a promising group of young scholars.”

David Griffith, associate professor of business administration, and Geoff Wescott ’08, an economics and business administration double major, have been working together on a project that investigates the relationship between bilingualism and income from entrepreneurship and self-employment among Hispanics in the United States.

Once the research is finished, Wescott plans to present a paper at the Eastern Economics Association Undergraduate Conference and also at the Federal Reserve Undergraduate Conference in spring 2008. “Thebenefit of doing research with a professor is, first of all, the relationship that is built,” Wescott said. “David is my adviser for my honors thesis but he has also put me in touch with job opportunities and special opportunities around campus I never would have been involved in without his guidance.”

The stories of faculty and students who have collaborated on research could continue for pages and touch on nearly all academic disciplines of the College. Todd Penner, associate professor of religious studies, and Lillian Cates ’07 worked on a project that they presented in three venues, and their final report was accepted for the peer-reviewed journal The Bible and Critical Theory. Kevin Simmons, associate professor of economics, worked with several students in the past few years who have participated in conferences with him and who have continued their research and presentations beyond graduation.

A Place to Shine

In 2004, Austin College faculty and students began an interdisciplinary undergraduate conference that has developed into an annual event. Largely run and organized by students, the conference provides an opportunity for students to share their work, build professional relationships, and better prepare for graduate studies. The call for abstracts goes to colleges throughout the country, and the April conference features student research presentations as well as a scholar roundtable and plenary sessions. The conference has focused on varying topics: “Environment and the Humanities” in 2004;“Race, Nation, and the Humanities” in 2005;“Gender and the Humanities” in 2006; and “Religion and Science” in 2007. Julie Hempel, assistant professor of Spanish, and Ivette Vargas, assistant professor of religious studies, have worked with students in organizing the past two events.

2007 Mellon Fellow Projects Include
Timely Research of Chinese Product Recalls

Recalls of pet food, toys, and toothpaste provided frightening moments for some Americans during summer 2007. For Will Radke ’08, the recalls meant more material for his summer research. An Austin College Mellon Fellow, Radke spent the summer in Guangzhou and Shanghai, China, examining the Chinese role in diverting branded goods to pirated markets, including a look at the relationship between “Westernprices” for goods and the “street price” in Asia. His research resulted in his paper, “Circumnavigating Legal Avenues: Pirating the Intellectual Property System in Asia.” David Griffith, associate professor of economics, advised Radke on the project, which also is the topic of Radke’s senior honors thesis in economics.

Radke was one of six 2007 Mellon Fellows, selected by a faculty committee from among more than 20 applicants and research proposals. Other 2007 Mellon Fellows, their research, and their faculty advisers are listed below.

Janice Dean ’08 — “Exotic Exorcists and the Spectacle of Identity: Naxi Healing in the Midst of Chinese Modernization” (exploring the Naxi ethnic group and its practice of exorcism as a means for negotiating traditional and modern identities in China, particularly with respect to the public display of previously private rituals).
FACULTY ADVISER: Ivette Vargas, assistant professor of religious studies

Kathleen McLaughlin ’08 — “A Critique of Modern-Day Ecclesiology from the Theology of Karl Barth” (investigating plurality of belief and practice in contemporary churches).
FACULTY ADVISER: Steve Stell, associate professor of religious studies

Jacob Primeaux ’08 — “Arthur Fine and Bas van Fraaseen on Empiricism and Realism” (researching the epistemological debate between realist and anti-realist stances in the relationship of scientific practice to objective knowledge, with particular focus on the mediation of those positions by Fine).
FACULTY ADVISER: Karánn Durland, associate professor of philosophy

Haley Smith ’08 — “A New Social Role for Marsyas in Rome” (analyzing the shift that this Phrygian satyr underwent when relocated from the Greek to the Roman context).
FACULTY ADVISER: Robert Cape, professor of classics

Leah Wolf ’08 — “Que Haria Jesus?: Conflicts of Ideology and Application Between Christianity and Capitalism in a Latin American Context” (studying the incompatibility of Christianity and capitalism, with special emphasis on liberation theology’s analytic for this interaction).
FACULTY ADVISER: Rod Stewart, professor of philosophy

Austin College’s Mellon Summer Research Grants in the Humanities and Social Sciences have funded projects for 24 students during the four years of the program’s existence. Many of those students have presented their work at professional conferences and a few have had their work published in peer-reviewed academic journals. Each Mellon Fellow receives a $3,000 stipend for a 10-week summer research project. The students work closely with their faculty advisers on designing the research plan and after several weeks of independent research, meet with the supervising professors to analyze the materials and organize the writing projects to follow. The students may take one or two terms of directed study for academic credit to finish the project.