School of Arts and Humanities
Nonesuch Newsletter | Issue 20 | February 2022

From the Dean
You may have seen that the beginning of the spring semester has brought improved practice space for the music classes in the School of Arts and Humanities. After the Physics Department departed from the PHY building in Fall 2020, the facility was renovated and in January was re-opened for use primarily by A&H musicians.

We are so fortunate to have these new rooms available for our music classes. The practice spaces are larger, the instrument storage is better, and improved acoustics make it ideal. If you have not stopped by the new space, I hope you will. Thanks to the A&H planning committee for developing a space strategy that works well for faculty, staff and students.

Sincerely,
Dr. Roemer
Texas Guitar Competition Coming Soon

Grammy award winning classical guitarist David Russell will headline the 20th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival, to be held at UT Dallas March 2-5. The unique Texas competition, designed to showcase outstanding classical guitar students, will award more than $8,000 in cash prizes to the winners – including one that will be voted by the audience. Additional prizes are being donated by Alhambra Guitars of Spain and SAVAREZ Strings of France. Over the three-day event, students can compete and attend master classes and concerts by internationally recognized guitarists. Besides Russell, featured performers and clinicians include Javier Garcia Moreno and Samuel Hines. More Information

Student Spotlight
Pre-med student Sugat Borthakur, a junior in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, was selected for a 2022 Undergraduate Research Scholar Award for a project in history under the supervision of associate professor Monica Rankin. His project examines the impact of propaganda on public health, chiefly the rhetoric used by Harry Anslinger (director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the mid-1900s) and “his effect on U.S. drug policymaking and public perception of drugs after WWII, and its effect on drug abuse-related public health outcomes from the 1960s through the 1980s.”

Borthakur hopes the research will “help efforts towards creating more effective addiction prevention campaigns which use accurate information and don’t push away vulnerable populations through racist and harmful myths.” 

Faculty Spotlight
Colette Copeland, an A&H lecturer who teaches photography design and topics in studio art, recently published an essay in Glasstire about the “Avery style” discussing the Milton Avery exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Avery Legacy exhibition at the Jody Klotz Fine Art Gallery.

Copeland also wrote a catalog essay for the latter exhibition which features art of Sally Michel Avery and March Avery, Milton’s wife and daughter. Copeland explained that the “signature formal elements of the Avery style include innovative use of color, simplified forms, and a flattened pictorial plane in the compositions.”
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