The Student Lounge: May 2008

The College of Liberal Arts publishes The Student Lounge biannually (in May and December). The newsletter highlights liberal arts student awards, honors and scholarships. For more news about the College of Liberal Arts' community of scholars and alumni, visit Life & Letters, the college's alumni magazine.

Honors and Awards

Each year, the College of Liberal Arts honors 12 seniors with the Dean's Distinguished Graduate Award for their leadership, scholarly achievements and service to the community. The 2008 Dean's Distinguished Graduates are:

  • Megan Campbell (Ancient History and Classical Civilization)
  • Christina Skelton (Linguistics)
  • Jennifer Nation (Middle Eastern Studies/French/Plan II Honors)
  • William Bacon (Anthropology/History)
  • Ishan Chakrabarti (Asian Studies)
  • Serine Consolino (Government)
  • Miriam Estrin (Plan II/Government)
  • Stephen Gilstrap (Plan II/Government/Business Honors)
  • Tarak Makecha (ROTC/Government)
  • Christine Nguyen (Plan II/Government/Business Honors)
  • Jason Orne (Humanities)
  • Michelle Ty (English/Philosophy/Radio-TV-Film)

Learn more about the 2008 Dean’s Distinguished Graduates


Jamie Doak (Plan II Honors) won an essay contest with CHOICE Magazine. Dhananjay Jagannathan (Linguistics/Classics/Philosophy/Plan II Honors) earned second place in Greek translation at the Eta Sigma Phi National Translation Contest. Rebecca Counts (Business/Plan II Honors) was accepted into the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program. Danielle Bartz (Spanish/Plan I Honors) earned the Edward S. Guleke Excellence Award from The University of Texas at Austin’s alumni association, the Texas Exes. Christian Casey (Classics) and Tara Buentello (Plan II Honors) received $5,000 awards from the Ninth Annual University Co-op George H. Mitchell Student Awards for Academic Excellence. Austin Wright (Government), Amelia Fischer (Latin American Studies/Plan II Honors), Ishan Chakrabarti (English), Michael Allred (Spanish) and Mark Aguhar (Studio Art/Plan II Honors) received $2,000 awards from the Ninth Annual University Co-op George H. Mitchell Student Awards for Academic Excellence.

Scholarship News

  • Devon Reynolds (Chinese/Biology), Katie Landrum (Government), Victoria Mery (Government), Tristan Sierra (Government), Thomas Berghman (Government) and Kristen Waage (Geography) are recipients of an Unrestricted Endowed President Scholarship.
  • Danielle Bartz (Spanish/Plan I Honors) received the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.
  • James Hammond (Psychology) received a College of Liberal Arts Study Abroad Scholarship and an Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
  • Dhananjay Jagannathan (Linguistics/Classics/Philosophy/Plan II Honors) earned a Beinecke Memorial Scholarship and a W.J. Battle Scholarship in Classical Languages.
  • Zach Daschofsky (Classics), Megan Guerrero (Psychology), Kelly McClinton (Ancient History/Classic Civilization) and Jordan Turk (History/Plan I Honors) received a Lourania Miller Scholarship for students researching Greek or Latin.
  • Kenneth Van Eimeren (Latin/Classics/Plan I Honors) earned a Ruth and Myron Kuhlman Endowed Scholarship in Classics, and a Gareth Morgan Memorial Scholarship in Classics.
  • Ashley Bishop (Classics/Plan I Honors) and Dawn Walker (Classical Archaeology) earned a Velma Box Scholarship in Classics.
  • Jewell Bickel (Philosophy) and Kate Wofford (Ancient History/Classical Civilization) earned a Mildred Masters McCarty Scholarship for students researching Greek or Latin.
  • Amy Dickenson (Ancient History/Classical Civilization) earned a James W. Edwards and Nancy T. Snyder Memorial Scholarship in Classics.

The following students received Department of Asian Studies undergraduate scholarship awards:

  • Dhawal Doshi (Economics) and Sree Latha Yakkala (Asian Studies) received Asian Studies Scholarships for Study Abroad.
  • Tuyet Tu (German/Plan I Honors) and John Richard (Finance/Asian Cultures and Languages) received China Studies Scholarship for Study Abroad.
  • Genevieve LeGris (Asian Cultures and Languages/International Business) received a Mitsubishi Study Abroad Scholarship.
  • Whitney Yang (Finance/Business Honors/Plan II Honors) received a Pohang Iron and Steel Co. Korea Studies Scholarship.
  • Gabriela Rios (Asian Studies) received a Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Scholarship.
  • Devon Reynolds (Biology/Asian Cultures and Languages) received a Louise J. Faurot Memorial Scholarship.
  • Chelsea Aldridge (Asian Cultures and Languages/Biology), Sanjay Gulati (Asian Cultures and Languages/Business), Shan Khan (Asian Cultures and Languages/English/Premed) , Suhrid Mantravadi (Asian Cultures and Languages/Petroleum Engineering/Engineering Honors), Koosh Patel (Business/Asian Cultures and Languages), Uruba Niazi (Government) and Will Williams (Asian Cultures and Languages/Public Relations) all received Hindi Urdu Flagship Scholarships.
  • Ishan Chakrabarti (English) received a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship.
  • Natasha Raheja (Asian Cultures and Languages/Biology) received a American Institute of Indian Studies Language Fellowship.

Graduate Student News

  • Kris Singletary (Neuroscience) and Diana Fleischman (Psychology) earned travel awards from the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.
  • Diana Fleischman (Psychology) earned a doctoral fellowship from the Austin Branch of the American Association of University Women.
  • Catalina Cervantes (Neuroscience) earned a Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Research on Aggression.
  • Kereshmeh Taravosh-Lauh (Neuroscience) earned a Young Investigator Award from the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.
  • Jeremy Uecker (Sociology) earned a University Continuing Fellowship.
  • Chris Pieper (Sociology) and Erin Hamilton (Sociology) earned an Endowed Graduate School Fellowship.
  • Jenni Pacheco (Psychology) earned a $1,000 travel award from the Organization for Human Brain Mapping.
  • Claudia Masferrer (Statistics) earned the Sustainability in the Americas Fellowship Award.
  • Viviana Salinas (Sociology) earned a fellowship from the Compton Foundation and the Population Reference Bureau.
  • Andrea Hilkovitz (Comparative Literature) is the recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the Austin Branch of the American Association of University Women, and the William S. Livingston Outstanding Graduate Student Employee Award.
  • Jennifer Miller (Geography) earned a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship.
  • Leigh Schwartz (Geography) and Mario Cardozo (Geography) earned full continuing fellowships from the Office of Graduate Studies.
  • Mario Cardozo (Geography) earned a Property and Environment Research Fellowship.
  • Sharon Wilcox (Geography) earned a Dissertation Development Fellowship in Animal Studies Research by the Social Science Research Council.  
  • Zach Hurwitz (Geography) earned a Field Study Award from the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.  
  • Nathan Tabor (Asian Cultures and Languages) and Peter Knapczyk (Asian Cultures and Languages) received dissertation research fellowships from the American Institute of Indian Studies.
  • James Hudson (Asian Studies) Fei Ren (Linguistics) and Yi Lu (Asian Cultures and Languages) earned the China Endowment Professional Development Scholarship.
  • Anthony Bonville (History) and Hyunjung Lee (Comparative Literature) are recipients of a Pohang Iron and Steel Co. Graduate Research Fellowship.
  • Matthew Milligan (Asian Cultures and Languages) earned a Richard and Janis Lariviere Graduate Fellowship in South Asian Studies.
  • Shaohua Guo (Asian Cultures and Languages), Mei Huang (Asian Cultures and Languages), Maeri Megumi (Asian Cultures and Languages), Kathryn Page-Lippsmeyer (Asian Cultures and Languages), Yongzhen Shu (Asian Cultures and Languages), Euhwa Tran (Asian Cultures and Languages) and Nhu Truong (Asian Cultures and Languages) are recipients of the East Asia Graduate Fellowship.
  • Euhwa Tran (Asian Cultures and Languages) received a Louise J. Faurot Memorial Endowed Fellowship in Chinese Studies.
  • Alex Dodson (Anthropology), Isabel Huacuja (Asian Culture and Languages) and Amy Hyne (Asian Culture and Languages) are recipients of Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships.
  • Eunice Vargas Valle (Sociology) won the poster session at the Population Association of America 2008 Annual Meeting.

Web Spotlight: Spring Commencement

The College of Liberal Arts spring commencement is Friday, May 16. Details about the college's ceremony and answers to common questions are available online, as is information on all university ceremonies and celebrations.

Contact

Please submit news items and updates to Jessica Sinn, editor of the Student Lounge.