AUSTIN, Texas—Following are selected activities planned for UT Interactive. Advance information about these activities is available by calling Laura Tuma.
ARTS/CULTURE
- The Texas debut of the world-renowned Suida-Manning Collection of Old Masters paintings.
- David Douglas Duncan, One Life: A Photographic Odyssey, a landmark exhibit showcasing Duncan’s powerful and penetrating photographs of the great events and personalities of the past 50 years. Highlights include combat photographs from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In addition, Duncan’s friendship with Pablo Picasso produced one of the most exclusive and revealing photographic portraits of the artist and his world.
- Ongoing music and theatrical performances by students and faculty representing cultures from around the world.
SCIENCE
- The promising electronic tongue developed by UT researchers will be demonstrated.
- Leading scientists will discuss their research in fields such as the neurobiology of addiction, Alzheimer’s Disease, aging and cancer, and space mission design.
- Austin Science Fun Day, a citywide science fair, brings several thousand public school students to display their projects and learn about science.
- The Applied Research Laboratory’s dive team will demonstrate scientific scuba diving, including underwater communications, diver propulsion vehicles and hand-held sonar.
- The Longhorn Solar Race Car Team will display and demonstrate “Solstice,” its 1999 solar car designed and built for a 1,200-mile race. UT engineering students who have won two consecutive Rube Goldberg national championships will demonstrate their award-winning contraptions.
- Concrete can float, and civil engineering students will prove it by displaying a working concrete canoe. Visitors can take a ride or create their own design.
HISTORY
- First public viewing of the Alamo diary, the memoir of Lt. Col. Josÿ Enrique de la PeËa, a soldier in Santa Anna’s army, which gives an eyewitness account of the battle of the Alamo and the death of Davy Crockett. Other historical artifacts to be displayed include a copy of Santa Anna’s battle plan for the Alamo and a daguerreotype of the Alamo, the oldest datable photograph taken in Texas. Note that these items will be displayed on the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo (March 6, 1836).
SOCIETY
- Members of UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers will be in classrooms across campus demonstrating how they inspire and motivate students on a daily basis.
- A panel of anthropology faculty members will explore the complex issues of race and ethnicity. Does race exist, in a biological sense, or is it a cultural construction? Can we celebrate diversity and achieve unity? Anthropologists will share their expertise in human culture, biology and social dynamics to address the important societal issues of race and ethnicity.
TECHNOLOGY
- Visitors can field-test and comment on Microsoft’s unreleased Office 2000 product suite, courtesy of the School of Business and Microsoft’s Rapid Deployment Program.
- Engineering faculty will demonstrate how satellite tracking equipment can be used to pinpoint oil reservoirs deep within earth, making oil drilling more efficient and productive. Participants can even use their findings to drill a mock oil well.
- Anthropology faculty will demonstrate how computer imaging is revealing the secrets of ancient history around the globe.
