The Donald D. Harrington Fellows Program of The University of Texas at Austin will present a research symposium at 2:30 p.m., April 7 at Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas. The Harrington Fellows Program hosted similar events in Amarillo and Canyon, Texas in six of the last seven years.
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Concert Hall Theater. The Amarillo Area Foundation and The Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation will sponsor a private luncheon prior to the symposium. At the end of the symposium, the Harrington Fellows Program will sponsor a reception in the Amarillo Museum of Art.
Four of the seven Harrington Faculty Fellows, Dr. Bethany Albertson, Dr. Lorne Campbell, Dr. Matt Cohen and Dr. Allan Shearer, and three of the 16 Harrington Graduate Fellows, Christopher Heaney, Brian Muzás and Amy Smith, will be among the visitors from the university. The group will be accompanied by William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin, and other university officials, including Executive Vice President and Provost Steven W. Leslie, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Victoria Rodriguez, Associate Graduate Dean Marv Hackert and Harrington Program Coordinator Julie Ewald.
The Donald D. Harrington Fellows Program is one of the most well endowed visiting scholar and graduate fellow programs in the nation, and the most prestigious fellowship program at The University of Texas at Austin. Sybil Harrington established the program as a tribute to her husband, Don. The fellowships support young faculty and graduate students who have academic records of success and ingenuity.
“Sybil Harrington created this outstanding program to bring world-class intellectual talent to Texas,” Powers said. “The work these scholars are doing on our campus will expand our understanding of a broad range of fields, from the study of ancient civilizations to international security and the complexities of romantic love. We’re pleased that the Harrington scholars will have this opportunity to visit Amarillo and share their knowledge and expertise with the people of Texas.”
Albertson, of the Department of Government, will present a talk titled “Coded Communication and Religious Appeals.” Campbell, from the School of Human Ecology in the College of Natural Sciences, will address “The Ups and Downs of Romantic Love.” Cohen, of the Department of English, will speak about “Walt Whitman: Global Texan.” Shearer, of the School of Architecture, will present a talk titled “The Atmosphere of Utopia: Climate Change, the Built Environment, and the Imagination.”
Heaney, a doctoral student in the Department of History, will discuss “The Heights of Machu Picchu: American Exploration, Inca Nationalism and the Ownership of the Past.” Muzás, a doctoral student in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, will talk about “Our Nuclear World: How Did We Get Here, and Where Are We Going?” Smith, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will present a talk titled “Now Accepting Donations: Aromatic Electronic Interactions with Applications to Biology.”
The Amarillo Area Foundation, a community foundation, serves the northernmost 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle through philanthropic leadership. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in the Texas Panhandle through effective philanthropic efforts.
