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UT Writes Presents Reading on Organized Secularism March 22

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On Thursday, March 22, The University of Tampa will host a reading and reception, titled “Madalyn Murray O’Hair Would Not Have Been the Most Hated Person in America … If She Were a Man: Organized Secularism in the US,” featuring Ryan Cragun, associate professor of sociology. The program, which is part of the University’s UT Writes series, begins at 6 p.m. in the Macdonald-Kelce Library, AV Room 2. It is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Cragun will read from Organized Secularism in the United States: New Directions in Research, a new collection of essays about the rise and structure of organized secularism in the U.S. that he co-edited.

Cragun specializes in the sociological study of religion, focusing on Mormonism, the nonreligious and secularization. He is also the author of several books, including What You Don’t Know About Religion (but Should) and How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps: A Toolkit for Secular Activists.

Cragun has twice received the Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award from the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education at UT. He is a member of the American Sociological Association, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Mormon Social Science Association, the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network and the Center for Atheist Research.

The event is sponsored by The Friends of the Macdonald-Kelce Library. For more information about the event, contact Leslie Vega, reference instruction librarian, at [email protected] or (813) 257-3244.

UT Ethics Hot Seat Featuring Anthony Menendez March 15

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On Thursday, March 15, Anthony Menendez, perhaps best known as the “Accountant Who Beat Halliburton,” will be on the hot seat at The University of Tampa’s Ethics Hot Seat Speaker Series hosted by the UT Center for Ethics. The event begins at 6 p.m. in the Crescent Club on the ninth floor of the Vaughn Center, and is free and open to the public (registration required).

Menendez is widely recognized for his decade-long legal battle with Halliburton as a corporate whistleblower under Sarbanes-Oxley. Despite having no formal legal training, he represented himself during the appeals process and ultimately prevailed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling has had a positive impact on that body of law, resulting in significantly increased protections for corporate whistleblowers.

Dan Verreault, director of the UT Center for Ethics, and Robert Marley, associate director of the UT Center for Ethics, with join Menendez for an interactive discussion on “Whistleblowing: He Fought Halliburton and Won.” Refreshments will be served.

Register here. For more information, contact the Center for Ethics at [email protected].

Expert on Academic Freedom in Higher Education to Speak at UT on Monday, March 19

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Risa Lieberwitz, professor of labor and employment law at Cornell University and general counsel of American Association of University Professors (AAUP), will speak at The University of Tampa about academic freedom in higher education on Monday, March 19, at 3 p.m.

This presentation is free and open to all UT students, faculty and staff, and the public. It will be held in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values on campus.

Lieberwitz will address the role of law and institutional policies in protecting the multiple aspects of academic freedom in public and private institutions of higher education — individual rights of free speech and due process and collective rights of shared governance. The presentation, “The Many Faces of Academic Freedom: Free Speech, Due Process and Shared Governance,” will also examine the following questions: What does academic freedom mean? Does it extend beyond the teaching and research? Does it include rights to due process?

Lieberwitz’s presentation will be followed by a Q-and-A session.

The event is organized by the UT Workgroup on Free Speech and Academic Freedom, and is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Faculty Senate. The presentation is the first of a series of forums and events meant to cover the principles of free speech and academic freedom for the benefit of the entire University community.

For more information, contact Marcus Arvan, UT assistant professor of philosophy and chair of the UT Workgroup on Free Speech and Academic Freedom, at [email protected].

UT Sykes Chapel Concert Artist Series Continues March 4 with Cellist Nancy Snider and Friends

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On Sunday, March 4, The University of Tampa’s Sykes Chapel Concert Artist Series will continue with an afternoon of chamber music with renowned cellist Nancy Snider and friends Yuri Namkung, violin, David Yang, viola, and Grigorios Zamparas, piano. The concert begins at 2 p.m. in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values is free and open to the public.

The program will include music for string trio and piano quartet, including Beethoven’s String Trio in c minor, op. 9; Jean Cras’ Trio and Joaquin Turina’s Piano Quartet in a minor, op. 67.

Snider is a member of the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and performs regularly in a variety of chamber and period-instrument ensembles ranging from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose and L’Opèra Royal de Versailles, to experimental stages and living rooms. Snider also serves as senior professorial lecturer and director of the music program at American University in Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Columbia University and The Juilliard School, Namkung’s major solo guest appearances have included Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall, the Seattle Symphony, and throughout Colombia and Brazil with the Filarmonica Joven de Colombia. She has also performed with jazz pianist and UNESCO and UNICEF Artist for Peace Danilo Perez in Panama.

Recipient of an artist fellowship from the Independence Foundation (awarded to a small number of exceptional artists), Yang has been called “a conduit for music” and his playing described as “lithe and expressive” in The Strad magazine. Yang has forged a career that is a blend of performing, composition and storytelling. Concert highlights include concertos in Canada and Great Britain, along with recitals in Italy, the U.K. and throughout the U.S.

Zamparas is an associate professor of music and director of piano studies at UT. Over the years, Zamparas has received critical acclaim for his versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician in Greece, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, former Yugoslavia, Austria, Russia, Brazil, South Korea and the U.S.

The concert is free, but seating is limited. Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance. Parking is available on campus.

For more information, go to www.ut.edu/sykeschapel or contact Haig Mardirosian, artistic director for the Sykes Chapel Concert Artist Series, at [email protected].

Feb. 22 UT Honors Symposium to Explore “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era”

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On Thursday, Feb. 22, Dan Berger, who is an associate professor of comparative ethnic studies and U.S. history at The University of Washington Bothell, will discuss “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era” as part of The University of Tampa’s Honors Program symposia series. Berger’s talk will begin at 4 p.m. in Reeves Theatre, located on the second floor of the Vaughn Center, and is free and open to the public.

Berger is the author or editor of six books, including Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era, which won the 2015 James A. Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians.Captive Nation documents the central role prisons played within the black freedom struggle between 1955 and 1980. He recently published an op-ed in The Washington Post’s “Made by History” blog about Florida prisons.

Other published books by Berger include Rethinking the American Prison Movement, The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners and Mass Movements in the United Sates and Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. Berger was the editor of The Hidden 1970s: Histories of Radicalism and Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out.

Berger is a faculty associate of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington, and he sits on the advisory or editorial board of the journals Abolition, Journal of Civil and Human Rights and The Sixties.

For more information about the event, contact Ryan Cragun, director of the Honors Program and associate professor of sociology, at [email protected], or Kacy Tillman, associate director of the Honors Program and associate professor of English, at [email protected].

UT Academic Leaders to Travel to Cuba to Build Educational Partnerships

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The University of Tampa has been selected as one of 10 schools in the U.S. by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to participate in the binannual Congreso Universidad Cuban International Education Conference.

As part of the program, David Stern, UT’s provost; Marca Bear, associate dean of international programs; Frank Ghannadian, dean of the Sykes College of Business; David Gudelunas, dean of the College of Arts and Letters; Jack Geller, dean of the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education; and Paul Greenwood, dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences, will travel to Havana Feb. 11–17.

“Engaging in academic and cultural exchange with institutions of higher education in Cuba deepens Tampa’s international heritage that is a unique part of our community’s history,” said Stern.

“This is a critical moment for academic cooperation between the United States and Cuba,” said Clare Overman, head of higher education initiatives at IIE. “We firmly believe in the opportunity to expand bi-lateral exchange. This delegation aims to foster and explore those opportunities for academic collaboration despite challenges.”

At the Congreso Universidad, U.S. representatives will meet with their Cuban counterparts, opening opportunities for future academic partnerships and student exchanges between the two nations. IIE’s International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) will lead the delegation.

Since current restrictions limit options for individual travel to Cuba from the United States, this trip represents a unique opportunity to foster educational exchanges and partnerships between the two countries. Moreover, Congreso Universidad will allow representatives of U.S. universities to connect with their counterparts in remote or difficult to access regions of Cuba.

The Cuban Ministry of Higher Eduation (MES) hosts the Congreso Universidad semi-annually, inviting delegations from Latin America and the world to meet with higher education officials from Cuba.

UT previously attended Congreso Universidad in 2015, which led to the University being named the first U.S. affiliate of the Center for Martí Studies in April 2016.

In May 2016, UT offered two travel courses to Cuba: Government and World Affairs 353: Cuba and the U.S., and Communication 224: Mass Media and Society. In October 2016, seven UT faculty presented research papers during the UNICA Conference, organized by the University of Ciego de Avila in Cuba.

For more information, contact Lisa Shemon, coordinator of international programs education and outreach, at [email protected] or (813) 258-7431.

Expert on Academic Freedom in Higher Education to Speak at UT on Friday, Feb. 9

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Risa Lieberwitz, professor of labor and employment law at Cornell University and general counsel of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), will speak at The University of Tampa about academic freedom in higher education on Friday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m.
This presentation is free and open to all UT students, faculty and staff, and the public. It will be held in the Reeves Theater in the Vaughn Center on campus.
Lieberwitz will address the role of law and institutional policies in protecting the multiple aspects of academic freedom in public and private institutions of higher education — individual rights of free speech and due process and collective rights of shared governance. The presentation, “The Many Faces of Academic Freedom: Free Speech, Due Process and Shared Governance,” will also examine the following questions: What does academic freedom mean? Does it extend beyond the teaching and research? Does it include rights to due process?
Lieberwitz’s presentation will be followed by a Q-and-A session.
The event was organized by the UT Workgroup on Free Speech and Academic Freedom and is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Faculty Senate. The presentation is the first of a series of forums and events meant to cover the principles of free speech and academic freedom for the benefit of the entire University community.
For more information, contact Marcus Arvan, UT assistant professor of philosophy and chair of the UT Workgroup on Free Speech and Academic Freedom, at [email protected].

UT Honors Program Announces Spring 2018 Symposia Series

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The University of Tampa’s Spring 2018 Honors Program symposia series kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 1, with a presentation by Stephen Blank, internationally renowned historian of the Tsarist, Soviet and Russian periods and senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington D.C. His talk, titled “US/Russia Relations,” begins at 4 p.m. in the Reeves Theater on the second floor of the Vaughn Center.
Throughout the series, resident scholars and researchers at the University as well as guest speakers will present in their areas of specialization. Guest speakers in the series include Richard Chess, award-winning professor at UNC Asheville; Caleb Smith, professor of English and American studies at Yale University; and Dan Berger, author or editor of six books, including Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era.
All lectures are free, open to the public (unless otherwise noted) and held on the UT campus, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. For a full schedule, see below:

  • Thursday, Feb. 1: “US/Russia Relations,” Stephen Blank, internationally renowned historian and senior fellow at The American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., Vaughn Center, second floor, Reeves Theater, 4 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 13: “How Light Gets In: Making Room for Bodies, Hearts, Minds, and Spirits in the Honors Classroom and Beyond,” Richard Chess, award-winning professor at UNC Asheville, Sykes Chapel, 4 p.m.
  • Friday, Feb. 16: English/Writing Symposium, Caleb Smith, professor of English and American studies at Yale, Vaughn Center, ninth floor, Crescent Room, 4 p.m.
  • Thursday, Feb. 22: “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era,” Dan Berger, associate professor in the University of Washington Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Vaughn Center, second floor, Reeves Theater, 4 p.m.
  • Monday, Feb. 26: “Inhalational Marijuana: What You May and May Not Know,” Mary Martinasek, associate professor of public health at UT, Vaughn Center, second floor, Reeves Theater, 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 1: “I Can’t Get You Out of my Head: Popular Music and Second Language Learning,” Vanessa Rukholm, assistant professor of languages and linguistics at UT, Vaughn Center, ninth floor, Trustee’s Board Room, 3 p.m.
  • Wednesday, March 21: “The Cabaret: Research and Results,” Santiago Echeverry, associate professor of film, animation and new media at UT, Vaughn Center, second floor, Reeves Theater, 4 p.m.
  • Friday, April 13: “Timothy M. Smith Inspiration through Exploration Award,” Victoria Sunseri ’18, Vaughn Center, ninth floor, Trustee’s Board Room, 11 a.m.

Please note that dates and locations are subject to change. For more information, contact the Honors Program at (813) 257-3545 or [email protected].

Randi Zuckerberg to Speak at UT’s Today’s Entrepreneurial Women Speaker Series Jan. 23

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On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the University of Tampa will welcome entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author and tech media personality Randi Zuckerberg as part of the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center’s Today’s Entrepreneurial Women speaker series.
The program, which will be held in Plant Hall, Fletcher Lounge, will run from 1–2 p.m., followed by a networking reception from 2–3 p.m. The program will be moderated by Rebecca White, director of UT’s Lowth Entrepreneurship Center.
Zuckerberg is the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, developing technology, content and live events all with the mission of putting intelligent, tech-savvy, entrepreneurial women of all ages at the center of pop culture and media.
A Harvard University graduate, Zuckerberg hosts a weekly business talk radio show, Dot Complicated, on SiriusXM. She has two TV shows currently on air: DOT, which airs on NBC Universal Kids and is the winner of Kidscreen’s Best New Preschool Series, and American Dreams, which is on HSN and highlights entrepreneurs around the country. She is the best-selling author of Dot Complicated, Dot and, most recently, Missy President.
Zuckerberg travels the world, speaking about technology, entrepreneurship, her time as an early employee at Facebook, leading major marketing initiatives in the company’s formative years, and, shockingly, how to unplug.
Admission for UT students is a $5 refundable deposit (free for UT faculty and staff with registration). General admission is $25 and includes a copy of Dot Complicated, and corporate sponsorships are available for $500 and include four tickets and four copies of Dot Complicated.
RSVP by Jan. 22 at randi.eventbrite.com. For more information, contact [email protected].

UT Holding Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Jan. 20

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University of Tampa students, faculty and staff will honor the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of service to the Tampa Bay community on Saturday, Jan. 20.
“Through the PEACE Volunteer Center’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service students get the opportunity to celebrate Dr. King’s dedication to activism by participating in community service in the Tampa Bay area,” said Liz Ho Sing Loy-Keiler ’19, a student coordinator in UT’s PEACE Volunteer Center.
Ho Sing Loy-Keiler said just as Dr. King’s activism continues to inspire many, the PEACE Volunteer Center also hopes to inspire new UT students and introduce them to the importance of activism and volunteerism.
Participants will volunteer their time and energy at several area nonprofits, including:

Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful
Project location TBD
Contact: Moira Foley, [email protected]

Metropolitan Ministries
2002 N. Florida Ave., Tampa
Contact: Maria Mitchell, [email protected]

Tampa Bay Harvest: Sustainable Living Project
918 W. Sligh Ave., Tampa
Contact: Georgea, [email protected] or (813) 230-7437

Plant City Commons Community Garden
2001 E. Cherry St., Plant City
Contact: Karen Elizabeth, [email protected]

Zaksee Bird Sanctuary
7647 Gardner Road, Tampa
Contact: Magic, [email protected]

Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County Florida Inc.
Silvermill Plaza Restore
Contact: Victoria Richards, [email protected] or (813) 239-2242

The event begins at 9 a.m. with registration in the Vaughn Center Courtyard (rain location is Vaughn Center Reeves Theater). Volunteers will then travel by van to a volunteer location.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is organized by UT’s PEACE Volunteer Center. For more information, email [email protected] or call (813) 253-6263.