The Other Side of Campus
The Other Side of Campus is back—with a bold new focus and expanded mission. What began as a space for UT Austin faculty to share stories about teaching and learning in 2020 now dives deeper in 2025 into how the university is an intrinsic part of the community, local and global. This season, we explore how What Starts Here Changes the World isn’t just a motto, but a living practice. From classrooms to neighborhoods, Texas to the globe, this is where higher ed meets public good. Join us as we explore all this and more on this season of The Other Side of Campus.
Episodes
On this episode, hosts Jen Moon and Katie Dawson sit down with student fellow of the National Disability Center for Student Success Soren Aldaco to examine how accessibility is not just a set of accommodations—but an evolving, shared practice shaped by both students and educators. Together, they unpack what it means to move beyond traditional hierarchies into a model of co-mentorship, where students and faculty learn from one anoth...
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, hosts Jen Moon and Katie Dawson sit down with Dr. Stephanie Cawthon—researcher, author, and founder of the National Disability Center for Student Success—to explore how accessibility is reshaping higher education from the inside out.
Drawing from her lived experience as a deaf scholar and nearly two decades of research at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Cawthon reframes accessibil...
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, hosts Stephanie Seidel Holmsten and Jen Moon sit down with Francesca “Chessie” Lockhart, Program Lead of the Cybersecurity Clinic at UT Austin’s Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Drawing on her experience in state-level intelligence at the Texas Department of Public Safety, Lockhart shares how her career in counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure pro...
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, hosts Jen Moon and Katie Dawson speak with Charles Di Piazza from the UT School of Architecture about his Rural Architecture Studio course. Charles takes students to Terlingua, near Big Bend National Park, where they work alongside local partners to explore sustainable design rooted in place.
From earthen construction and compressed earth blocks to the design of potential teacher housing ...
What does acting training prepare students for—beyond the stage or screen?
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, Katie Dawson (Theatre & Dance) and Stephanie Holmsten (Government) speak with Corey Allen, Assistant Professor of Acting in the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.
A multidisciplinary artist whose work spans acting, directing, writing, visual art, and immersive performance, Corey shares ho...
What does it look like when classroom learning moves beyond campus—and into real communities with real needs and major impact?
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, we’re joined by Tanya Ratnani, an undergraduate senior in International Business and Business Analytics at McCombs School of Business (Class of 2026). Tanya reflects on her journey to University of Texas at Austin, her academic interests, and how experiential lear...
In this first episode of 2026, Stephanie and Katie get to explore how the School of Social Work at UT is turning global experiences into local leadership. Our two very special guests Dr. Noel Busch-Armendariz and Stacey Jordan share how the Office of Global Engagement (OGE) prepares students to work across cultures, navigate complex systems, and return home equipped to make meaningful change. We learned that as a result of the scho...
In this special relaunch episode of The Other Side of Campus, we sit down with UT Austin Provost Will Inboden for a wide-ranging conversation on the university’s public mission, from shaping future leaders to solving real-world problems. Provost Inboden reflects on UT’s responsibility to serve Texas, the nation, and the world—through teaching, research, and community engagement. We discuss civic education, interdisciplinary collabo...
Just a sneak peek at our upcoming season!
Katie and Dixie speak with Professor Megan Hildebrandt whose unique life journey, which conjoined her artistic development with serious unexpected health issues, led her to become an "arts in healthcare advocate." Her experiential learning class, the Aesthetics of Health, won a Texas Tower award in 2021 and is a proving ground for the beneficial effects of artmaking in healthcare spaces. Thanks for joining us on The Other...
In this special episode, Katie talks with two prominent UT professors, Drs. Mary Neuburger and Oksana Lutsyshyna, and former students of theirs who together undertook a phenomenal investigative project in spring 2019 to examine and closely follow Ukrainian youth political engagement during the presidential election in which Volodymyr Zelensky ultimately won, beating incumbent Petro Poroshenko. The team discusses the fascinating pro...
On this episode, Stephanie and Katie talk with two excellent albeit very different teachers and European affairs experts, Lorinc Redei and Michael Mosser, on how they handle global conflicts, such as Putin's war in Ukraine, in the classroom. When is it important to provide space for discussion about major world events in a class setting? How should earth-shattering news be handled if it has nothing to do with the course syllabu...
On this episode, Dixie and Stephanie talk with Dr. Miguel Pinedo from the College of Education. He focuses on studying the health implications of immigration policies on migrants residing on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Although a research-trained professor, in the classroom, Dr. Pinedo expounds on how he has developed practices to humanize his research to help students viscerally connect the data and findings to real life e...
Episode 25: "Sipping Coffee with Intention": Mindfulness Training in the Classroom with James Butler
Jen and Stephanie get a chance to talk with a new and very welcome addition to the UT Austin campus, James Butler, who brings nearly two decades of expertise in mindfulness training to the Forty Acres. Thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus!
ABOUT THE GUEST
James Butler (he/him/his) will be sharing mindfulness on campus through a healing and equity-centered lens with a focus on supporting students. James came to mind...
Dixie and Stephanie get a chance to talk with PhD candidate and graduate student mentor Kaitlyn Farrell Rodriguez about her current work in student mentorship and wellness and the ways in which she uses her previous experience as a dramaturg in her classroom and research. Thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus!
ABOUT THE GUEST
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In honor of International Education Week, we invited James Patton to talk with us about his life, his prolific work with special education programs around the world, and his undergraduate classes in which he carries out State Department-sponsored global exchange. Thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Molly Hatcher, the director of the Faculty Innovation Center at UT Austin, joins Stephanie and Dixie to talk about the book she recently co-edited entitled Preparing for College and University Teaching: Competencies for Graduate and Professional Students. Dr. Hatcher holds a JD as well as a joint PhD in English and Women's Studies from the University of Michigan. This was a great follow-up to our previous conversation with ...
On this episode of The Other Side of Campus, Jen and Stephanie invite Thea Woodruff, Director of Well-being in Learning Environments at the Counseling and Mental Health Center to talk about her initiative to help improve interactions between faculty and students in order to create a more effective teaching and learning environment (in person or online). We hope you enjoy this FUN and uplifting conversation!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Season 2 kicks off with Dr. Sharon L. Wood! As the new provost of The University of Texas at Austin, she brings a wealth of experience as a structural engineer, teacher, and administrator to the position. We are so excited to get to speak with her, glean from her insights, and empathize with the extreme complexity of her job as provost, especially at this unprecedented time in higher education history. We hope you enjoy this conver...
On this final episode of our first season, Dixie and Katie speak with archaeologist Dr. Adam Rabinowitz. Adam brings his expertise in experiential learning to the show and entertains us with his powerful story from the time he was on his first archaeological expedition (as a teenager) with his aunt in Italy. Take a listen, and thanks so much for joining us on The Other Side of Campus!
ABOUT THE GUEST
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