News from CLASS

UH Professor Awarded Prestigious NEH Grant for New Book on Philosophy and Politics

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is proud to announce that Dr. Jeffrey Church, Lence Distinguished Teaching Chair in the Department of Political Science and the Honors College, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Faculty Fellowship Grant for the spring 2019 semester. The grant will support Church’s forthcoming book, “The Secular Spirit: Using Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) to Understand Politics and the Meaning of Life.”  Read more

First Female UH Student on Houston Texans Training Staff Breaks Down Barriers

Second-year Master of Athletic Training (MAT) student Beverly Fowler is completing her clinical education assignment with the NFL’s Houston Texans, and she’s enjoying every moment of the experience. Fowler, a first-generation graduate student, is the first female UH student to complete her full-year clinical experience on the team’s training staff, and just the second female student trainer in the 17-year history of the Texans. Read more

UH Professor, husband lands safely after booster failure

Lt. Col. Catie Hague, professor of aerospace studies and commander of the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Houston, breathed a sigh of relief when her husband, Air Force colonel and NASA astronaut Nick Hague, returned to solid ground following his first mission to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The October mission was grounded after booster failure resulted in an emergency landing shortly after launch. CBS News | Read more

Professor’s Mental-Health Research Recognized by American Psychological Association

Dr. Rheeda L. Walker, associate professor of psychology, will be named an American Psychological Association (APA) Fellow in 2019. Walker, who serves as director of the Department of Psychology’s Culture, Risk, and Resilience Lab, is receiving national recognition for her research into suicide prevention across ethnic groups. Read more

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Professor Establishes Peer-Mentoring Program

Dr. Byron Ross, instructional associate professor of communication sciences and disorders, has established a peer-mentoring program for students at UH with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of the program is to provide additional support to students with ASD — or any student with social challenges — by matching them with a student mentor who can assist them in navigating life as college students. Read more

National Safety Initiative Welcomes UH Professor as Advisor

Dr. Christiane Spitzmueller, professor of psychology, served as the scientific advisor to the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America on their industry-wide safety assessment project. Read more

Professor Earns International Recognition in Sport and Sociology

Dr. Billy Hawkins (right), professor of health and human performance, was inducted to the 2018 class of North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) Research Fellows. Hawkins’ record of scholarship and sustained contributions to the NASSS intellectual community was deemed exemplary and worthy of this important distinction. Read more

$2.5 Million Grant Awarded to Psychology Researcher Studying Student Achievement in Mathematics

Dr. Paul Cirino, associate professor of psychology, has received a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Cirino is probing the minds of 1,000 Houston Community College students taking developmental or remedial math coursework to find out where the stumbling blocks occur. Read more

Professor Joins Nationwide Initiative to Redesign American History Courses

Dr. Raul Ramos, professor of history, is part of a four-year project called “History Gateways” that will launch in January and study the efficacy of introductory American history courses. It is made possible by a $1.65 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to the American Historical Association. The funds will be split among two- and four-year higher education institutions in New York, Chicago and Houston. Read more

Professor Examines Why Those Who Exercise More Drink Most

Upending conventional wisdom that physical activity can be a healthy deterrent to alcohol consumption, University of Houston Moores professor of psychology Clayton Neighbors is examining the relationship between the two in college students. In prior work, Neighbors concluded that as activity goes up, so does drinking. Read more

LGBT Discrimination Research Earns Professor National Science Foundation Grant

Dr. Amanda Baumle, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in the amount of $294,492 to study employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Read more

International Grant Awarded to Professor Studying Media and Terrorism

Dr. Lea Helmueller, assistant professor of journalism, has been awarded a scientific exchange grant for a research project on media and terrorism at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Read more

Jack J. Valenti School of Communication Student Interns in Israel

For almost three months this summer, journalism senior Nola Valente took on a reporting internship in one of the most contentious countries in the world. Based in Jerusalem, Valente worked closely with a small team at a non-profit American news agency called The Media Line. Read more

Beyond Bars: Doctoral Student Leads Creative Writing Workshops at Harris County Jail

Kaj Tanaka, a doctoral student in the Creative Writing Program, is making a difference as a teacher in the Harris County Jail Creative Writing Workshop. After first leading a workshop in 2014 at a county jail in Illinois, Tanaka has led three workshops in Harris County since the fall of 2017. He is motivated by a belief that correctional facilities shouldn’t dehumanize their occupants. Read more

Hispanic Studies Students Highlight Impact of Immigration Crisis

UH Hispanic Studies graduate students Sylvia Fernández and Maira Álvarez collaborated with leading digital humanities scholars on the creation of “Torn Apart/Separados,” a digital visualization project that emerged from the immigration crisis at the United States-Mexico border. Read more

Professor of Spanish Makes Donation to Establish Literary Award

The UH Department of Hispanic Studies has established the literary award “Escritura Revuelta” thanks to a donation made by Dr. Pedro Gutiérrez, professor of Spanish and immediate past chair of the department. The award is named in honor of Gutiérrez’s mother, Luisina Revuelta. One prize of $2,000 will be awarded every year for a total of five years. The award is open to all writers who are enrolled in a Spanish graduate program at any college or university in the United States. Read more

Department of History Says Goodbye to Retiring Professors

The Department of History had to say goodbye to several senior professors, who retired last spring after contributing greatly to the mission of the department. Read more

CLASS Media Mentions