President is Austin College Alumnus
Austin College will host the annual A. J. Carlson Lecture in the Liberal Arts featuring Dr. Danny J. Anderson, Austin College Class of 1980 and president of Trinity University, on Wednesday, September 14, at 5 p.m. in Hoxie Thompson Auditorium of Sherman Hall, preceded by a 4:30 reception in that location. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public.
Anderson became the 19th president of Trinity University in May 2015. He had served as the dean of the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since 2010 and had been a member of the university’s Spanish faculty since 1988. He served in several leadership roles for his department as well as associate dean in the College for Interdisciplinary Programs, vice provost for Academic Affairs, and interim provost and executive vice chancellor.
A native Texan, Anderson was born in Houston and lived many years in Rusk, Texas. After earning a degree in Spanish at Austin College, he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in Spanish at the University of Kansas. An award-winning teacher, he began his academic career at the University of Texas at Austin in the late 1980s, teaching Spanish and Portuguese, before returning to Kansas in his faculty role. He has received a number of awards and fellowships, including the ING Award for Teaching Excellence a W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers.
“Every day we find ourselves implicitly or explicitly making the case for liberal arts,” Anderson said. “Often we begin from a reactive position, responding to a critique, countering a proposition, or defending ourselves against a false assumption. Sometimes it can feel like we are trapped behind a wall of defensiveness. Perhaps we have taken the bait and find ourselves making an unexamined case for liberal arts.”
Continuing to discuss his upcoming lecture, Anderson continued, “’We’ collectively may not even share the same notion of ‘liberal arts.’ Socrates might suggest that ‘an unexamined case is not worth making.’” Through this lecture, Dr. Anderson said he offer an examined case that can strengthen public understanding of liberal arts. “I will talk about the personal effect of a liberal arts education for me as equipment for living, review key criticisms and defenses that shape our conversational context around the liberal arts, and explore ways that we can make an examined case for the liberal arts.”
The lecture honors the late A.J. “Jack” Carlson, who taught at Austin College from 1962 until his retirement in 1994. He remained an active member of the College community until his death in December 2014. He arrived at Austin College as a scholar of early modern European history and grew professionally under the influence of President John D. Moseley to become not only the Dean of Humanities but also one of the College’s leading voices in support of liberal arts education. Jack’s courageous defense of liberal arts education never weakened despite the many financial pressures confronting the College; on the contrary, the consistency of his voice remained a major influence at the College throughout his long and productive career.
The lecture is presented by Austin College’s Robert and Joyce Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching, directed by Randi Tanglen, associate professor of English. Within the mission of the center is the encouragement of “bold exploration of intellectual frontiers” and “fostering lively intellectual dialogue within and across academic disciplines.”
The Johnson Center schedules a number of events throughout the year, with presentations by Austin College faculty and guest lecturers.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 40 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of approximately 1,275 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.