Communication Skills Series for Creators, Researchers and Scholars

Research Storytelling with Thi Nguyen, PhD
Wednesday, January 24, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Flawn Academic Center, FAC 2.142

Sharing your research effectively requires delivering a clear message in an engaging way. In this session, participants will build storytelling skills by applying techniques based on narrative, neuroscience, and presentations from TED Talks. Participants will also gain insights into designing simple yet impactful visuals that complement verbal communication. This session is delivered as interactive, experiential learning with practice and feedback with experts and peers.

Thi Nguyen, PhD

Thi Nguyen, PhD, is a neuroscientist, community educator, and national speaker who trains researchers across disciplines in telling their research and career stories. She offers a facilitated learning experience centered on effective and inclusive practices. Through interactive exercises that combine culturally-responsive instruction and coaching, scientists at all stages learn how to strengthen scientific communication and strategic planning. She has worked with over 20 universities, societies, and foundations. Thi earned her dual degrees in psychology and biology from UT Austin and a PhD in neuroscience from UT Southwestern Medical Center. Currently residing in Greater St. Louis, she also supports local nonprofits in telling their stories to gain funding and recognition for work towards equitable education and workforce.

Art with Social Impact: An Evening with PJ Raval
Monday, February 5, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Flawn Academic Center, FAC 2.142

Co-hosted by the Department of Radio-Television-Film

Join Texas Career Engagement as we host PJ Raval, who will talk about his storied career as a filmmaker and documentarian. PJ will reflect on how personal history and memory inform the kinds of stories he tells, how he makes narrative and artistic choices, and art’s capacity for social and policy impact. PJ Raval is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film in the Moody College of Communication. 

PJ Raval

PJ Raval is a queer, first generation Filipinx American award-winning filmmaker whose work examines social justice issues through the voices of queer and marginalized subjects. Named one of Out Magazine’s ‘OUT 100′, PJ’s body of film work has been distributed widely internationally and has appeared on platforms including PBS, Netflix, Discovery and Showtime.

An accomplished cinematographer, Raval shot the Academy Award-nominated documentary TROUBLE THE WATER and is a co-founder of the NEA supported queer transmedia arts organization OUTsider. He serves on the steering committee of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) and is a Soros Justice Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of both the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences where he serves as the Asian Affinity Group Co-Chair. 

Improv Techniques in Research Communications, with Nic Bennett, M.A.
Wednesday, March 6, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Flawn Academic Center, FAC 2.142

Contributing to your scholarly field involves joining a conversation that others have been conducting in journals, at conferences, and through research advancements. Rigorous research builds upon this conversation while contributing new knowledge, in many ways following a similar structure to improvised performance.

Learn about incorporating the “yes, and” foundations of improv into how you describe your research. This interactive workshop led by a highly experienced improv practitioner and science communications expert will give you concrete strategies for using improv skills to engage and delight your audience.

Nic Bennett

Nic Bennett, researches power, ideology, and belonging in science communication at The University of Texas as a doctoral candidate of the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations. They engage arts- and science-based research and practice to critique, disrupt, and reimagine science communication spaces. Alongside scientists, artists, activists, and community members, they hope to expand the circle of human concern in science communication and STEM.

Compassionate Communication Skills Workshop for Graduate Students and Postdocs

Wednesday, March 27, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Flawn Academic Center, FAC 2.142

This in-person workshop will address need for accessible and compassionate communication in academic settings, including teaching, along with supplying participants with immediately implementable skills and resources.

The Compassionate Communication Skills Workshop will include information on how to make visual, verbal, and textual communication accessible through technology such as captioning, alt-text, text-to-speech, and Universal Design for Learning principles.

Over 2 hours, participants will learn to implement these skills into teaching positions, research projects and presentations, and in future careers such as faculty positions or industry roles.

Creators: Emily Landgren is a third-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. Elisa Koolman is a second-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. Ariel Chasen is a doctoral candidate in STEM Education and is pursuing a Master’s in Ecology, Evolution & Behavior.

Infusing Storytelling in Academic Life with Dr. Andres De Los Reyes – A Reimagining Professional Development Workshop
April 4-5, 2024
Flawn Academic Center, FAC 2.234

Professor Andres De Los Reyes from The University of Maryland joins us on the 40 Acres for an immersive, two-day workshop based on his book The Early Career Researcher’s Toolbox. Early registrants will receive complimentary copies of the book.

This workshop has been arranged by current UT Austin graduate students Ali Kothawala, Tharan Suresh, and Rajvi Agravat and funded through a Reimagining Professional Development Award from Texas Career Engagement.

Register for Day 1  |  Register for Day 2

Andres De Los Reyes

Andres De Los Reyes received his Ph.D. in 2008 from Yale University. He began his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland at College Park. Within 10 years, he was promoted up the ranks to Full Professor with tenure. He serves as Director of the Comprehensive Assessment and Intervention Program, where he has provided research training to hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students. As part of his work on research training, he is the author of The Early Career Researcher’s Toolbox, where he reveals concrete strategies for building a research program and launching an academic career. The key goal of his research program is to improve our understanding of the discrepant results produced by mental health assessments. Dr. De Los Reyes has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters on these and other topics.