Spring 2018 GradStarter Projects
Beyond Sharing: New Architectures and Economies
An interdisciplinary lecture series and symposium that examines how today’s sharing economies impact the built environment—within and beyond architecture.
The umbrella term “sharing economy” collects a wide range of online business exchanges and platforms, from AirBnB to Zillow. Its impact actively shapes how we live and do business. “Beyond Sharing: New Architectures and Economies” begins with this movement and will create discourse that imagines its future.
The proposed presentations begin with the research of the lecturers in their various realms of expertise and, through dialogue, open new connections. Some of the invited speakers are active proponents of the sharing economy, while others critically examine how and where the paragons of tech-enabled sharing fall short. The goal is not necessarily to argue for or against these new economies, but rather to invite a range of expertise to create an interdisciplinary understanding of how they affect our lives.
“Beyond Sharing” will be organized in concerted effort with PLAT 7.0, the forthcoming issue of PLAT, an independent student-run journal from Rice Architecture. The lecture series explores the sharing economy at multiple scales. Correspondingly, PLAT has invited lecturers who each work at specific scales, facilitating an understanding how sharing works across all sizes of its influence.
Read the full proposal here.
EEPS Reach
An outreach program for Rice EEPS students to bring awareness, knowledge, and conversations about earth, environmental and planetary sciences to the public.
The intention of this project is to initiate an outreach program in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences (EEPS). Our goal is to connect with and teach people of all ages in the Greater Houston area about earth, environmental and planetary sciences. We will pursue a variety of outreach activities including free classroom visits to local schools, appearing on local Houston radio, as well as other more spontaneous outreach opportunities (such as the Reach For the Stars Festival at Rice and the Educator Event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS)).
This project provides an opportunity for Rice EEPS graduate students to learn about a variety of outreach opportunities, improve their communication skills when working with the public, and make a positive impact with the community. Both Rice and the greater Houston community benefit from a mutually strong connection.
Read the full proposal here.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Teaching Experiences 
A program to integrate a new opportunity for graduate students and postdocs interested in education to independently host their own undergraduate courses.
We are seeking to create a new opportunity for graduate students and postdocs to teach their own undergraduate courses. This will enhance opportunities for graduate students and postdocs interested in academic positions and expand the selection of courses for undergraduates. By targeting gaps in Rice’s available courses, this will help bring together students interested in common, niche areas. We have designed the structure of the program to integrate seamlessly with existing coursework for the Certificate in Teaching and Learning.
Read the full proposal here.
Global Modernisms Forum: Art, Architecture, Ideas and Circulations
The Global Modernisms Forum aims to connect scholars and graduate students engaging with modernisms from transregional and interdisciplinary perspectives.
The Global Modernisms Forum aims to establish a strong network for those interested in modernisms or global intersections in art, architecture and culture from a variety of fields at Rice, while forging connections with international scholars. This 1-day forum will consist of an introductory talk by Dr. Fabiola LópezDurán, faculty member Art History Department, whose new book published by UT Press will launch a series on Transnational Modernisms (edited by Prof Bruno Carvalho, Princeton University and Prof. Felipe Correa, Harvard University). This will be followed by a “Modernisms Research Mixer,” which consists a session of 5 minute lightning talks by Rice graduate students from across the Humanities, including Art History, Architecture, English, History, and Philosophy, and refreshments to promote scholarly networking. The forum will conclude with a keynote address by by Dr. Maria Isabel Baldasarre, an invited speaker from the Universidad de San Martín (Argentina), and closing reception. The goal is for students and faculty to have an opportunity to hear from a leading international scholar on the subject, while briefly sharing their own research in an interdisciplinary setting, and establishing both a strong campus-wide scholarly, cultural and international research network.
For the initial Spring 2018 forum, we plan to invite Dr. Maria Isabel Baldasarre (Ph.D.,Theory and History of Art, University of Buenos Aires UBA). Dr. Baldasarre is the Director of the Master program in the History of Argentinean and Latin American Art at Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales (IDAES), of the Universidad de San Martín (UNSAM) where she also coordinates the Núcleo de Historia del Arte y Cultura Visual (Seminar on Art History and Visual Culture). She was recently a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute, where she developed and presented her project, “America Latina and the Idea of a Global Modernity.” She is currently an accredited researcher for CONICET National Research Institute, where she engages with Latin American art and global modernity from 1890 to 1915, via the circulation of imagery, artists and ideas. Her research has focused on collection practices and the market of Argentina, Latin America more broadly and Europe in the 19th and early 20th century.
Read the full proposal here.
HGSA Screening and Panel Discussion of Marvel’s Black Panther Movie
In an era of heightened racial turmoil, Black Panther film and panel offer an opportunity for community engagement on race, identity, and citizenship.
The HGSA presentation of a screening and panel discussion for the Marvel Black Panther film will bring together the Rice graduate community and members of the Houston community to think critically about the reception, purpose, and internalization of images of empowered black people. The screening and panel will develop critical ideas about race and identity that are currently energizing American politics and political debates. We expect the conversation to offer a catalyst for more profound discussions race and American society. The screening will be a large event that brings together many and will allow graduate students to discuss in open dialogue a work that promises to have high cultural and perhaps historical significance. Graduate students on the discussion panel will have an added line to their CVs that demonstrate their participation in university discourse and their engagement with scholarship that is different from mainstream. They will be able to show their diversity of knowledge. Students in the audience will be able t participate in the Rice intellectual community and gain knowledge about discussions and be exposed to new ideas and outlooks.
Read the full proposal here.
STEM Through a New Lens 
An event for STEM graduate students to convey their research through stunning visuals.
STEM Through a New Lens will be an event for STEM graduate students and post docs to present their research through art. Graduate students in science and engineering-related fields can submit images of their research, which will be displayed in poster format at the BRC. The images will then be judged at the event by Rice faculty. There will be 2 categories for judging: graduate students and post docs. The winners of the competition will have their art printed on canvas, framed, and displayed in a building on campus. The event would be free for all attendees, with the goal to unite our graduate science and engineering communities. This event will provide the opportunity for graduate students to showcase the imagery of their research in a compelling way. By making this competition open to graduate students across all science fields, the event will provide insight into other fields and pathways for future collaborations. This project allows the Rice community to look into the world of science through art.
By providing an opportunity for our STEM community to come together, we can encourage future collaborations on campus. We want our graduate students to appreciate the beauty of all science, not just their field.
The main goals of this project are to foster a united community in the STEM disciplines on our campus and engage graduate students by challenging them to present their work in one compelling image. Another goal of this project is to inspire graduate students to view their research as a work of art. This event will allow students to see visualize the difference their research makes.
Read the full proposal here.