2017 Plan II Family Day Events

Sunday, October 29th, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

Texas Alumni Center Connally Ballroom & the College of Liberal Arts Building (CLA)

We will begin Plan II Family Day with a brunch, followed by a set of Plan II 'Model Classes' after the brunch.  Arrive anytime between 10:30-11:15 for the serve-yourself brunch buffet. Pick up a nametag and program, and consider purchasing some Plan II merchandise to benefit the Plan II Students' Association. The cost of the brunch is $5 per adult (age 14+); UT students and children under 14 free of charge.

Online Registration is required; Registration will open on Monday, October 9th at 9 a.m. (CT) 

Plan II Director Dr. Alexandra Wettlaufer will make a brief introduction around 11:15.  After her remarks, we will make our way over the bridge across Waller creek to the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) building, just a few hundred feet away.  The classrooms are all on the ground floor and there will be signs to direct you to the class of your choice. 

Model classes - choose one of the following classes to attend when registering:

Leadership Strategy in Sports
Professor Daron K. Roberts, Plan II seminar professor
Founding Director, Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation
This model class is based on Professor Roberts’ seminar which examines the extent to which sports reflect ideological divides in our culture. Discussions of contemporary issues in sports are framed through a historical lens that examines the introduction of athletic contests into American society. During the semester the class examines complex social, economic and cultural issues including compensation of college athletes, use of analytics to inform decision-making, minority representation among players and managers, introduction of openly gay athletes and the health implications of player safety. 

Confronting an “Impossible” Identity: Poetry by Arab Jews in Israel
Dr. Karen Grumberg, Plan II World Literature professor
Department of Middle Eastern Studies
The creation of the state of Israel and the protracted conflict in the Middle East have created a rigid binary identity that divides the people in that region into Arabs and Jews. But these categories obscure and even deny the existence of other, more complex identities that call the binary itself into question and destabilize the rhetoric that feeds the ongoing conflict. In this class, we will examine one of these “impossible” identities, that of Arab Jews, through two Hebrew poems (in English translation) that confront and challenge this erasure.

The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
Dr. Michael Starbird, Plan II Mathematics professor
Department of Mathematics
The root of success in everything from academics to business to leadership to personal relationships and everything else, is effective thinking—whether it’s thinking disguised as intuition or as good values or as decision-making or problem solving or creativity, it’s all thinking. Practical methods of effective thinking can be described, taught, and learned. They are not inborn gifts of a special few. All people can learn them and use them. This talk will describe practical, memorable elements of effective thinking and how to learn them.

Pigs in America: A History
Dr. Janet Davis, Plan II Associate Director & signature course professor
Departments of American Studies and History
This class will explore the ways in which pigs played a central—if hitherto unrecognized— role in American colonization, conflict, expansion, and industrialization. In essence, this talk will analyze the formative role of the pig in creating modern American society. This model class is based on Dr. Davis’ first-year signature course that examines a wide range of topics including animals in entertainment, hunting, vegetarianism, the rise of the animal welfare and animal rights movements, and the growth of pet keeping as a cultural practice and billion dollar business today.

Parking information: There is no free parking on campus without a UT or handicapped permit, so please plan accordingly. The closest parking garages to the Alumni Center are listed below, and will be charging the usualy hourly rates. There are some handicapped parking spaces available in front of the alumni center on San Jacinto Blvd for those who need it (no charge). 

• Brazos
• San Jacinto
• Manor

If you have questions or need accommodations for this event, please contact the Plan II Family Day Coordinator, Mary Dillman at mdillman@austin.utexas.edu.

• For hotel reservations at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center

• Information for Visitors Coming from Outside Austin  (other hotel and Bed & Breakfast listings, restaurant information and more)

• Printable Campus Tour Maps: 

  • Use The University's Self-Guided Walking Tour of the UT Campus to learn about campus on your own and at your own pace.  This makes your day more flexible and allows attendance at other college or program information sessions, tours of dorm(s) and visits to the wonderful Blanton Art Museum, the world-renown Humanities Research Center or the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. 

  • The Diversity Tour introduces you to the diversity that is represented on campus through various academic units, programs, notable buildings, statues and collections. Learn more about the historical background of The University of Texas as it continues to serve all people in the state of Texas through a culture of inclusive excellence.

• Campus Maps and Parking Information

• Texas Parents