Four Fine Arts Faculty members selected to lead teams in President’s Award for Global Learning in 2025

Two of the three teams selected for the 2025 President’s Award for Global Learning were led or co-led by faculty members in the College of Fine Arts. The President’s Award for Global Learning is a prestigious experiential learning program that advances The University of Texas at Austin’s strategic mission to impact society and change the world. The three selected teams at UT partnered with international universities and nonprofit organizations in India, Japan, Sweden and Denmark. 

Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies Chair Michael Baker, AET Associate Professor of Practice Jessie Contour and Design Associate Professor of Practice Gray Garmon led a student team in Sweden around the project “Cultivating Resilience: A Comparative Study of Urban Agriculture, Technology and Resilience in Central Texas and Öresund Scandinavia.” Baker previously co-led a student team that traveled to South Korea to collaborate with Korean students on an app to support mental health.

A team co-led by Department of Theatre and Dance Assistant Professor Kate Freer and Moody College of Communication Professor of Practice Erin Reilly traveled with a student team to Japan for their project “Haiku Horizons: Bridging Cultures Through Creative Technology and Immersive Experience.”

The selected projects addressed timely and critical global issues, examining climate change through the lens of media arts, cultivating resilience in sustainable cities and measuring the impact of service-learning projects. Students who participated engaged in project-based teams with international partners and faculty mentors to research and propose solutions to these complex issues.