Activities

Welcome! Let’s take some time to learn more about the rich culture and language of Russia. Russian language can be intimidating, but with this preview of our innovative Online Russian curriculum, you too can learn Cyrillic in 20 minutes and will be reading in Russian in no time!

Did you know that the University of Texas at Austin Libraries has a nationally-unique collection of popular and pulp fiction in the regional languages of South Asia? Have you ever wondered what makes it into library collections, and how? Watch a short video to learn about the efforts of Darsana Manayathu Sasi (UT Austin Malayalam Lecturer), Mary Rader (UT Austin South Asia Librarian), and Laura Brueck (Associate Professor of Asian Studies, Northwestern University) to bring an academic focus onto Indian and Pakistani pulp fiction while building a unique library collection.

Welcome to the South Asia Garden, a living classroom where students of all ages can learn about South Asian cultures, sustainable food production, healthy eating, and the global histories of vegetables, herbs, and fruits common to South Asian foodways. The garden, established with a UT Austin Green Fund grant, is a collaboration between University Housing and Dining’s UT Farm Stand and the South Asia Institute. The garden is located behind the Brackenridge residence hall near Waller Creek, on the ancestral lands of Lipan Apache, Tonkawa, Comanche and other First Peoples. In this short video, you will learn about the making of the garden and some of the herbs, vegetables, and fruits that grow there.

Did you grow up hearing or speaking Spanish at home? Did you hear Spanish from your parents, grandparents or other family members since you were very young? If you were exposed to Spanish at home while growing up, then you probably are a heritage learner. Most heritage learners have a great understanding of their cultural heritage, but there are a wide variety of heritage learners in terms of proficiency, language dominance and language use.  In this video, you will hear from some of our students and learn about our Spanish classes that have been designed specifically for students who grew up hearing or speaking Spanish at home.

Explore the creative world of Rangoli, a popular form of Indian folk art in which colorful patterns are created to welcome guests into homes on festive occasions and to bring good luck to the host family.  Learn how to recreate India’s geometric Rangoli designs using sequins, beads, mirror tiles, stick-on foam shapes and other craft items, and create a decorative, Rangoli welcome for your home.

Dr. Babak Tabarraee, the Persian Program Coordinator at UT Austin, teaches you all about the Iranian New Year, known in Persian as Nowruz! You’ll learn about how Iranians celebrate their New Year, when the celebrations take place, and important words in Persian related to this topic, such as haftsin, chaharshanbeh-suri, and sizdah beh dar.

Hej! Hei! Hallå! Can you believe you already know some Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish? It’s true! These three Scandinavian languages have a close proximity to English, making them easy languages to learn for native English speakers - starting with instantly recognizable words such as kaffe (coffee), democrati (democracy) and natur (nature). Join us as we introduce you to all things Scandinavian, including funny language tidbits, captivating culture topics, as well as what it means to study Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish at the University of Texas at Austin.

Discover how Pakistan’s colorful aesthetics are often expressed through decorations and the creative ways truck drivers in Pakistan decorate their trucks with colorful kaleidoscopic designs. Learn how drivers personalize their trucks with fantastic artwork and how to recreate these kaleidoscopic truck art designs using craft items you have at home in your tinker trays.

The Center for European Studies offers an interdisciplinary major and minor in the study of Western and Central Europe. This video will offer a brief overview of the EUS major and minor, highlight our variety of course offerings across UT departments and colleges, as well as the education abroad opportunities the EUS major offers. 

Dr. Olla Al-Shalchi, the Arabic Program Coordinator at UT Austin, teaches you about the Arabic language! In this short video, you’ll learn what the Arabic alphabet looks like, where Arabic is spoken, and a few common Arabic names and what they look like written in Arabic. You can try your hand at writing Arabic letters in your notebook!

Discover the wicked wit of Jane Austen in this dramatic, and fun, reading of the opening chapter of her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice.   The reading will use the original text with UT freshmen, Raishma Kazi and Tucker Rinne, portraying Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet while English Professor Janine Barchas serves as narrator. This is the stuff of great literature, served straight up – albeit with funny hats.

Discover the world of archeology with this introduction to the Texas Archeological Research Lab (TARL).  Marybeth Tomka, Head of TARL Collections, shares an inside look at materials from caves and rock shelters that were protected by the hot and dry climate in the southwestern part of Texas and only preserved by the unique environmental conditions.

Do you have a passion for world languages and want to get paid to study Europe and European cultures? The Center for European Studies can help you. Every year, the CES invites undergraduate (and graduate) students from all majors and disciplines across the 40 Acres to apply for Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships. FLAS fellowships allow you to study European topics and over 18 foreign languages while providing $10,000 toward UT Austin tuition AND a cash stipend. You can even use these funds toward an education abroad program and explore Europe. This brief video will show you how to apply for the FLAS fellowship, explain its benefits, and features information from recent UT Austin alumni on how the FLAS fellowship has helped them advance their professional careers.

Follow Hermes (a.k.a. Dr. Todd Curtis) on a virtual tour of some of the most interesting Greek and Roman mythological figures found on UT’s campus. The presentation will consider the symbolism and myths behind the statues and building decorations that make UT a very classical place.

Follow autorickshaws around Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and learn about how their drivers elaborately decorate them to express themselves and Tamil culture and history. Asian Studies PhD candidate daniel dillon leads us through the pop culture and political references found on autorickshaws as an expressive cultural form.

Watch a short video highlighting the strengths of programs, events, and resources offered by the South Asia Institute (SAI) at UT Austin. With over 60 core and affiliated faculty members in more than 15 departments, UT Austin hosts the largest, longest standing interdisciplinary South Asia program in the southwestern United States. As a National Resource Center for South Asia with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, SAI brings the Austin community South Asia focused K-12 resources; cultural events in dance, music and film; academic seminars and conferences; and support for undergraduate and graduate students. SAI connects Austin to the complex cultures, histories, and languages of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Hallo! If you are curious about the German language or interested in learning German at UT, this is the place to be (at least during the pandemic).  We will tell you everything about our language program(s); we will introduce you to some of the benefits of speaking a foreign language, and we share samples of all the fun you can have when learning to see the world through the lens of another language.