Austin Community Conversations

On April 25, 2026, Austin Community College hosted its annual Student Research Symposium event, showcasing outstanding original academic work by ACC students across all disciplines.  Eleven ACC students were also honored at the annual Curiositas Academic Journal release ceremony, recognizing a carefully selected collection of noteworthy student submissions in the Liberal Arts.  For this episode I...

Madeline Vosch teaches courses in Creative Writing, Humanities and Religious Studies disciplines at ACC.  We discuss her book ‘ Undead:  A Memoir of My Suicide ’, soon to be published by Beacon Press.  The book integrates her interdisciplinary scholarly background and creative voice into a powerful invitation to explore the intersection of profound vulnerability and profound compassion.   Please n...

Bryan Port serves as the Director for the Center for Government and Civic Service at Austin Community College.  Bryan and his team bring civic engagement to life in new and innovative ways, and I invite you to learn about what they offer both to ACC’s students and the broader Austin community. Chapters (00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations (00:01:10) - The Purpose of Public Education (00:03:...

My guests today are Arun John, Kelly Greenwood, Grant Potts and Ted Hadzi-Antich, and they’ll be talking about their work on the Character Education Initiative at Austin Community College.  I think this work has the potential for profound impact on the way that we think about both teaching and learning, and invite you to imagine the possibilities along with us. This episode features discussion of...

Ted Hadzi-Antich is a government professor and one of the founders of the Great Questions Seminar at ACC.  Here you’ll learn about how the Seminar focuses on the fundamental elements of close readings of source texts, open ended discussion, and classroom community.  By the end, I think you’ll find it easy to see why this pedagogy has captured the attention of media outlets ranging from the New Yor...

Dr. Grant H. Potts serves as Dean of Curriculum Management at Austin Community College,, overseeing award plans and scheduling in accordance with state and federal reporting requirements.  He is a Professor of Philosophy, former Chair of the Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities department, and has served in various leadership roles at ACC and in national organizations dedicated to the study of rel...

Matty Martinez-Mandell serves as coordinator for the Peace and Conflict Studies Center at Austin Community College.  We discuss the role that the center plays in promoting peaceful resolutions to conflicts of all kinds, the ways in which Matty’s distinctive academic background informs their work, and a few upcoming center events that merit your consideration. Chapters (00:00:00) - Austin Community...

Through poetry and prose, language becomes a vehicle for connecting readers directly with the thoughts, beliefs and lived experiences of authors.  My guest today is Prudence Arceneaux, who guides students as Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College.   In addition to teaching Creative Writing courses, Prudence directs ACC’s literary magazine, The Rio Review , as well as...

Matt Kliewer is a Humanities instructor at Austin Community College and a scholar in the field of Native American and global Indigenous literature, film and media.  Matt and I will lead a discussion following a screening of the Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man at the Austin Film Society’s cinema on November 13 at 7pm.  Here, we take the opportunity to discuss his field and work, and to see what it looks...

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Jason Epps is a faculty member in the Philosophy department at Austin Community College.   Jason is deeply interested in stoicism, an ancient movement that’s enjoyed a resurgence of popular interest in recent years.  He uses it as a vehicle for teaching philosophy as both as an intellectual discipline and a way of assessing how we choose to live.  This discussion was recorded in November 2024, sho...

Allison Bumsted is a faculty member in the Humanities department at Austin Community College.  In addition to teaching multiple sections of the Introduction to Humanities course to dual credit students each semester, Allison is an active working scholar in her own right.  As you’ll hear in this conversation, she began her own academic career as a student at ACC, ultimately following her curiosity...

Matthew Daude has been a vital presence at Austin Community College for 35 years.  Here we discuss a few of the many roles he’s held, including Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Philosophy Department, and Dean of Liberal Arts—a position he held for 10 years.  Among other topics, we cover his approach to the philosophical discipline, his ongoing intellectual relationship with Aristotle, and his...