Austin Community Conversations

Madeline Vosch: Empathy Through Memoir

Toño Ramirez — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:52:20 +0000

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 note that this episode contains discussions of self-harm and suicide.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Community Conversations
(00:02:21) - How Teaching at acc involves three separate disciplines
(00:04:48) - What's a Good Reason to Read Memoir?
(00:10:48) - The Memoir of My Suicide
(00:12:54) - memoir of my attempt to suicide
(00:15:01) - Ray You White: A Memoir
(00:18:03) - The Book of Writing
(00:20:11) - Several Things That Can't Be Said in This Book
(00:22:34) - The Story of Jairus Daughter
(00:25:59) - A History of Madness: An Archaeology of That Silence
(00:27:50) - This Book Fails in Its Argument
(00:30:48) - Understanding the Reasons People Commit Suicide
(00:34:03) - "Suicide: A Moral Failure?"
(00:38:37) - In the Elevator With Suicidal People
(00:46:08) - Austin Community College's Fight Against Suicide
(00:50:41) - Talking To a Suicide Survivor

Bryan Port: Fostering Impactful Civic Leaders

Toño Ramirez — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:59:41 +0000

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
(00:03:04) - Brian Flannery on his Journey
(00:04:17) - Professor Port on the Center
(00:06:05) - The Center for Civic Engagement at Austin Community College
(00:09:43) - The Civic Leadership Simulation
(00:14:10) - The United Nations Climate Change Simulation
(00:17:25) - Culture of Leadership Simulation
(00:22:47) - The River Hacks Event
(00:25:17) - The Center for Law and Community
(00:33:13) - Questions for the Historians
(00:36:33) - Community Partnerships at the Austin Center
(00:39:32) - The Journalist Summit
(00:41:22) - The Center for Clinical and Academic Research

ACC's Character Education Initiative: Kelly Greenwood, Ted Hadzi-Antich, Arun Johns and Grant Potts

Toño Ramirez — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:07:48 +0000

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 Claire Elise Katz' "Stolen Valor: How the Humanities '@ Work' Are Hidden in Plain Sight".

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations: The Character Education Initiative
(00:02:42) - Interview with Ted Hatziancic and Grant Potts
(00:03:28) - Teaching at ACC: A Motley Crue
(00:07:19) - The Mission of Character Education at ACC
(00:18:30) - Post-Bacc MS in Technology
(00:19:10) - Philosophy of Character and Virtue
(00:22:13) - Virtues of Learning Math
(00:24:09) - The moralization of higher education
(00:28:26) - Questions about human flourishing in higher education
(00:37:41) - The value of liberal arts education
(00:44:46) - Enable Faculty: Character Education
(00:52:59) - Faculty on the Character Education Initiative
(01:01:42) - What Would You Want Your Community College Students to Know?
(01:02:13) - The Future of Character Education
(01:06:32) - The College Community Initiative

Ted Hadzi-Antich: Learning Via the Great Questions

Toño Ramirez — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:36:10 +0000

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 York Times to the Chronicle of Higher Education, along with major four-year universities who have been surprised and inspired by what our faculty and students achieve together.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations
(00:02:13) - Teaching at ACC: The First Year
(00:06:33) - In the Elevator With Students
(00:08:07) - The Importance of Feeling Like An Impersonator
(00:10:52) - The Great Questions Seminar
(00:16:06) - The Character Education of Community Colleges
(00:18:55) - The Great Questions Seminar
(00:26:23) - A Day in the Life: The Good Life
(00:29:01) - A Sense of Agency in College
(00:31:21) - Community Colleges: The Career-Ready Student
(00:37:43) - The mission of the student success class
(00:40:19) - Community Colleges: The Diversity of Students
(00:47:29) - Great Questions: The Pedagogical Model
(00:53:00) - The Great Questions Program at Austin Community College

Grant Potts: ‘The Humility We Need to be Good Thinkers’

Toño Ramirez — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:28:53 +0000

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 religion and to community college teaching and learning.

We discuss his approach to teaching, the value of religious studies as a preparation for a surprising range of personal and professional endeavors, and the cultivation of intellectual virtues as a goal for liberal arts education.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Community Conversations
(00:01:21) - What's in It for a College Student?
(00:03:16) - Interim Dean Potts on the Different Roles
(00:11:15) - Pushing the boundaries of higher education
(00:18:13) - Denison College Student Experience
(00:25:41) - Philosophy and curriculum management
(00:29:31) - The Way Philosophy Prepared Me for Work
(00:34:21) - How does religion help me understand the world?
(00:41:57) - Discussing the Stakes of Religion
(00:48:31) - Existential terror in philosophy
(00:53:31) - The Limits of Knowledge in the Meno
(00:59:24) - Exploring the Religion of Film
(01:05:45) - The relationship between journal and classroom learning

Matty Martinez-Mandell: 'Anyone Can Be a Peace-Builder"'

Toño Ramirez — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 04:40:15 +0000

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 Conversations
(00:02:14) - Maddie Martinez Mandel Discusses the Center's Role
(00:05:17) - What is Peace Tech? (
(00:13:01) - The Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Austin Community College
(00:17:46) - The PAC Center's programming
(00:26:05) - How to Have Difficult Conversations
(00:34:58) - The Difficult Conversations Series

Prudence Arcenaux: 'What's That Person's Story?'

Toño Ramirez — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 23:58:45 +0000

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 the annual Balcones Literary Prize. She is also an accomplished poet in her own right, having published several volumes including Proprioception, recently released through the Texas Review Press.

Our discussion addresses her academic journey, the risks and rewards of participating in a community of writers, and the role of creativity both within and outside of her discipline.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Community Conversations
(00:02:07) - Prudence Arsenault on Her Role as an Instructor
(00:04:40) - When You Get To Know Your Students
(00:06:40) - Exploring Your Specific Academic Pathway
(00:08:36) - The Role of Creativity in Teaching
(00:12:47) - The Division Between Art and Creativity
(00:19:03) - Writing and the Creative Process
(00:24:46) - How to Get Out of Math Class
(00:30:42) - How to Get Out of the Trap of 'Writing'
(00:32:15) - Why Poetry Is So Scary
(00:36:27) - The Voices of Non-Traditional Poets
(00:41:22) - A Poem for a Friend
(00:42:03) - What should I expect to be in for if I attend a reading
(00:46:56) - The Future of Censorship
(00:48:52) - A message about the Rio Review

Matt Kliewer: 'It Takes a Lot of Empathetic and Compassionate Listening'

Toño Ramirez — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 20:32:55 +0000

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 like in real time by discussing a different film–2013’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls, written and directed by Jeff Barnaby. The film discussion comprises the second half of this interview, and delves into many of its plot points–spoilers lie ahead.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations
(00:01:07) - Dead Man: Matt Cleaver
(00:02:30) - A Conversation With Jim Jarmusch on Deadman
(00:04:36) - Faculty in the Humanities Q&A
(00:07:34) - How to Talk to Students About Humanities
(00:09:59) - Talking about literature with high school students in 2025
(00:11:56) - On the Future of Young Adult Literature
(00:14:20) - What would a humanities survey course look like?
(00:17:14) - What It Means to Pursue Native American Studies
(00:23:15) - The Film Review
(00:24:17) - Rhymes for Young Ghouls Review
(00:26:39) - Speaking Out: Indigenous Film
(00:28:18) - Indigenous Film's VOTIVITY
(00:35:17) - Film Review: The Good Witch
(00:37:24) - Film Review: The Visual Sovereignty
(00:39:15) - Ayla in Smoke Signals
(00:42:42) - The Film's Sound
(00:46:03) - The Wolf In The Wilderness
(00:51:40) - The film's depiction of substance abuse
(00:52:53) - The Discovery of a Residential School Grave
(00:58:29) - It Ending Explained
(01:03:29) - The film's final scene
(01:05:53) - Jeff Barnaby: His Legacy
(01:10:14) - What's a Newbie to Indigenous Film?

Welcome to Austin Community Conversations!

Toño Ramirez — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 22:14:27 +0000

Show trailer

Chapters

(00:00:01) - Austin Community Conversations

Jason Epps: 'We Must Support Students With Real Fears'

Toño Ramirez — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 22:10:33 +0000

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, shortly after the publication of Jason's Op-Ed in the Austin American Statesman, a major daily newspaper in the area. As you’ll hear, he felt compelled to address a form of criticism aimed at higher education that had emerged shortly after the presidential election. This criticism took aim at the fact that some faculty at some higher ed institutions attempted to actively address distress that they perceive in their students surrounding the political moment, in some cases cancelling class meetings, allowing for extended deadlines on assignments, or pre-empting planned class activities to instead facilitate discussions of student concerns.

This kind of criticism bears consideration, because its target is not restricted to any particular political moment. Interesting questions arise here: To what extent, if any, should student fears about a given political or cultural event change the goings-on of the classroom? Do instructional adaptations in the face of such events distract from the proper function of higher education? What should an institution that is primarily aimed at teaching and learning do in response to the emotions that its students bring with them?

Today you’ll hear the perspective of a teacher who believes that, to borrow from the title of his own editorial, “We must support students with real fears.”

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations: Stomping Through Fear
(00:02:51) - Jason Epps: Joy in Philosophy
(00:07:28) - What's Distinct About Taking a Philosophy Class?
(00:12:43) - Philosopher on Supporting Students Who Have Real Fears About the
(00:18:06) - Community Colleges: Preparing Students for the Real World
(00:20:41) - Teaching Students to Be Fearful
(00:26:18) - Wonders of Philosophy
(00:30:24) - Jason the Interview

Allison Bumsted: 'It's About Understanding Who We Are'

Toño Ramirez — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 21:57:47 +0000

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 all the way to Doctoral degree, and most recently to her first book published through the University Press of Mississipi. The book is entitled “TeenSet, Teen Fan Magazines, and Rock Journalism”, and exemplifies a core commitment of Allison’s work as a teacher and scholar. Namely, she invites us to take seriously what people value, regardless of whether the objects of value in question adhere to traditional conventions of ‘high culture’.

During this interview you’ll hear her say that she wants her students to share a communal joy in learning, and this, of course, is what a thriving learning community is all about. It’s my pleasure to share this conversation with Allison Bumsted—let’s dive in.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Austin Community Conversations
(00:02:17) - Pushing the curriculum forward at ACC
(00:08:03) - Post-Graduation experiences in the humanities
(00:09:13) - The importance of music in the humanities
(00:10:38) - The challenges of popular culture studies
(00:14:41) - The Popular and Its Discourse
(00:16:39) - The Serious World of Teen Culture
(00:19:12) - Do Female Fans Have a Voice in Music?
(00:22:47) - What About Teen Fan Magazines?
(00:28:12) - The Lack of Serious in Rock
(00:29:56) - In the Elevator With Historians
(00:35:12) - Judith Simpson on The Color of Rock
(00:37:58) - The History of Teen Magazines
(00:42:38) - In the Elevator With Pop Artists
(00:47:25) - Taylor Swift on Why She Made Up
(00:52:22) - In the Elevator With Judith Sims
(00:53:49) - A Farewell to Words

Matthew Daude: Liberal Arts Can Save the World

Toño Ramirez — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:33:34 +0000

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 belief that "Liberal Arts Can Save the World". As you’ll hear, he’s quite serious about this idea, and by the end of the episode, I wonder whether you might find yourself inclined to agree.

Chapters

(00:00:03) - Austin Community Conversations
(00:01:47) - Matthew Dowda's 35-Year Odyssey at ACC
(00:11:21) - Philosopher and former dean at ACC
(00:20:32) - Liberal Arts Can Save the World
(00:27:05) - Does a Close Reading of Melville Help Us Prevent the Deperson
(00:35:09) - A Dean's Approach to the Liberal Arts
(00:39:41) - Aristotle and the Relationship
(00:46:54) - Philosophy and the human relationship
(00:54:48) - Mental health and the role of the faculty
(01:01:03) - The Value of the Humanities