Guest Blogger and Free Minds Student Rachel Martinez Discusses Lifelong Learning
I always wanted to go to college, I just thought that I wouldn’t be able to make the grade. I was absent from school a lot due to illness, and as life would have it, I stopped going to high school at the end of my junior year to establish my current occupation as a … Continue reading
Students Visit UT’s Blanton Museum of Art
On January 20, Annette Carlozzi, Deputy Director of Art & Programs at the Blanton Museum, treated Free Minds students and faculty to a tour of the American and Contemporary collections. We began with a long consideration of Teresita Fernández’s Stacked Waters, the 3,100 square feet of acrylic that cover the atrium walls in a striped … Continue reading
Free Minds Offers Community Creative Writing Workshops
This spring Free Minds is offering a unique opportunity to explore your creative potential, share your stories, and improve your comfort and skill as a writer. In partnership with Foundation Communities, we are hosting a free eight-week writing workshop at the Trails at Vintage Creek apartments (7224 Northeast Drive). Every Monday evening between February 28 … Continue reading
A Preview of the Spring Semester
After a month-long break, Free Minds students and faculty jumped into the new semester with a dynamic interdisciplinary class on Maxine Hong Kingston’s short story, “No Name Woman.” Each professor interpreted the story from his or her particular field of study, encouraging students to think like historians, literary scholars, rhetoricians, and creative writers. After that, … Continue reading
Guest Blogger and Free Minds Volunteer Amanda Brown Reflects on Food and Community
Close your eyes as tightly as you can. Clear your mind of the busyness and worries of the day. Now bring to the forefront of your mind your favorite memories. Take a deep breath. Let the oxygen fill your lungs, and you are lost in those happy times. You see familiar faces, hear laughter, and … Continue reading
Meet Free Minds Student Lorena Elias
Lorena Elias is a Community Worker with the Austin Health and Human Services Department. She learned about Free Minds from a flyer her 9-year-old son, Miguel, brought home from UT Elementary School. Of all the texts she’s read in class so far, her favorite is A Midsummer Night’s Dream–not surprising, as she loves theater and … Continue reading
Blind-Sided: Dr. Evan Carton on Race in Pop Culture
In the second of a series of masters classes this fall, Free Minds students and alumni welcomed Dr. Evan Carton, UT Professor of English and former Free Minds faculty, to discuss The Blind Side, the 2009 film about a homeless boy who became an All-American football player. The class met over coffee and cookies at … Continue reading
Free Minds at Five: Reflections from Sylvia Gale, Founding Director
Four years and one month ago, the first class of Free Minds Project students met in the community room of the Foundation Communities Vintage Creek apartment complex on Northeast Drive. For each of the 25 students, six faculty members, and two staff sitting packed in close around the seminar tables, sharing our thoughts and dreams … Continue reading
Alumni Visit Free Minds Class
By the end of the first month of classes, students had already turned in their first essay and read Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” and selections from The Epic of Gilgamesh. It was the perfect moment for a visit from Free Minds alumni to calm students’ anxieties and cheer them on for the year ahead. On September … Continue reading
Treat Us to Dinner!
Each Free Minds evening opens with students and their children sharing a community meal. It’s a chance for everyone to transition from the day’s demands and start the conversation in an informal environment. The meal gives children an opportunity to spend time with their parents in a classroom setting and allows students to bond before … Continue reading
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