Dr. Melissa Langley Biegert is the Director of High School Programs Academic Success at Austin Community College. 

While she works to ensure that ACC’s scope and reach extends to a growing population of dual enrolled students taking college courses while still enrolled in high school, Dr. Biegert remains committed to her own curiosity and work as an historian.  She has recently published a book entitled “The Family Behind the Girl Scouts of America: Lives of the Kinzie-Gordon Clan”. 

As we discuss the book and its origins, Dr. Biegert weaves in a story of her own student journey, and leaves us with a compelling set of connections.  The power of a community of support, and of an understanding of a history of that community, infuses the story of Girl Scouts of America founder Juliette Gordon Law, Dr. Biegert’s own story, and the stories of thousands of students currently enrolled at ACC.

On July 31, the School of Humanities and Communications at Austin Community College will kick off our new speaker series, 'All Too Human'.  The series aims at introducing humanistic inquiry, as well as the academic disciplines keeping it alive at ACC.L teaches courses in English and the Humanities at ACC. 

The event will take place from 6-8pm at ACC's Highland Campus in Bldg. 2000, Rm 1550.

Our speaker, and today's podcast guest, is L Harter. L teaches courses in English and the Humanities at ACC, and will speak on the cultural signifance of the recent films Obsession and Backrooms.  Here we talk about how her background and approach to the Humanities align particular well with this topic.

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 was  joined by Brinda Roy and Alex Watkins, who respectively serve as faculty leaders for the Symposium and Curiositas programs.  We were also honored to speak with Zoila Walston and Ashley Miramontes, two students who have been published in Curiositas.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.