The 15th annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival took place Nov. 9 to Nov. 19, showcasing films from diverse perspectives. Both fiction and nonfiction films from around the globe were showcased across Houston, enriching the city’s greater film community. Here are some of the best films showcased at the festival this year.
Eli Roth’s new holiday slasher “Thanksgiving” boasts a most appropriate tagline: “This year, there will be no leftovers.” And even if there were, after sitting through the movie, you probably will not have the appetite for them.
December may seem like a dreary time of year on campus, but there are plenty of events happening in Houston to lift your spirits. If you’re hoping to get your mind off your mounting pile of exams to study for and essays to write (or procrastinate on), then look no further.
Final exams begin Dec. 6 for many students. The Monday and Tuesday of that week are study days where no classes are held, christened the “Dead Days” because campus is devoid of much life outside of frantic revision. Here is a list of study breaks where you can regain a balance of emotional and mental health before diving into exams … not to mention the long winter break with family.
Ten undergraduate Owls have flown back from a summer in Italy, unveiling their study abroad experience in the HART in the World: Rome exhibition. Located on the first floor of Herring Hall, the student-organized exhibition features a line-up of photographs, sketches and research projects on display until the fall of 2025.
Bernard Banks will join Rice’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders as director Jan. 1, 2024. He currently serves as the associate dean for leadership development and a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Students Transforming Rice into a Violence-Free Environment, a student organization addressing sexual and domestic violence, is no longer active this semester. Ndidi Nwosu, who had been a STRIVE liaison for two years and reapplied last semester, said the organization has gone “radio silent.”
Rice has partnered with Tecnológico de Monterrey to offer concurrent doctoral degrees and dual master’s programs alongside joint efforts in continuing and professional education. Additionally, the agreement allows Tecnológico de Monterrey undergraduates to engage in research at Rice, providing more opportunities for Rice students in research to collaborate with international peers.
Nine student cultural organizations hosted the first Pangea Potluck at the Rice Memorial Center Nov. 15. Clubs shared food, organized activities and participated in a passport program where students could collect a stamp from each organization in exchange for a prize in the Grand Hall. Participating groups included the Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice, the Vietnamese Student Organization and the Black Student Association, among others.
Rice’s Office of General Counsel hosted an Immigration Law Program for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Undocumented Students in Anderson Hall Nov. 8 in response to DACA being ruled unlawful earlier in September. Partners from the immigration and employment law firm Monty & Ramirez LLP, Carolina Ortuzar-Diaz and Maricela Alvarado, presented at the event and offered free legal consultations for DACA and undocumented students.
4,407 undergraduate students participated in the course request process for the Spring 2024 semester, according to the Office of the Registrar. This number is an increase from the Spring 2022 and 2023 semesters, when 4,269 and 4,103 students registered, respectively.
Rice’s Responsibility, Inclusion and Student Empowerment program, which was founded in 2021, will now serve sophomores and juniors. The program was previously exclusively for incoming freshmen who also attended a RISE pre-orientation seminar program in the summer.
6 to 7 p.m. It was one hour a day, nearly every day, rain or shine, that Shifa Rahman ’22 spent camped outside the Founder’s Memorial statue, often with signs and fellow protestors in tow. “Read the room, Willy,” one sign read.
Rice Football head coach Mike Bloomgren found himself covered in Gatorade, sweat and champagne within a matter of minutes following Saturday’s 24-21 win over the Florida Atlantic University Owls. The victory secured a second consecutive year of bowl eligibility for Rice, whose players, coaches and fans celebrated accordingly.
Multiple Rice faculty members released a “statement of solidarity” with Palestinians Oct. 27 later signed by members of the Rice community. The statement was written in response to President Reggie DesRoches’ “message of supportt” to the community Oct. 11, sent two days after an initial email about the “conflict in Israel and Gaza.”
When “Pro-Life After Roe” was published in the Thresher, we were in the midst of finalizing a semester-long report on the state of reproductive rights in Texas. We had spent the day compiling firsthand accounts of the panic, pain and trauma produced by abortion bans. It felt necessary to address the guest opinion and confront the harms of abortion restrictions.
Rice’s 111-year history is marked by lots of positive impact — and plenty of harmful actions. William Marsh Rice, the university’s founder and namesake, was a slave owner, and from the school’s establishment as a free institution for only white students to Ku Klux Klan meetings occurring on Rice property, the connections to segregation and racial injustice cannot be denied.
“We really should learn how to play defense.“
When PinkPantheress released her debut mixtape “To Hell With It” in October 2021, few expected she would have a Billboard top five single in the next couple of years. After creating her first songs on GarageBand as a teenager and releasing them on SoundCloud, PinkPantheress found breakout success as a TikTok sensation. This first mixtape was a fantastic introduction to the voice of an exciting new artist, inventively combining samples, 2000s style contemporary R&B and liquid drum and bass instrumentation to create bittersweet snapshots of love and longing. Two years later, PinkPanteress is back with her first full-length album, “Heaven Knows,” that sounds more polished than ever while still including the mix of yearning and rhythmic beats she’s become known for.
