The human need to question why fuels our imagination and inspires innovation and creativity. From asking “Why can birds fly?” to “Why do bad things happen to good people?” the critical interrogation of the world around us leads to understanding and resolution. Tracing his journey as a Texas-born Mexican to becoming a professor of Russian and an advocate for social justice in education, Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza discusses the crucial role of the humanities and the transformative power of learning to ask “Why?” - the H-Factor - as an essential part of one’s education and personal development. From growing up in the small town of Refugio to negotiating the political and cultural complexities of Soviet-era Russia, Garza shows how the “H-Factor” and serendipity can change our lives. Dr. Thomas Jesús Garza is Associate Professor and UT Regents’ and University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding Director of the College of Liberal Arts Texas Language Center (2009-present), and past director of the UT Arabic Flagship Program (2015-2018). From 2004 to 2009 he served as Chair of the Slavic Department and Director of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from 2002 to 2009. He teaches, conducts research, and publishes on Russian language and cultures, world language pedagogies, comparative cultures, and critical pedagogies in world languages education. His research has been published in scholarly journals including Foreign Language Annals, Russian Language Journal, Modern Language Journal, Slavic and East European Journal, and Current History, and has authored several Russian and ESL textbooks, including Breakthrough! American English for Speakers of Russian (1995), the first Russian-American collaborative textbook project on American English, and has contributed chapters to numerous volumes language and culture. He also recently coedited with Rachel Stauffer a volume of essays, Diversity and Decolonization in Russian Studies (2025).During his nearly 35-year tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, he received numerous prizes for undergraduate and graduate teaching, including the Harry Ransom Teaching Award, the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Liberal Arts Student Council Endowed Teaching Award. In 2003, he was inducted into the University Academy of Distinguished Teachers, selected for a U Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, and chosen a “Texas Top Ten” instructor by the Texas Exes in 2018. He led study abroad programs for UT undergraduate students to Russia from 1981 to 2020 under the auspices of the American Council of Teachers of Russian, of which he is also past president. In 2024, Dr. Garza was selected as one of “50 Alumni for 50 Years” by the American Councils for International Education for his work in promoting the study of Russian in the U.S. Dr. Garza earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College, Masters of Arts degrees from Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University, and his doctoral degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. His current research is on critical pedagogy in world languages instruction, masculinity in contemporary Russian and Latino cultures, and Russian singer/songwriter/actor Vladimir Vysotsky’s travels to the Americas in the 1970s. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx