Jessica Sinn
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Media Highlights: Winter/Spring 2014
January Sandra Black’s (Economics) research on the gender pay gap was cited in a Slate story titled “Policy Reformers Should Randomize Reforms.” Sean Theriault (Government) was quoted in a Washington Post story about partisan warfare in the U.S. Senate. Several media outlets featured James Magnuson’s (English/Michener Center) new book “Famous Writers I Have Known,” including…
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The Secret Life of Magnum Photographs
American studies professor offers an inside look at some of the world’s most iconic images.
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Foodways Texas Moves to UT Austin’s American Studies Department
Created with flickr slideshow. Foodways Texas, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and honoring the Lone Star State’s unique food cultures, has moved to the American Studies Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Modeled after the Southern Foodways Alliance, the nonprofit represents a movement to document Texas’ food culture through oral history…
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Digital Archive Holds Untold History of African American Mental Health
Resplendent in his trademark sport coat and bow tie, Louis Armstrong plays a trumpet for a large gathering of patients underneath a grove of trees outside of Central State Hospital, the world’s first African American psychiatric hospital in Petersburg, Virginia. This is one of the many priceless images stored away in the hospital’s filing cabinets…
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What Makes a Great Teacher?
Think back to your favorite teacher. What stands out the most? Did he or she spark your enthusiasm for a subject that would otherwise seem dry and boring? Did that person treat you more like an equal than just an average student? There’s a reason why these teachers stand out from all the rest. They…
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Q&A: Cognitive Psychologist Art Markman on How to Achieve Your Goals and Make Those Changes Last
The New Year is on the horizon, and just like clockwork many people are dutifully preparing lists of resolutions that will likely be forgotten by mid-January. Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist at The University of Texas at Austin, shows us a better way to make lifestyle changes in his new book Smart Change: Five Tools…
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15 Minute History Podcast Tops ITunesU Charts
What’s the real story behind medieval witch hunts and demonic possessions? Why did Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, set forth on a spiritual quest? Listen in as award-winning UT Austin faculty and graduate students unravel history’s enigmas in 15 Minute History, a podcast series created by the History Department’s Not Even Past and the university’s…
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UT Faculty Chronicle Texas Cultural History
Texas Bookshelf is a 16-book series that will be published by University of Texas Press chronicling the state’s rich culture and history. The five-year project is set to launch in 2017 and will cover a diverse range of topics—from the Tejano experience to Texas food culture to performing arts. This is the first project undertaken…
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¡Numero Uno!
U.S. News & World Report ranked the Department of History’s graduate program in Latin American History as No. 1 in the nation. “Such professional accolades not only pay tribute to the fine work of the Latin Americanist faculty, but are a badge of distinction for the entire History Department,” says Seth W. Garfield, associate professor…
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Genetic Influence on Intelligence Increases Over Time
About 70 percent of a person’s intelligence can be explained by their DNA—and those genetic influences only get stronger with age, according to new research by psychology researchers Daniel Briley, Elliot Tucker-Drob and Paige Harden. Using meta-analytic procedures—the statistical methods used to analyze and combine results from previous, related literature—the researchers examined genetic and environmental…
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Botswana: Earth’s Classroom
The Botswana Study Abroad Program gives undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to spend their summer exploring climate change, ecosystems and human dynamics in the heart of Southern Africa. From dawn to dusk, students spend hours sampling soil, identifying species and observing wildlife and local culture. From leopard sightings in Modisa to San Bushmen walks…
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No Place Like Home
Army ROTC Students Help Oldest Living WWII Veteran Repair Home A group of Army ROTC students set forth on an important mission in early October. They spent an entire day remodeling the home of 107-year-old World War II veteran Richard Overton. For nearly seven decades, the East Austin house has been Overton’s home since he…
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Fall/Winter 2013 Faculty & Staff Awards
November Government Professor David Leal Named Distinguished Alumnus David Leal, professor of government, has received a 2013 Distinguished Alumni Scholar award from Stanford University. Leal was honored at Stanford’s Distinguished Alumni Scholar Day, a day-long event where he met with students, university leaders, and members of the cultural and ethnic community at on Nov. 13.…
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Pushing Forward
Social Scientists Identify New Paths to Mental Health for Trauma Victims On a sunny spring afternoon, Kate Jones was anxiously waiting to see her husband cross the finish line at the most prestigious marathon in the world. Then came the boom. Cheers of excitement immediately turned into blood-curdling screams as hundreds of people rushed from…
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U.S. Regions Exhibit Distinct Personalities, Study Shows
People with similar personality types are so likely to cluster in certain areas of the country that a map of the United States can actually be divided into regions with distinct personalities, according to new psychology research from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Cambridge. The study, co-authored by Samuel Gosling,…
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Media Highlights: Fall/Winter 2013
October A new study co-authored by Sam Gosling (Psychology), which literally maps out America’s personality profiles, was featured in several media outlets including TIME, Parade, the Atlantic, Huffington Post, Mother Jones and the Daily Mail. A new study by Daniel Hamermesh (Economics), which found favoritism is ubiquitous in labor markets, was featured in the Wall…
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Helping Constitutions Endure
Government professor launches Google website at United Nations General Assembly Constitutions are supposed to provide a sustainable structure for politics. Yet only half live more than 19 years. Zachary Elkins, associate professor of government and a leading constitutional scholar, knows what it takes for constitutions to last for generations—and now he’s teaming up with Google…
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That’s Shakespeare, With One ‘S’
English Professor Confirms the Bard’s Hand in The Spanish Tragedy For centuries, scholars have been searching for answers to a literary mystery: Who wrote the five additional passages in Thomas Kyd’s “The Spanish Tragedy”? Mounting arguments point to William Shakespeare, but English professor Douglas Bruster has recently found evidence confirming that the 325 additional lines…
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“Landfall” Exhibition Features Artist-in-Residence Laurie Anderson, Performance by Kronos Quartet
In partnership with Texas Performing Arts and the Visual Arts Center, the Humanities Institute welcomes Laurie Anderson as the C. L. and Henriette Cline Centennial Visiting Professor in the Humanities. During her residency this fall, Anderson will meet with students, faculty, and the public, and present a musical performance and exhibition, “Landfall.” Composed by Anderson…
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Meteorologist Troy Kimmel Talks Tornadoes and Climate Change
Troy Kimmel is a senior lecturer of Studies in Weather and Climate in the Department of Geography and the Environment. He is a committee member/instant meteorologist for University of Texas Campus Safety and Security, as well as committee chief meteorologist, KOKE FM Radio, Austin. A monster EF-5 tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb of…
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Liberal Arts EdX Courses Open for Registration
This fall, students around the globe will have the opportunity to enroll in massive open online courses taught by two top professors in the College of Liberal Arts. Offered through EdX, a major player in the massive open online course (MOOC) movement, the courses are free and open to the public. No longer bound by…
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Extinct Ancient Ape Did Not Walk Like a Human, Study Shows
For decades, the movement of an ancient ape species called Oreopithecus bambolii has been a matter of debate for scientists. Did it walk like a human across its swampy Mediterranean island or did it move through the trees like other apes? According to a new study, led by University of Texas at Austin anthropologists Gabrielle…
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K-12 Teachers Enhance History Curriculum, Gather New Research at Gilder Lehrman Seminar
This summer, 25 primary and secondary teachers from across the country came to The University of Texas at Austin to hone their skills and gather new research at a weeklong seminar sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – one of the leading educational foundations in the country. Held June 23 through 29,…
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Psych 301: A live, interactive online course now open to the public
Psychology professors James Pennebaker and Sam Gosling are offering their online Psychology 301 course to growing numbers of students here and abroad. Unlike the free online classes commonly known as MOOCs (massive open online courses), Psychology 301 is live, fully interactive and offered for credit to registered UT students as well as to potentially thousands…
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‘Gingrich Senators’ Behind Washington’s Legislative Gridlock, Research Shows
A University of Texas at Austin government professor argues in his new book that rising polarization in the U.S. Senate has been caused almost entirely by a particular breed of Republican lawmakers known as the “Gingrich senators.” In his new book “The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress,” Sean Theriault, associate professor…
