Jessica Sinn
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Q&A: State of Minds
Don Graham’s essays explore Texas’ storied history in film and literature A vast land filled with sleepy small towns, sprawling pastures and gleaming urban skylines, Texas has an identity and mystique all its own. Just the word Texas conjures images of rootin,’ tootin’ cowboys, cattle drives, oil wells and big hair. But for those who…
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Student News: Spring 2011
Honors and Awards Each year the College of Liberal Arts honors 12 seniors with the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Award for their leadership, scholarly achievements and service to the community. The 2011 Dean’s Distinguished Graduates are: Nubia Betancourt (Arabic Language and Literature) Lindsey Carmichael (History/English) Shelby Carvalho (Government/Humanities) William Cochran (Plan II Honors) Frances Deavers (Psychology)…
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Awards & Honors: Spring 2011
Staff Six staff members in the College received a 2011 President’s Outstanding Staff or Supervisor Award in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the continuing success of the university including: Sally Dickson (European Studies) Jared Diener (Religious Studies) Nancy Moses (Government) Annelise Notzon (English) Maria Pineda (Germanic Studies) Gail Sanders (Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American…
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Retired Faculty: Spring 2011
More than 30 College of Liberal Arts professors from more than a dozen departments have retired over the past year, after spending decades serving their students and the university community. Retirees include Linguistics Professor Robert King, who was the founding dean of the College of Liberal Arts and served in that post from 1979–1989 and…
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In Memoriam: Spring 2011
Norval Glenn, professor emeritus of sociology, who taught for 47 years at the university, died Feb. 15. He was 77 years old. A prominent scholar of family sociology, Glenn wrote extensively on marriage and divorce, aging and the life course, and methods and survey data analysis. In 2008, he co-directed the first nationally representative sample…
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Representing the Barrio and Beyond
Political Scholar Breaks New Ground in the Study of Latinos in Congress When Jason Casellas began research for his undergraduate senior dissertation on Latino political participation, he was surprised by the scant amount of academic writings on the topic. Undaunted by the painstaking hours of research, the experience of writing that dissertation spurred his interest…
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Conversation Stoppers
Professors examine how we don’t — but should — talk openly about race in the United States First came the fiery attacks last summer as the NAACP approved a resolution condemning perceived racist elements within the Tea Party movement. A few days later, United States Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign…
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Spotless Mind?
Psychologist discovers drug-free therapy could alter fear-filled memories For a military veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder the sound of a helicopter or airplane could trigger a flashback of bombing raids. A car backfire or any sudden noise could bring back images of a roadside bomb explosion. Even a calm walk in the woods could conjure…
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Student News: Fall 2010
Graduate Student News Chiyuma Elliott (American Studies) received a 2010-11 John Hope Franklin Dissertation Fellowship from the American Philosophical Society. Tracy Wuster (American Studies) received a 2010-11 Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship. Jenny Kelly (American Studies) received a 2010-11 Ellen Clarke Temple Award from the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Carly Kocurek and Rebecca…
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Media Highlights: Spring 2010
Daina Berry (History) was featured on the season finale of NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” as one of several historians who helped filmmaker Spike Lee trace his ancestry back to the Civil War. Numerous media outlets including Business Week and the Times of India featured new research by Brad Love and Ross Otto…
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Getting Ahead While Giving Back
Liberal Arts students committed to helping others and researchers explain why After Sly Majid graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in government in 2004, he landed a secure job at an insurance company with a comfortable office and handsome salary. But day after day, Majid continued to feel empty and restless.…
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In Memoriam: Fall 2010
Kate Gartner Frost Kate Gartner Frost, professor emeritus of English, died July 25 at age 71. A scholar of the English and European Renaissance, Gartner Frost came to The University of Texas at Austin in 1974. She is the author of “Holy Delight: Typology, Numerology and the Autobiographical Tradition in John Donne’s Devotions Upon Emergent…
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Adventures in Internships
Graduating seniors test the waters in internships around the world The word “internship” often conjures images of frantic coffee runs, mind-numbing busywork and countless hours in front of the copy machines. But for many liberal arts students at The University of Texas at Austin, it evokes memories of globetrotting adventures, new friends and transformative experiences.…
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The Son of Texas
W. Parker Frisbie inspires colleagues and students Twenty-five years ago, W. Parker Frisbie stumbled into the field of mortality research by accident. The young sociology professor’s interest in mortality, the study of death in a population, was piqued when a graduate student asked him to chair her dissertation committee. “At that time, we had no…
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For the Greater Good?
Citizens with strong national ties willing to die for countrymen Imagine a runaway trolley hurtling down the tracks toward a handful of people. If it continues on its course, it will kill the group of innocent bystanders. You’re given two options to save the day: throw a switch and kill only one person, or sacrifice your…
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Breaking Down the Walls
Interdisciplinary faculty seminar brings University’s resources to the public As one of the worst environmental disasters in history unfolded in the Gulf of Mexico this spring, it was only fitting that the Humanities Institute’s Faculty Fellows Seminar was completing a year of studying “Intellectual Life at Moments of Crisis.” To promote intellectual exchange across disciplines,…
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Student News: Spring 2010
The 2010 Dean’s Distinguished Graduates are: Ethan Alexander (Ancient History and Classical Civilization) Kaitlin Andryauskas (Sociology) Aaron Barr (Asian Studies) Casey Dorff (Government) Grace Eckhoff (Plan II Honors/Biology) Daniel Friedman (Plan II Honors/English) Angela Giordani (Arabic Language and Literature) James Hammond (Psychology) Joseph Kolker (Plan II Honors/History) Nicole Kreisberg (Latin American Studies) John Meyer (English/Government)…
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After the Dust Settles
Liberal Arts professors and students explore the next steps for Haiti The images of mass devastation, suffering, loss and chaos will forever remain with Suzanne Edwards after her trip to Haiti. On Jan. 12, less than an hour before the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the nation, Edwards, a University of Texas at Austin senior majoring…
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Vanishing Voices
Linguists work with remaining speakers of dying languages to preserve cultural memories In a hill country home amid the scenic vistas of New Braunfels, Hans Boas, associate professor of Germanic Studies, conducts hours of interviews with the last remaining speakers of one of the Lone Star State’s oldest dialects, Texas German. During an interview, Alton…
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Retiring Faculty
James Brow, Anthropology Brow, professor of anthropology and Asian Studies, taught at the university for 30 years and served as chair of the Department of Anthropology from 1995 to 2005. His research focused on social and economic development in South Asia and Sri Lanka. Brow also served as acting director of the South Asia Institute from…
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Q&A: Roy Germano
When Roy Germano, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government, ventured into Mexico’s rural farmlands and villages in 2007 to gather research for his dissertation on Mexican immigrants and politics, he couldn’t shake his frustration with the tone and substance of the heated immigration debate in the United States. He knew he had to…
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In Memoriam: Spring 2010
Shearer Davis Bowman, professor emeritus of history, died Dec. 4 at age 60. In 1986 Bowman began his career at The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught American history for 15 years. He wrote “Masters and Lords” and “At the Precipice,” which will be published this spring, as well as numerous articles and reviews.…
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Shakespeare at Winedale
Celebrates 40 years This summer, dozens of alumni of the English Department’s Shakespeare at Winedale program will take the stage once again at the Winedale Historical Complex to commemorate the program’s 40th anniversary. Every Saturday and Sunday from July 14 to Aug. 8, they will give special pre-show performances. The summer will conclude with a…
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Former POW taught generations of students
When Sidney Monas was taken in as a German prisoner of war during World War II, he remembers being huddled in boxcars — cold, hungry and dehydrated — as he was transported all over the German railroad network to Nuremberg. During the 10-day long train ride, Monas was exposed to strafing attacks from U.S. aircrafts.…
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Graduation Caps Years of Courage
Monika Merola overcomes brain injury and reaches academic goals Monika Merola was struck by an epiphany eight years ago while walking her 6-year-old daughter, Cecilia, home from kindergarten. “Mommy, why don’t you have a degree?” asked Cecilia. Merola stopped in her tracks and suddenly felt tears well up in her eyes. “I thought, how could…
