Texas Liberal Arts
Life & Letters

Research


  • Bloody History, Historical Recovery

    In The Injustice Never Leaves You, published in 2018 by Harvard University Press, historian and MacArthur “genius” fellow Monica Martinez documents the disturbing history of anti-Mexican violence during a period of rapid growth and economic transformation for the Lone Star State.

    Bloody History, Historical Recovery

  • This is the Work: Nine Things to Know About Amira Rose Davis

    An assistant professor of sociology, Davis specializes in 20th-century American history with an emphasis on race, gender, sports, and politics. But there’s a lot more you should know about her.

    This is the Work: Nine Things to Know About Amira Rose Davis

  • Black Women’s Academic Work is Not for the Taking

    From its start at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in 2018, Cite Black Women has developed into a movement. As founder and COLA professor Christen Smith has said, “I’m not fighting to be on someone’s bibliography. I’m fighting to have my intellectual self respected, and the intellectual work of my foremothers respected, the intellectual…

    Black Women’s Academic Work is Not for the Taking

  • The Bell Tolls for WHOM: The complicated fate of the stuffiest object pronoun

    Whom is dying out … mostly. As an essential part of grammatical English, that stuffy, old-fashioned object pronoun is declining in usage, and has been for more than a century. As a stylistic marker, though, it has some life left.

    The Bell Tolls for WHOM: The complicated fate of the stuffiest object pronoun

  • How Populism Dies: Political scientist Kurt Weyland sees a bright-ish future for liberal democracy 

    A longtime scholar of democratization and its discontents, Kurt Weyland’s work over the past few years has focused on explaining in detail why we are not, despite some appearances, in the midst of either a crisis of global democracy or an ascendant wave of illiberal populism.

    How Populism Dies: Political scientist Kurt Weyland sees a bright-ish future for liberal democracy 

  • #PRADAMARFA

    For better or for worse, Marfa is a city defined by artists. In his new short documentary, “Prada Marfa? A Film about a West Texas Icon,” American studies professor Randy Lewis takes stock of the town’s transformation through the lens of Prada Marfa, a hyperreal public art installation that has become emblematic of the city.

    #PRADAMARFA

  • Antiquities Road Show Busts Its Way to UT

    In October of 2018, Austin-based antiques dealer Laura Young purchased a marble bust at Goodwill for $34.99. Suspecting that the sculpture might be a much greater find, Young reached out to The University of Texas at Austin professors Rabun Taylor (Classics), Stephennie Mulder (Art & Art History), and Penelope Davies (Art & Art History), to…

    Antiquities Road Show Busts Its Way to UT

  • Program in British Studies is now the Program in British, Irish and Empire Studies: Broadening the Range of Voices and Histories in the Field and Beyond

    The program formerly known as British Studies is now the Program in British, Irish and Empire Studies (BIES). The change comes as Professor Philippa Levine, former Guggenheim Fellow and 2020–21 Eastman Professor at Oxford University, assumes sole directorial duties after serving as co-Director for several years. The four-decade-old program has been remodeled to better encompass…