Sociologist Kim Pernell on what financial policy can tell us about what nations do or don’t prioritize — and why
1984 In Their Words: John Adamo
“I think I was the only person I knew who never changed his major”
1984 In Their Words: Terasa Cooley
“I’ve always gravitated toward religious exploration”
Join the Catholic Church. Don’t marry a musician! Trust your instincts and marry Elaine sooner.
And other reflections from the class of 1984
Selling the Liberal Arts: Back to the Future
On the liberal arts as time machine, now machine, why machine, and so what machine
Crossword: 1984 Is Anybody Watching?
For our special “Class of 1984,” we asked Kyle Mahowald, assistant professor of linguistics here at UT, to construct a crossword puzzle
2024 Keene Prize in Literature Winners
The 2024 Keene Prize goes to Laurel Faye for an excerpt from her novel “Seal, Wife.”
Taking the Liberal Arts on the Offensive
How do you sell the liberal arts in a world where they’re frequently portrayed as on the decline and on the defensive?
Where the Great Books Live
The Jefferson Center for Core Texts and Ideas relies on the great books to prepare its students for the future
Hunting Oppenheimer
Bruce Hunt regularly teaches a course at UT on the “History of the Atomic Bomb” — and he has a few quibbles with Christopher Nolan’s latest film
We Have the Best Stories
Ward Keeler on life as an anthropologist.
Extra Credit: Why Comics Matter
“Pyroclast,” Professor Latinx, and 12 comics to prove a point
The Scholar and the Artist
Cherise Smith looks at Michael Ray Charles looking at the world.
On the Beauty of Crosswords
There are at least three big ways in which Robbie Kubala, assistant professor of philosophy at UT Austin, appreciates crossword puzzles. He’s exceptionally good at doing them, for one, and they’re a shared interest with his partner. They’re also an object of philosophical interest.
To Do Justice
Federal prosecutor Heidi Boutros Gesch (Plan II and Government ’04) is on the case.
Iran and Back Again: Talking with Nahid Siamdoust
Nahid Siamdoust left Iran with her family toward the end of the Iran-Iraq War, after an Iraqi bomb hit her elementary school, killing a number of students. In the decades since, she has lived a truly global life.
Beyond Zoom: The College of Liberal Arts is reimagining online teaching
Since it began producing online courses, LAITS has worked with seven colleges and 45 departments, resulting in more than 135 unique undergraduate courses and more than 20 master’s degree courses. They have served more than 190,000 students and provided more than 570,00 credit hours.
Huge in Nigeria: Q&A with Abimbola Adelakun
In the U.S., Abimbola Adelakun is a respected junior academic, first a graduate student and now an assistant professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. In her native Nigeria, Adelakun is “a bit famous.” She is the author of a weekly political column for Punch, one of the most widely read newspapers in the country.
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.
Book Excerpt: How and How Not to Be Happy
Could happiness lie in health, wealth, responsibility, or pleasure? Should we settle for imperfect happiness? What would it even mean to attain perfect fulfillment? In his new book, J. Budziszewski separates the wheat from the chaff, exploring how to attain happiness—and just as importantly, how not to.
Her Neighbor’s Wife: Uncovering the Hidden History of Lesbian Desire in Post-war American Marriage
Lauren Jae Gutterman’s new book explores lesbian desire in the context of post-war heterosexual marriage.
Q&A with RANE Eurasia Analyst Matthew Orr
Matthew Orr is a Eurasia analyst at RANE, a risk intelligence company that provides geopolitical information and consultation to consumers and corporate clients with business interests around the globe. Prior to starting at RANE, Orr received dual Master’s degrees in Global Policy Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at The University of Texas […]
Assembling the February 24 Archive
Since the war began, Professor Steven Seegel has tweeted about 12,000 times. He plans to keep going, with the help of international colleagues in the digital humanities, for as long as necessary, in order to build what he’s calling “The February 24th Archive.”
Commentary Roundup: Fall 2021
A collection of commentary pieces from faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts that were published this semester. Topics include work, science, politics and more.
Quantified Self
Neuroscientist embarks on a yearlong quest to study a single human brain, his own Every Tuesday morning through November 2013, neuroscientist Russell Poldrack woke up, took off his headband-like sleep monitor and told it to wirelessly send data about his night’s sleep to a database. Then he’d log in to a survey app on his […]