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Jessica Sinn

C. Wright Mills on BMW motorcycle, 1958

Sociology Celebrates 100 Years

December 4, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

This year, the Department of Sociology celebrated its 100-year anniversary. Looking back at the department’s many achievements within the past century, this is a milestone worthy of a big celebration. In addition to its top national rankings, the department is home to an impressive number of eminent social scientists—from C. Wright Mills, whose seminal works […]

A stylized illustration of a woman in a car driving off of an unfinished highway. A single orange cone stands in her way.

The Road to Gender Equity: Still Under Construction

November 21, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Christine Williams has heard her share of conflicting arguments about gender equality in the sociology course she’s taught for more than two decades at The University of Texas at Austin. But there is always one question that gives her pause: “Women have achieved equality, so why is feminism relevant?” “I’m always taken aback when students […]

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Media Highlights: Fall/Winter 2014

October 5, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Jeremi Suri (History) published an op-ed titled “How America Helped ISIS” in the New York Times. Terri Givens (Government) shared insight into immigrant integration in Europe in a Washington Post op-ed titled “A Left-Right Divide in European Attitudes toward Immigrants.” Findings from Jim Henson’s and Daron Shaw’s (Government) Texas Politics Project/Texas Tribune poll were cited […]

100 Years Sociology UT Austin

Sociology Department Celebrates 100-Year Anniversary

October 2, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

The Department of Sociology celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and looking back at the department’s many achievements during the past century, this is a milestone worthy of a big celebration. In addition to its top national rankings, the department is home to an impressive number of eminent social scientists and notable alumni —from Charles […]

In Memoriam with black background

David L. Huff, Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Geography, Dies at 83

September 22, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

David L. Huff, the Century Club Centennial Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Geography, died on Aug. 15 at age 83. A valued professor emeritus in the Department of Geography and the Environment and the McComb’s School of Business, Huff was very influential in his contributions to the field of quantitative geography, and a much beloved […]

2014 winners

English Professor’s Translation of ‘The Decameron’ Wins PEN Award

August 27, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Wayne A. Rebhorn, the Celanese Centennial Professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin, has won the PEN Literary Award for a translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s masterpiece “The Decameron.” The PEN Literary Awards have honored and introduced some of the most outstanding voices in literature for more than 50 years. The awards will […]

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Summer/Fall 2014 Faculty, Staff and Alumni Awards

August 19, 2014 by Jessica Sinn Leave a Comment

December Troy Kimmel Receives Citizen Service Award from University of Texas Police Department Geography and the Environment Senior Lecturer Troy M. Kimmel Jr. was acknowledged with a Citizen Service Award presented on Dec. 11 by David Carter, Chief of the University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). This award is presented to a citizen/civilian of the community in […]

close up of grass

Q&A with Ecosickness Author Heather Houser

August 12, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Take a look at your surroundings. Are you sitting in a climate-controlled office next to a window overlooking a sea of traffic? Or are you skimming this article on a porch swing underneath a shady oak tree? Whether you’re surrounded by wide open spaces or a concrete jungle, your environment is significantly affecting your emotional […]

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Media Highlights: Summer 2014

July 31, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

June Jacqueline Woolley (Psychology) shared insight into children’s perceptions of reality and fantasy in a CNN story. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times Sunday Book Review featured Donna Kornhaber’s (English) new book “Charlie Chaplin, Director.” Elizabeth McCracken’s new book “Thunderstruck and Other Stories” was featured in several media outlets, including the Guardian […]

courses that can be taken with internet screenshot

Liberal Arts Offers Online Distance Education Courses

July 25, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts is launching an innovative online distance education program that provides transferable lower division college credit in the social sciences, humanities and foreign languages. Leveraging custom web technologies and high-definition video production designed by Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services, the college is offering online classes in […]

white house

Sociology Professor Keith Robinson Invited to Speak at White House Symposium

July 23, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Keith Robinson, assistant professor of sociology and Population Research Center associate at The University of Texas at Austin, was recently invited by the U.S. Department of Education and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to speak at a two-day symposium exploring “Transformative Family Engagement” July 30-31 at the White House. As part of the discussion on family […]

apes and cats

Walking on All Fours Is Not Backward Evolution, Study Shows

July 17, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Contradicting earlier claims, “The Family That Walks on All Fours,” a group of quadrupedal humans made famous by a 2006 BBC documentary, have simply adapted to their inability to walk upright and do not represent an example of backward evolution, according to new research by Liza Shapiro, an anthropologist at The University of Texas at […]

group in front of the tower

UT Global Initiative Hosts Leadership Training for Young African Entrepreneurs

July 8, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

This summer, 25 competitively selected emerging entrepreneurs from Sub-Saharan Africa are participating in a six-week academic institute with leadership seminars hosted by the UT Global Initiative for Education and Leadership. The young business leaders (ages 25-35) are part of a larger group of 500 Washington Fellows that will be hosted across the United States this […]

learning Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian

Nonprofit Partners for Languages in the United States Moves to UT Austin

June 30, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

The University of Texas at Austin is now home to Partners for Languages in the United States (PLUS), a nonprofit member-based organization designed to advance language education to the highest levels of professional proficiency. Housed in the College of Liberal Arts’ Texas Language Center, PLUS works as an accrediting body for university-level programs that meet […]

divers with Naia

Genetic Study Confirms Link between Earliest Americans and Modern Native Americans

May 16, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

The ancient remains of a teenage girl found in an underwater Mexican cave establish a definitive link between the earliest Americans and modern Native Americans, according to a new study released today in the journal Science. The study was conducted by an international team of researchers from 13 institutions, including Deborah Bolnick, assistant professor of […]

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All the World’s an Opera Stage for English Alumnus Speight Jenkins

April 28, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Many of us go through college without a clear career path in mind. But a lucky few have the great fortune of knowing their true calling at a very young age. For Speight Jenkins (BA, English ’57), that passion was opera. It all began in the early 1940s when a first grade teacher introduced his […]

Illustration of red-curly-haired woman with dog's bowl with two fried eggs and boy and dog entering through door. Illustration: Yevgenia Nayberg.

Why Mom Called You ‘Fluffy’

April 21, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

When choosing baby names, parents often want something that is pleasing to the ear. Some even turn to alliteration when naming multiple children. But according to a new psychology study from The University of Texas at Austin, parents set themselves up for speech errors when they give their children similar-sounding names. The findings, published in […]

Illustration of school children in search of a letter "A" on the horizon.

Making the Grade

April 17, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Strategies for Improving Education in America Few dispute the value of education, but discussions about how our nation should improve it are becoming more intense and polarized. Of all the competing arguments—more technology, smaller classrooms, improved teacher training, universal pre-kindergarten—most people would agree that America’s education system needs to improve, and soon. According to recent […]

Professor Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. Photo: Marsha Miller.

Writing Home

April 16, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Chicano Literature Professor Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Wins National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award The National Book Critics Circle has honored Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, an author and professor in the Departments of English and Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, with the 2013 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award during a […]

The Buck Stops Here

April 14, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Hit TV series like Breaking Bad demonstrate just how far criminals will go to conceal their piles of dirty money. But of all the countries in the world, these illicit activities are most easily carried out under the guise of shell companies right here in the United States. A shell company is a business in […]

May Day festival, circa mid-1950s; patients listen to a musical performance.

King’s Treasure

April 6, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

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, Va. This is one of the […]

Map of United States with colors to denote which Happy Face: Temperamental & Uninhibited, Friendly & Conventional, Relaxed & Creative.

States of Mind

April 6, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

People with similar personality types are likely to cluster in certain geographical regions of the United States, making it possible to divide a map into three distinct personality regions, according to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study, co-authored by University of Texas at Austin psychologist Samuel Gosling […]

civil rights history screencap

50 Years of Civil Rights History: Then and Now

April 4, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark piece of legislation that banned widespread discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. To highlight this important milestone, we invited leading scholars from the College of Liberal Arts to highlight pivotal moments in civil rights history […]

talking to group in living room

Department of American Studies Receives $100K Endowment to Support Food Studies Research

March 18, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

The Dallas Chapter of Les Dames D’Escoffier (LDEI) has awarded UT Austin’s Department of American Studies a $100,000 Presidential Fellowship to support graduate research in Texas, women and food culture. Over the past six years, the Department of American Studies has been developing a reputation for being a leader in the emerging field of food […]

Imagining a More Equitable World for Africa’s Gay Community

March 15, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

In most African countries, being gay means living in constant fear. For example, an anti-homosexuality bill recently signed by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni calls for 14 years in prison for first time offenders and life in prison for repeat offenders. Even those who don’t report gay friends and loved ones are considered to be breaking […]

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