Life & Letters Magazine

Michelle Bryant

What’s in Your Library?

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Over a period of five years (2013-18) a Faculty Committee on Influential Books discussed, debated and finally compiled a list of intellectually and culturally significant books to encourage reading by undergraduates and provide inspiration for continued reading by college alumni. The committee benefited from student suggestions and criticism in drawing up the list that mainly […]

Smile, You’re on Camera: Behind the Lens of 24/7 Surveillance

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“Even a strutting exhibitionist has something to hide: certain diary entries, genetic predispositions, financial mistakes, medical crises, teenage embarrassments, antisocial compulsions, sexual fantasies, radical dreams,” writes Randolph Lewis. “We all have something that we want to shield from public view. The real question is: Who gets to pull the curtains? And increasingly: How will we […]

The Cost of Crime

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Despite crime rates being at a historic low, the United States is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to achieve an 80 percent recidivism rate. We’ve spent $1 trillion during the past 40 years on criminal justice, not including $1 trillion more on the war on drugs. William Kelly, a professor of sociology at The […]

Be Kind to Animals

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Since Janet Davis’ early childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, she says she remembers a life surrounded by animals: chickens running around the yard, horse rides, caring for her pet dogs and cats. “It was a world saturated with animals, the formation of my moral consciousness, if you will,” says Davis, associate professor of American studies at The University of Texas at Austin. […]

Remaking ‘Roots’

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“This is a historian’s dream,” says Daina Ramey Berry, an associate professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin, who served as a technical adviser for the remaking of the television miniseries “Roots.” It will premiere on Memorial Day, airing over four consecutive nights. The A&E Networks’ HISTORY, A&E and Lifetime channels will […]

All Grown Up

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What it Means to be an Adult Chances are at some point in your life, you have been told to “grow up” or “start acting your age.” Faced with the pressures of paying bills, holding down a steady job and frequenting home improvement stores, it’s easy to see why adulthood may have lost some of […]

Depression: Making Treatment Personal

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For the estimated 350 million people worldwide who suffer from depression, the health consequences go far beyond “feeling down.” In fact, it is a leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people with symptoms of depression will never receive treatment, and for those diagnosed with major […]