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2021 Keene Prize for Literature

May 19, 2021 by Rachel White

When asked where she drew inspiration for her award-winning work, fiction-writer Carrie R. Moore points somewhere between track 12 and 13 on the Solange Knowles’ album “When I Get Home.”

Illustration with exercise equipment, pets, personal checklist, plants and tablet screen with mom.

Making the Most of Self-Care

May 10, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

March marked the one-year anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic, and to say that it’s been a rough year would be an understatement. Whether we’ve lost loved ones, jobs, or simply the ability to distinguish between Sundays and Mondays, everyone is struggling under the weight of a constantly shifting “new normal.”

Red bench sign at carriage ride, "A Place to Park Your," with outline of donkey.

Capturing Culture

November 17, 2020 by Rachel White

When people travel to the United States, they might be shocked at how large our portion sizes are, how friendly strangers may seem or how informal and direct conversations tend to be.

Black Lives Texas logo

Listen to Black Lives Texas

August 24, 2020 by Tori Miller

This month, millions of young Texans will face new struggles in the transition back to school amid a global pandemic. But for those facing food insecurity or limited internet access, the new school year poses greater threats.

Heather Rice teaching Russian

Exploring the World Through Language

August 5, 2020 by Alex Reshanov

Sometimes we fall in love when we least expect it. Arriving at The University of Texas at Austin as a mathematically inclined freshman, Heather Rice had no intention of learning Russian.

Edmund T. Gordon presents the Racial Geography Tour.

Retracing UT’s Complicated Racial Past

July 6, 2020 by Caroline Barta

Taking graduation photos in front of Littlefield Fountain and singing “The Eyes of Texas” at a packed home football game are common bucket-list experiences uniting UT Austin’s students and alumni.

Youssef

Women’s Activism in Tunisia

June 16, 2020 by Alex Reshanov

In 2014, Maro Youssef arrived in Tunisia just one day before the country passed a constitution that is among the most progressive in the world. She was serving as a foreign affairs analyst at the American embassy in Tunisia.

LIDAR imagery of Aguada Fénix.

Earliest Mayan Ceremonial Structure Unearthed

June 3, 2020 by Rachel White

The discovery of a near 3,000-year-old platform, built among wetlands and rivers of the Mexican tropical forest, offers new insight into the Maya’s early communal development.

Illustration of parents standing holding shapes with numbers with two children playing on the floor in a home setting with pink walls and a chalkboard on the wall.

Three Ways Kids Can Learn through Play at Home

May 7, 2020 by Rachel White

family and community. But recent shelter-in-place efforts have limited many of these routine yet vital experiences — especially because young kids can’t video call or text their friends as freely as others.

O umlaut in red box, u umlaut in a yellow triangle and a umlaut in a blue circle with grey and white grid as the background.

German Outreach Program Takes Shape

April 20, 2020 by Tori Miller

The German Outreach Program at The University of Texas at Austin grew organically from an interest on the part of undergraduates to change their roles in the classroom and share the German language with a younger generation.

illustration of graduation cap

Career Advice for Graduating Seniors

April 13, 2020 by Tori Miller

As we approach the last few weeks of the school year, students are beginning to look toward future plans, and for most graduating seniors this means focusing on their careers.

mosaic wall depicting hands reaching towards Cinderella's foot which is adorned by a glass slipper with a gold star atop it

From Bloody Shoes to Dancing Mice: The Evolution of Fairy Tales

February 13, 2020 by Alex Reshanov

In the Grimms version of Snow White, our heroine is awoken from her bewitched slumber not by a handsome prince’s kiss, but when the jostling of a clumsy servant dislodges a chunk of poisoned apple from her throat.

Illustration of woman standing on mountain landscape with newspapers and letters floating like clouds.

Inhale. Exhale. Analyze.

October 28, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

Mehdi Haghshenas’ signature course “What We See, What We Believe” focuses on critical analysis of media, but he begins the class with a meditation.

illustration including two women holding votes for women sign, partial view of back bicycle wheel with lavender grid as background.

Timeline Tool Connects the Dots

August 7, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

Learning history requires more than just being able to recall the dates when battles were fought or naming all 45 U.S. presidents.

Camp Alba students

Camp Alba

August 5, 2019 by Tori Miller

After spending three days on the University of Texas at Austin campus, sixth graders from Martin Middle School left with a greater sense of connection to their communities and their first single track, produced by hip-hop artist and activist Olmeca. 

Plowed field.

Finding common ground in water

June 3, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

When pressed to summarize the path of his wide spanning career, Paul Adams offers one word,  “discourse.”

A group of four people with yellow lanyards around their necks laughing and working together during a Design Thinking workshop.

Design Thinking

May 31, 2019 by Tori Miller

Daunting problems require new ideas and a new way of thinking — design thinking.

inside a book store

Comics in the Classroom

April 17, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

Rikke Cortsen is occasionally surprised to remember that not everyone she meets is an avid reader of comic books.

Arsenic paper with green design.

Arsenic and Lace: Why Save (Deadly) Objects?

April 5, 2019 by Amy Vidor and Caroline Barta

Killer wallpaper. A childhood comic strip. A 10-foot portrait made of hair combs. Secret Oval Office Dictabelt recordings. These objects share one thing in common — they’re preserved in archives.

Follow Your Arts Desire

March 14, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

With all the events going on around town this month, it’s easy to forget that we have several excellent art galleries right on campus.

A Whole World of Music

March 11, 2019 by Alex Reshanov

Every March thousands of musicians from around the globe descend on Austin for South by Southwest (SXSW), clogging traffic, jacking up flight prices and making it impossible for locals to enjoy a quiet drink within a five-mile radius of downtown.

class group photo

Free Minds, Free Education

October 23, 2018 by Tori Miller

While higher education is often touted as the cornerstone of a successful and prosperous life, many are left in the dust, unable to afford the tuition or balance the time needed to build that foundation.

Cypro-Minoan inscriptions on display at the Cyprus Museum

Written in Stone: Studying the Relationship Between Ancient Writing Systems and Their Writers

October 19, 2018 by Tori Miller

Beyond the classrooms in Waggener Hall and deep in the archives on prehistoric scripts, Cassandra Donnelly found her calling.

man pointing behind woman in scene from Monroe

Professor’s Play “Monroe” Reveals the Ripple Effect of Racial Violence

September 18, 2018 by Rachel White

If every action produces a series of consequences, imagine life if slavery or Jim Crow had never existed. Now, consider what has happened because they’ve existed.

Aerial view of three artisans work together on a painting

To Paint is to Write: The Study of Mithila Folk Art

August 30, 2018 by Katie Lazarowicz

In English, writing is very different than painting. But in Hindi, and specifically in the landscape of Mithila folk art, “to paint” is “to write.”

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