Life & Letters Magazine

Books

UT Faculty Chronicle Texas Cultural History

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Texas Bookshelf is a 16-book series that will be published by University of Texas Press chronicling the state’s rich culture and history. The five-year project is set to launch in 2017 and will cover a diverse range of topics—from the Tejano experience to Texas food culture to performing arts. This is the first project undertaken […]

A Stack of Books

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Recently the dean’s office asked liberal arts faculty to provide copies of the books they had authored over the years for a collection to be exhibited in  the Gebauer Building. To comply with this request I began making a stack on my office desk. My stack grew to 13 books, including two I had edited […]

‘Gingrich Senators’ Behind Washington’s Legislative Gridlock, Research Shows

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A University of Texas at Austin government professor argues in his new book that rising polarization in the U.S. Senate has been caused almost entirely by a particular breed of Republican lawmakers known as the “Gingrich senators.” In his new book “The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress,” Sean Theriault, associate professor […]

Books: Spring 2013

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“The Cult of Pythagoras: Math and Myths”  University of Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 2012 By Alberto A. Martínez, associate professor, Department of History “Encountering America: Humanistic Psychology, Sixties Culture, and the Shaping of the Modern Self” Harper Perennial, Dec. 2012 By Jessica Grogan, English MA ’02, American Studies Ph.D. ’08 “Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History” […]

Long Live the Jane Austen Frenzy!

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As “Pride and Prejudice,” first published in 1813, celebrates its 200th anniversary, Jane Austen is repackaged to appeal to a new generation of readers On the highbrow end, organizations and libraries around the world are busy hosting academic conferences and readings to celebrate the bicentenary. On the pop culture side, Hollywood is about to release […]

Life Lessons from the Great Books

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Students explore themes that have shaped modern civilization For any of life’s challenges, there is a Great Book to offer valuable insight. From Homer’s “Odyssey” to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” the world’s greatest tomes have touched on themes that are as relevant today as when they were written. Tracing the ideas, stories […]

American Studies Alumnus Captures Ann Richards’ Spirit in New Biography

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When Ann Richards delivered the keynote address of the 1988 Democratic National Convention she instantly became a media celebrity and triggered a rivalry that would alter the course of American history. In “Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards,” author Jan Reid, a writer-at-large for Texas Monthly magazine, draws on his long friendship […]

History Alumnus Awarded Pulitzer Prize

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In Brief: History When graduate students in the History Department met with John Lewis Gaddis on March 6, they thought they were going to participate in a discussion with an eminent Cold War historian. They did not realize they were meeting with a soon-to-be Pulitzer Prize-winner. Gaddis, the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and […]

The Gospels in Rewrite

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University of Texas at Austin Classics and Religious Studies Professor L. Michael White is equally at home reading ancient texts as he is directing the archaeological dig of the oldest known Jewish synagogue in Europe and teaching large undergraduate classes and graduate seminars. He brings teaching and research together in writing journal articles and books. […]

America’s Church

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Religious studies scholar offers uniquely broad perspective on Catholic presence in nation’s capital In 1913, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan received the pope’s blessing to pursue his vision for a church in Washington, D.C. — a national shrine that would honor the Virgin Mary, serve as a destination for pilgrims and stake a Catholic claim in […]

Separating Fact From Fiction

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Legend has it Benjamin Franklin ventured out on a stormy day to fly a kite with a lightning rod and a key dangling on the end of the string. When the lightning struck the kite, the powerful bolt charged the metal key. Franklin then touched the key and got zapped, thus proving the electrical nature […]

Book News: Fall 2010

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Pioneering With A Pen For creating the most vivid and vital portrayal of the American experience in microcosm, Creative Writing graduate Nora Boxer has won the $50,000 Keene Prize for Literature. Her story “It’s the song of the nomads, baby; or Pioneer,” was selected from 61 submissions in drama, poetry and fiction. Laconic in style, […]