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Fall 2021

Leaf Through a Good Book

December 6, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

Keep your to-read list up-to-date with our fall book list, featuring a selection of titles from College of Liberal Arts faculty members and alumni.

Balancing Art and Academia

November 24, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

Lisa B. Thompson is doing great. Not “all right” or “pretty good under the circumstances” or any other common COVID-era reply to the question of “how are you?” Just great. And it’s not surprising. Her life of late is series of awards, achievements and new projects so plentiful that it’s honestly a bit hard to keep track of them all.

Podcast Roundup: Fall 2021

November 16, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

A man sits on a bench outside, listening to earbuds plugged into his phone and looking off to his left.

This is a collection of some of our favorite podcasts from liberal arts faculty members. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe.

Commentary Roundup: Fall 2021

November 16, 2021 by Daniel Oppenheimer

At a large window, a woman reads a newspaper and a man reads on his phone. They are on chairs across a table from each other, and the photo shows their profiles.

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.

Book Excerpt Roundup: Fall 2021

November 15, 2021 by Emily Nielsen

A woman with a blonde bob sits on a bench wearing a warm coat and reading a book she has held out in front of her, hiding the bottom half of her face.

The following are a selection of book excerpts from recently published faculty in the College of Liberal Arts. Read about food and politics in Chile, women in the oil and gas industry, and more.

How Social Dynamics Influence the Gut Microbes of Wild Lemurs

November 5, 2021 by Emily Nielsen

A wild lemur in Madagascar hold onto the branch of a tree and looks directly at the photographer. She is wearing a red tracking collar and the tiny head of her baby is peeking out near her stomach.

New research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that Verreaux’s sifaka, a species of wild lemur native to Madagascar, have gut microbes that are affected by those they socialize with.

Maya and Angkor Adapted for Climate Change

September 30, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

Co-author of the study Timothy Beach stands in next to old stone ruins on site at a dig.

Societies in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia whose collapse was thought to have been caused by dramatic changes in climate displayed more resilience and adaptability than previously believed.

Primary Source: Notes for a Napoleonic Scandal

September 29, 2021 by Julia Stryker

This scene shows French military leader Napoleon in exile on the island of St Helena. He had been sent there after being defeated by a British-led army in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon died in St Helena in 1821. This work was painted in the year his ashes were returned to France. The image does not appear to celebrate or condemn Napoleon, but instead suggests the pointlessness of war. The isolated uniformed body appears out of place in its surroundings. The red background invokes the trauma of battle. In verses attached to the canvas, Turner refers to the sunset as a ‘sea of blood’.

In 1815, William Warden was surgeon of HMS Northumberland as it transported Napoleon Bonaparte to his second (and hopefully final) exile. Well aware that folks back home—or even, possibly, history itself—would be interested, Warden took notes in an old surgeon’s log.

Borderlands Historian Awarded ‘Genius Grant’

September 28, 2021 by Rachel White

Monica Muñoz Martinez stands on campus in front of two wooden doors. She is smiling widely and wearing a blue velvet blazer.

Monica Muñoz Martinez has been awarded a MacArthur fellowship, often referred to as the “genius grant.” The award recognizes her work to recover untold histories of racial violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A Semester in New York

September 27, 2021 by Emily Nielsen

Hannah Hayes stands at a railing as the sun sets over the New York City skyline.

The UTNY program enables students to live, work and learn in New York City. Read a Q&A with UTNY participant and government senior Hannah Hayes.

A Language for Big Data Neuroscience

September 23, 2021 by Rachel White

Silhouette of head, thinking

Imagine your brain activity displayed on a computer screen — multiple, bustling tabs open, some sparked by a fleeting thought, others derived from prior or underlying behaviors or features. Now imagine a scientist trying to make sense of that activity.

The Misinformation Age

September 17, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

Depending on whom you ask, conspiracy theories are either having a heyday or it’s just business as usual. But whether or not there is a long-term increase happening, certain factors likely influence the ebb and flow of conspiratorial beliefs.

In Memoriam: Teresa Lozano Long

September 3, 2021 by Susanna Sharpe

Teresa Lozana Long stands with her husband Joe in front of the building named after them.

Beloved philanthropist and educator Teresa Lozano Long passed away peacefully on March 21, 2021, with Joe R. Long, her loving husband of 63 years, holding her hand. She was 92.

A Texas Politics Explainer

September 2, 2021 by Alex Reshanov

Empty Texas Senate Chambers.

Many Texans learned a new word this year: quorum. And, no, it’s not the collective noun for a group of opossums. A quorum is the minimum number of assembly members that must be present in order to conduct business. For the Texas House of Representatives, that minimum is two-thirds of its members.

None of Us Make it Without Community

August 30, 2021 by Dominique Garrett-Scott

Ashanté Reese sits in front of a full book shelf. She is smiling widely and wearing a red blazer and light orange blouse.

Ashanté Reese discusses her research on food and food access, as well as how she helped mobilize resources for people in need during the winter storm in February.

The Exhibition on Your Screen: Selected Images from “A New Spain, 1521–1821”

August 30, 2021 by Alberto A. Palacios

A New Spain, 1521–1821, an online exhibition, traces the cultural, social, and political evolution of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from the fall of Moctezuma’s Mexico-Tenochtitlán in 1521 until the rise of Iturbide’s Mexican Empire in 1821.

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