The What Jane Saw prelaunch party, held May 9, constructed a 3-D walkthrough of the 1813 Sir Joshua Reynolds exhibit visited by Jane Austen. The What Jane Saw site has since attracted nearly 75,000 visitors.
Fall 2013
Books: 2013
2013 titles from our college community.
UT Faculty Chronicle Texas Cultural History
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 […]
¡Numero Uno!
U.S. News & World Report ranked the Department of History’s graduate program in Latin American History as No. 1 in the nation. “Such professional accolades not only pay tribute to the fine work of the Latin Americanist faculty, but are a badge of distinction for the entire History Department,” says Seth W. Garfield, associate professor […]
He Likes to Talk About the Weather
A monster EF-5 tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 20, 2013. The twister boasted winds exceeding 200 miles per hour as it ravaged schools and neighborhoods, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds. In its wake, many are questioning the relationship between tornadoes and climate change, and whether these monster […]
Brain Power
Students are busy scanning a collection of nearly 100 brains preserved from Texas State Hospital patients as part of a unique undergraduate research opportunity at The University of Texas at Austin. A new high-resolution MRI scanner and storage space in the Norman Hackerman Building on campus makes the brain collection and associated data more accessible […]
History Podcast Helps Students Prepare for STAAR Exams
15 Minute History is a podcast about world and U.S. history created for teachers, students and anyone who wants to know more about history. Both Joan Neuberger, history professor and Not Even Past editor, and Christopher Rose, history doctoral student and outreach director for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, wanted to find a way […]
Revolution of a New Media Culture
With the advent of new media technologies, people around the world have instant access to uncensored news and images of revolutions through Twitter, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and an array of other social networking platforms. Since the Arab Spring began in 2010, conversations about the “digital war” have centered on the power of social media. Did […]
Quantified Self
Neuroscientist embarks on a yearlong quest to study a single human brain, his own Every Tuesday morning through November 2013, neuroscientist Russell Poldrack woke up, took off his headband-like sleep monitor and told it to wirelessly send data about his night’s sleep to a database. Then he’d log in to a survey app on his […]
English Senior Wins Keene Prize for Literature
Katherine Noble, English ’13, has won the $50,000 Keene Prize for Literature for her collection of poems, “Like Electrical Fire Across the Silence.” She is the first undergraduate to win or place in the competition, which awards one of the world’s largest student literary prizes. “I have been affected by images from biblical myths since […]
Literary Gold British Studies
Wm. Roger Louis, director of the Program in British Studies, has won the Benson Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Literature, the highest award in literature and history in England. The award was given in recognition of his enormous contribution to English literature—both through his own writing, and through his support of other writers […]
Regents Honor Outstanding Teaching
Five faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts received the 2013 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents’ highest teaching honor. The awards program is one of the nation’s largest monetary teaching recognition programs in higher education, honoring outstanding performance in the classroom and dedication to innovation in undergraduate instruction. The […]
Genetic Influence on Intelligence Increases Over Time
About 70 percent of a person’s intelligence can be explained by their DNA—and those genetic influences only get stronger with age, according to new research by psychology researchers Daniel Briley, Elliot Tucker-Drob and Paige Harden. Using meta-analytic procedures—the statistical methods used to analyze and combine results from previous, related literature—the researchers examined genetic and environmental […]
Botswana: Earth’s Classroom
The Botswana Study Abroad Program gives undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to spend their summer exploring climate change, ecosystems and human dynamics in the heart of Southern Africa. From dawn to dusk, students spend hours sampling soil, identifying species and observing wildlife and local culture. From leopard sightings in Modisa to San Bushmen walks […]
Jeanne and Michael Klein On the Art of Giving
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Ben Barnes On Pursuing Your Dreams
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Marion Mark On the Meaning of Education
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Toyin Falola On Telling Africa’s Story
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Fear Factor
First, let me make a confession. I am Vivian Harris Porche, M.D., an anesthesiologist, and I am afraid of “the doctor.” I am also afraid of receiving injections, getting my blood pressure taken, and being examined. However, this underlying fear did not stop me from my lifelong goal of becoming a physician. Upon entering The […]
Adventures in Online Learning
Exploring the Acronym Jungle of MOOCs, SMOCs and Beyond When Professors John Hoberman and Daniel Bonevac sat down with a small development team in January to create two new online courses, the possibilities of “what if” and “could we” electrified the room. The goal: to deliver 72 hours of traditional coursework in an engaging and interactive […]
Liberal Arts at Work
Nine Ways to Rev Up Your Career Whether you’ve landed your dream job or find yourself repeatedly pushing the snooze button each morning dreading the workday, a liberal arts education may help you forge a better career path and create an environment for innovation and productivity. If you’re like most employed Americans, you will spend […]
UT Classical Archaeology Research Leads to UNESCO World Heritage Site Designation
After two decades of research led by a classical archaeology professor at The University of Texas at Austin, an ancient Greek settlement in southern Ukraine was granted World Heritage status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A port city founded by Greeks in the fifth century B.C., Chersonesos is the site […]
Pushing Forward
Social Scientists Identify New Paths to Mental Health for Trauma Victims On a sunny spring afternoon, Kate Jones was anxiously waiting to see her husband cross the finish line at the most prestigious marathon in the world. Then came the boom. Cheers of excitement immediately turned into blood-curdling screams as hundreds of people rushed from […]
Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders
At a recent meeting of our college Advisory Council, an alumnus participating in a discussion on communications suggested that our college has one simple message to convey: “A liberal arts education is the best education for anyone aspiring to be a leader.” He was paraphrasing our global affairs expert Jeremi Suri, who at a previous […]
UT Austin Mourns Loss of Bill Livingston
The University of Texas at Austin community mourns the loss of former acting university president William S. Livingston, who died Aug. 15 at the age of 93. “Bill Livingston embodied all the best qualities of a university leader: erudition, eloquence, sweeping vision, warmth and good humor,” says President Bill Powers. “The University of Texas is […]