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Spring 2017

School Rules

May 3, 2017 by Nathan Jensen

Surreal illustration of a young schoolgirl with her backpack open. She looks nervous as a factory with a smokestack pokes out of it. Smoke is billowing out of the backpack.

Texas Lawmakers Need to Rethink the Program that Gives Property Tax Breaks to Corporations Since the 2002 creation of the economic program known as Chapter 313, Texas has awarded more than $7 billion in tax credits to companies. The program is intended to attract investors by providing abatements to offset some of the property taxes […]

Putting People First

May 3, 2017 by Emily Nielsen

Illustration of Jordan Metoyer.

Jordan Metoyer is an economics and liberal arts honors/urban studies alumna from Inglewood, California, by way of Sugar Land, Texas. She is the recipient of a 2017 Schwarzman scholarship, which will send her to pursue a master’s degree in global affairs with a concentration in public policy at Tsinghua University in Beijing this fall. As […]

The Open Rhodes

May 3, 2017 by Emily Nielsen

Illustration of Mikaila Smith.

Mikaila Smith is a Plan II senior with concentrations in international affairs and Chinese from Sydney, Australia, by way of Austin, Texas. She has been named a 2017 Rhodes scholar, which will provide for her to pursue a Master of Science degree in refugee and forced migration studies, followed by a Master of Science degree in […]

Using Your Mellon

May 3, 2017 by Randy Diehl

Portrait of Dean Randy Diehl.

The College of Liberal Arts has a long and proud tradition of preparing its graduate students to teach and conduct research in the humanities at colleges and universities around the world, and we are particularly proud of our many placements in the nation’s top institutions. However, over the past two decades academic positions in the […]

Can We Talk?: Why Discourse is Dying in America

May 2, 2017 by Rachel White

Stylized illustration of a backyard barbecue with all of its guests looking down at their phones and not talking to each other. All the while a fire has begun in the grill and appears to be getting out of control. An excited dog makes off with a link of sausages in its mouth.

I’ll have to admit that I was a bit perplexed when I heard linguistic anthropologist Elizabeth Keating say, “There is a very strong preference for agreement in conversation in the U.S.” I couldn’t believe my ears — even the Pew Research Center pegged political polarization as the defining feature of modern U.S. politics. And it’s […]

A Monumental Decision: What to do About Jefferson Davis and the Challenges of Commemoration?

May 2, 2017 by Victoria Davis

Black and white photograph of the Jefferson Davis statue in sculptor Pompeo Coppini's studio.

Let’s talk about statues, or one statue in particular, and all of the trouble a cold, hard, unfeeling thing can cause. Imagine you are the president of a very large, prestigious institution, representative of the spirit and aspirations of a region. Your greatest benefactor, a former regent and a veteran, stipulates in his will the […]

American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream

May 2, 2017 by David Ochsner

Old photo of American dancer and choreographer Pauline Koner with her students from the Lesgaft Physical Culture Institute demonstrating their version of the “new Soviet Dance.” Koner taught and performed in the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1936.

If you search “women in the 1920s” in Google Images, what you get are a few photos of women working or protesting, but many more photos of sexually liberated flappers — at the beach, on the town, or dancing the night away at some speakeasy. The 1920s look like one big party. But the decade […]

Testing the Waters

April 28, 2017 by Emily Nielsen

Illustration of Bailey Anderson.

Bailey Anderson is a geography and the environment alumna from Bowie, Texas. She is the recipient of a 2017 British Marshall scholarship, which will fund her pursuit of a Master of Philosophy in geography: water science, policy and management at the University of Oxford. Anderson has also been awarded the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration […]

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