Randy Diehl is a morning person. Rising at 4 a.m., he writes a few emails catches up on his reading and takes a brisk walk before heading to campus to lead a college with 22 academic departments, three branches of the ROTC and more than 500 faculty members. Despite long days and a demanding schedule, […]
College of Liberal Arts
Getting it Right
The Pro Bene Meritis award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts. Since 1984, the annual award has been given to alumni, faculty members and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits or have participated in service related to the college. […]
Meet Ann Huff Stevens: Our Next College of Liberal Arts Dean
Ann Huff Stevens will begin as dean of the College of Liberal Arts on July 15, 2019. Stevens comes from the University of California, Davis, and is a Texas native with roots in Corpus Christi. She is a professor of economics who has served in a variety of leadership roles, including chair of the Department […]
America’s Ongoing Housing Crisis: Q&A with “Owned” Film Maker Giorgio Angelini
Fifty years after the passing of the Fair Housing Act, people across the United States continue to face an uphill battle to homeownership. “Owned, a Tale of Two Americas,” directed by University of Texas at Austin history alumnus Giorgio Angelini attempts to get at the root of the U.S. housing crisis, which erupted in an […]
Beyond the Battlefield: The war rages on, but this time it’s personal
The Thorazine haze was beginning to fade when Glenn Towery was discharged from Oakland Naval Hospital. For the last however-many days he had felt listless, “like a non-human being,” making him forget why he was even there in the first place. Before that, he occupied a hospital cot in the Philippines, next to an injured […]
Joan Neuberger: A Pioneer in Digital History
One of the most fundamental tasks for any university is to foster research that creates an impact beyond its campus. For historians, much of that work takes place in the growing fields of public and digital history. These scholars use innovative digital tools to make historical research relevant and accessible to a broader community. Now, […]
The Untold Stories of Modern Warriors
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. – Thucydides Oftentimes, we are met with spectacular images of war, depicting valiance and vilifying enemies; but these stories, some say, lack an honest narrative. While soldiers […]
Judy Perkins on Finding Joy in Life and Learning
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 in professional or philanthropic […]
Creating Your Own Noble Purpose
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 in professional or philanthropic […]
What I Did Last Summer
Famed Polish Economist Invites UT Student to Think Tank In November 2013, famed Polish economist Leszek Balcerowicz spoke on the UT Austin campus as part of International Education Week, which celebrates the enriching benefits of international education and exchange. Those “enriching benefits” were not lost on one audience member, economics senior Hector Cantu from Monterrey, […]
Gordon Receives Presidential Citation
Edmund T. Gordon, chair of the African and African Diaspora Studies Department (AADS) in the College of Liberal Arts, was recognized on April 17 with a Presidential Citation from UT Austin President Bill Powers. As one of the university’s highest honors, this prestigious award was established to recognize the extraordinary contributions of individuals who personify […]
New Department Focuses on Latino, Mexican American Experience
Building Upon a 44-Year History of Mexican American Studies at UT A new academic department that takes a comprehensive look at the lives, cultures and histories of Mexican American and Latino populations has been established at The University of Texas at Austin. The Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies (MALS) will ultimately offer undergraduate […]
Keeping A Pulse On Population Health
A few years ago, a Plan II Honors student in Marc Musick’s sociology lecture came to him with a question. Musick had been talking about the shortage of doctors in rural and inner city areas. The student had grown up in the Rio Grande Valley and hoped to go on to medical school. Why, he […]
The Road to Gender Equity: Still Under Construction
Christine Williams has heard her share of conflicting arguments about gender equality in the sociology course she’s taught for more than two decades at The University of Texas at Austin. But there is always one question that gives her pause: “Women have achieved equality, so why is feminism relevant?” “I’m always taken aback when students […]
Championing Student Success
We hear a lot these days about the challenges facing college students, from loan debt to an uncertain job market. The College of Liberal Arts has consistently taken the lead in creating innovative solutions for these and other challenges, and our efforts are paying off. The university has sought our college’s leadership on a number of student success initiatives. In 2011 we led […]
COLA Commencement, May 2014
The College of Liberal Arts hosts nine commencement ceremonies. Students are encouraged to attend the ceremony applicable to their major. The Liberal Arts Joint Ceremony is intended for those majors not represented by a department ceremony. Students with more than one major may choose to attend multiple ceremonies or attend one ceremony and have all […]
Millennial Nation
A Generational Look at Education, Money and Work Empathetic. Impatient. Innovative. Unfocused. Rational. Naive. Excited. These are the words millennials in the College of Liberal Arts use when they’re asked to describe themselves. However, it’s a question they’re not often asked. Plenty of people, from journalists to researchers to employers, are looking to define who […]
Pillow Wins Presidential Early Career Award
Jonathan Pillow was one of three faculty members from The University of Texas at Austin selected to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their research careers. Pillow develops mathematical models to study how […]
Ancient City on the Brink
Can a Crimean World Heritage Site Survive the Region’s Latest Political Unrest? Last June Professor Joseph Carter had reason to celebrate. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had named the ancient city of Chersonesos—a place where he had dedicated more than two decades of his career—a World Heritage Site. It’s not easy […]
Making the Grade
Strategies for Improving Education in America Few dispute the value of education, but discussions about how our nation should improve it are becoming more intense and polarized. Of all the competing arguments—more technology, smaller classrooms, improved teacher training, universal pre-kindergarten—most people would agree that America’s education system needs to improve, and soon. According to recent […]
Walk Like a Texan
Pictured is a child’s sandal from a West Texas dry shelter site, likely 2,500-3,000 years old, that is housed in the collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL). TARL is a nationally recognized archeological research facility and the largest archeological repository in the state. As part of the College of Liberal Arts, its mission is […]
Writing Home
Chicano Literature Professor Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Wins National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award The National Book Critics Circle has honored Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, an author and professor in the Departments of English and Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, with the 2013 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award during a […]
Teaching Hard Lessons in a New World
Charlie Wilson Chair Paula Newberg is Pakistan Studies Expert Professor Paula Newberg wants her students to leave her class with this big idea: “Life is complicated, but they can learn to live it well.” Newberg, who holds the Charlie Wilson Chair in Pakistan Studies in the Government Department, does indeed teach a complicated subject about […]
What to Know: Deadline Day 2014
The spring 2014 semester’s deadline day is March 31, and the College of Liberal Arts advising team wants to make sure the process goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible for everyone involved. Deadline day is the last day in the semester where students can q-drop a course, pass/fail a course, withdraw from the semester, […]
Q&A: Andrew Wilson, Liberal Arts Council President
Andrew Wilson, a Plan II Honors and history senior from Canton, Texas, has spent his final year at UT serving as president of Liberal Arts Council. He took the time to answer some questions about the LAC, why it’s important for liberal arts students to get involved and how the organization has changed during his […]