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 […]
College of Liberal Arts
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 […]
Government Major Rerouted by UTurn Program
Academic probation is a scary phrase, but the College of Liberal Arts has a program to show students that with the right focus and attitude there can be momentous payoffs. Sherwin Calderon is a government sophomore from Houston who turned his academic career around with the help of the College of Liberal Arts’ UTurn program. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 Global Initiative Receives International Award
The Global Initiative for Education and Leadership of The University of Texas at Austin (UTGI) has received an award from the 2013 Gulf Education Conference and Exhibition (GECE) in London. The award recognizes UTGI’s work in promoting education globally and, especially, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. “We formed The University of […]
UT Austin Psychologist Helps to Map Countries’ Entrepreneurial Spirit
Founders of successful companies tend to exhibit personality traits that make them more socially engaging, creative and able to handle stress than nonentrepreneurs, according to new research from the University of Jena in Germany and The University of Texas at Austin. Jena researchers Martin Obschonka, Eva Schmitt-Rodermund and Rainer K. Silbereisen, along with UT Austin […]
Liberal Arts Introduces 10-Month Master of Economics
A new 10-month master’s degree program offered by the Department of Economics will provide a rigorous curriculum and quantitative training to those seeking more economic expertise in a variety of fields. The first cohort will be admitted for the 2013-14 academic year, with classes beginning in July 2013. An undergraduate degree in economics is not […]
It’s Just the Beginning
For three years Life & Letters magazine has marked our progress toward the dream of a new College of Liberal Arts Building, and with this issue we celebrate the realization of that dream and the hard work and dedication of those who made it possible. Although the construction phase is for the most part complete, […]
Getting to Topsight in your Organization
Organizations almost never work the way they’re supposed to. And that’s often a good thing. Let me explain. As a professor of rhetoric and writing, I research how people circulate information in workplaces. That involves going into an organization, watching people work, interviewing them about their jobs, and looking at the tools and texts that […]
A Space to Call Home
Take a walk through the new College of Liberal Arts Building, and the building feels as fresh and modern as it feels warm and lived-in—an impressive feat for a place that just opened in January. “This is our shot at greatness,” says Randy Diehl, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “This building ensures that […]
Dedman Distinguished Scholars Endowment Increases to $20 Million to Support Scholarships
The College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin now has a unique recruiting advantage — full scholarships covering tuition, books, room and board, study abroad and internship opportunities. “The Dedman Distinguished Scholarship is the premier scholarship in the College of Liberal Arts and one of the most generous in the nation,” […]
Sweet Success for Liberal Arts Entrepreneurs
It’s not unusual to hear a liberal arts student say, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could make money doing what I love?” But the logistics of launching a business — from starting a portfolio to developing a marketing plan — can make the very notion of embarking on a new venture seem downright intimidating. […]
And the 2012 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards Go To…
Eight faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts received the 2012 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents’ highest teaching honor, which recognizes extraordinary educators from system institutions. The University of Texas at Austin instructors, who represent a diverse set of disciplines and expertise, each received monetary awards of $25,000. The […]
Third Time’s the Charm for Keene Prize Recipient
Fiona McFarlane, a James A. Michener Center for Writers (MCW) graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin, has won the $50,000 Keene Prize for Literature for her short story, “A Fortunate Man.” A finalist in 2010 and again in 2011, McFarlane finally took the grand prize this year when her story was chosen […]