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Department of English

A moving illustration of a large scene. In it, we can see vertical windows looking to a peaceful night cityscape, with twinkling stars overhead. The windows are in the shape of a cellphone battery icon, and illustration slowly turns to a bright, cheerful day scene. The buildings all come to life in a bright, multi-colored wash of color. Around the border of the window, we can see stylized illustrations of people in various poses. We see people having fun with computers, people playing with their pets, families, riding bikes, reading. We also see a medical doctor with a mask waving. There are also wires leading from each person that connect with the battery-shaped window in the middle, giving life to the city.

Rebooting Our Lives After COVID-19

May 7, 2020 by Rachel White

The world’s new reality amid the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to confront issues and critically think about how to revive communities slowly, safely and sustainably.

Three groups of people gather during the Crusades as shadowy figures loom in the background.Three groups of people gather during the Crusades as shadowy figures loom in the background.

Race By Any Other Name

April 21, 2020 by Alex Reshanov

In her award-winning book, The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Geraldine Heng argues that race did exist even if the language of the time had yet to capture the phenomenon.

U.S. astronaut in space suit standing on the moon.

Apollo: A Texas Farm Boy’s View

July 19, 2019 by Jay Sharp

A simple country kid from the Rolling Plains of Texas, I had the good fortune to witness firsthand the vision, power and technical complexity that took America to the moon — perhaps the preeminent technological accomplishment in human history. I managed to graduate (with supremely ordinary grades) from The University of Texas in August 1958. […]

Stylized illustration of Alexander the Great sleeping with a copy of The Iliad under his pillow.

Defending Humanities

June 28, 2018 by Caroline Murray

Legend has it that Alexander the Great fell asleep with an annotated copy of The Iliad tucked under his pillow, dreaming of Achilles. And when he led his armies into Persia, the Homeric epic and the notes of his tutor, Aristotle, were thrumming in his mind, shaping his vision of great leadership. A story, not […]

The Thinker statue is slowly engulfed by crashing waves, alluding to the reality of climate change.

Extreme Summer: Speaking the Many Languages of Climate Change for Texas

June 26, 2018 by Heather Houser

Summer is coming. In Texas, this warning — not unlike the familiar Game of Thrones motto — makes residents vigilant. And the admonition becomes dire as summers get hotter and drier, fueling wildfires, flash floods and worse. 2017 was Texas’ second-warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and those temperatures […]

Artistic photo of a man with his eyes closed through a cloudy vellum.

Sick: The Poetics of Modern Health Care

January 18, 2018 by Victoria Davis

…And all the while, I kept thinking about that great old Whitman  poem… ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.’I…I don’t know it.Anyway…Well, can you recite it?Pathetically enough, I could. With some encouragement from Walt, Gale continues:When I heard the learn’d astronomer,When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,When I was shown the charts […]

In Memoriam with black background

In Memoriam: Barbara Harlow, 1948-2017

January 31, 2017 by Toyin Falola

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see, and to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look. -Fra Giovanni   Only a handful of scholars embody relevant driving forces within multiple […]

Black and white photograph of Anita Loos and John Emerson reviewing an intertitle in 1919, the year they married.

Breaking Their Silence

November 22, 2016 by David Ochsner

Women’s role in early American cinema is often overlooked, but English assistant professor Donna Kornhaber — recently named a 2016 Academy Film Scholar —hopes to change that with her research on female writers who shaped the American silent film industry. Kornhaber received a $25,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Educational […]

Portrait of Dean Randy Diehl.

Commitment to Serve the Greater Good

November 18, 2016 by Randy Diehl

During my 41 years at The University of Texas at Austin, I’ve had the good fortune to teach and work with many talented and dedicated students who have not only gone on to rewarding careers, but have also generously given back to society. Two of our students, Danielle Brown and Olivia Migacz, were selected as the […]

Portrait of Elizabeth Cullingford.

People, Places and Pages of Influence

November 18, 2016 by Rachel White

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 […]

Surreal illustration in a simple style of a woman sitting in a plane seat while she writes in clouds on the window with her pencil.

Journeys

November 2, 2015 by David Ochsner

Why do we travel? What impels us to leave behind the comforts of home and endure the indignities of airports or the toils and snares of an interstate highway? We travel because it is in our nature. Humans have always been on the move, sometimes out of necessity — hunting and gathering, or fleeing from […]

Gauche painting of a young woman sitting atop a field looking up at the night sky alit with fireflies..

Spark Your Interests: Five Liberal Arts Classes That Ignite Critical Thinking

November 2, 2015 by Emily Nielsen

It’s not uncommon for the College of Liberal Arts to break the Registrar’s website. Not on purpose — the interdisciplinary nature of the courses offered in liberal arts do not always mesh well with a system that was designed around rigid department codes. The level of collaboration among faculty members across departments to create in-depth, fascinating […]

Repeating logo icons of William Shakespeare's profile.

Forever Shakespeare: The Making of an Icon

November 2, 2015 by Kay Randall

Editor’s note: As the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death approaches, five UT Austin scholars share how they celebrate his work and his ultimate staying power. In 10 years, people won’t care about Kim Kardashian’s face-contouring regimen or that she had 35 million Twitter followers. But William Shakespeare? Four centuries after his death he’s still […]

Larry Carver stands on the pitcher's mound of the UFCU Disch-Faulk field and tosses a baseball up in the air.

Field of Dreams

May 6, 2015 by Emily Nielsen

Larry Carver’s Got a Marshall on First, a Truman on Second and a Rhodes on Third It’s been more than 20 years since Larry Carver began working with UT Austin students applying for the nation’s most prestigious graduate school fellowships, and he can still tell you the names of all the nominees from memory. It’s […]

stack of American 20 dollar bills

Let’s Buck Tradition by Putting a Woman on the $20 Bill

April 30, 2015 by Lisa Moore

Hillary Clinton’s recent official announcement that she would run for the Democratic presidential nomination generated plenty of coverage but little surprise. For many, the prospect of a woman winning a major party’s nomination for president of the United States, which would be a first in our history, is the only exciting thing about the Democratic […]

Fellows group photo

Op-Ed Project Fellows Address Challenges African Americans Still Face Today

February 24, 2015 by Jessica Sinn

Turn to the op-ed pages of any major newspaper, and you’ll see how writers are wielding the power of the written word to keep people honest, to speak out about injustices, to shake readers out of apathy. You’re also likely to see the article was most likely written by a man. Only 10 to 20 […]

Portrait of Jim Garrison.

Inspiring Lifetime Readers

December 4, 2014 by Alicia Dietrich

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 […]

Domino Perez and Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernandez

New Department Focuses on Latino, Mexican American Experience

December 4, 2014 by David Ochsner

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 […]

Wayne A. Rebhorn

Rebhorn Translation Wins Prestigious PEN Award

December 4, 2014 by David Ochsner

Wayne A. Rebhorn, Celanese Centennial Professor of English, has won the PEN Literary Award for his translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s masterpiece The Decameron. The PEN Literary Awards have honored and introduced some of the most outstanding voices in literature for more than 50 years. The awards will be presented at the 24th Annual Literary Awards […]

close up of grass

Q&A with Ecosickness Author Heather Houser

August 12, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

Take a look at your surroundings. Are you sitting in a climate-controlled office next to a window overlooking a sea of traffic? Or are you skimming this article on a porch swing underneath a shady oak tree? Whether you’re surrounded by wide open spaces or a concrete jungle, your environment is significantly affecting your emotional […]

Photos of Adrian Audain (anthro sr), Macarena Jaraiz (American studies & IRG soph), Manjari Subramanian (psych jr); BOTTOM ROW: Michael Villanueva (IRG soph), Angelica Cruz (history soph) and James Barrington (gov & Air Force ROTC sr).

Millennial Nation

April 24, 2014 by Emily Nielsen

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 […]

Shakespeare at Winedale summer class students performing Comedy of Errors, 2013.

Plan A Midsummer’s Dream Trip to Winedale

April 20, 2014 by Clayton Stromberger

We all have those special Texas summer places that draw us back—the dance pavilion at Garner State Park, the swimming hole at Krause Springs, a particular stretch of Padre Island. Ever since English professor James “Doc” Ayres founded the Shakespeare at Winedale program in 1971, the Theatre Barn at Winedale has been one of those […]

Professor Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. Photo: Marsha Miller.

Writing Home

April 16, 2014 by Jessica Sinn

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 […]

"The Banquet in the Pine Forest" (1482/3) is the third Painting in Sandro Botticelli's series "The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti", which illustrates events from the Eighth Story of the Fifth Day.

Tales for Troubled Times

April 6, 2014 by David Ochsner

Wayne Rebhorn’s Translation Brings Boccaccio’s Decameron  to Life On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Professor Wayne Rebhorn was preparing to teach Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron when news came of the terrorist attacks in New York City. He wondered if he should go ahead with the class, or cancel in light of the tragedy. “Then I thought, […]

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.

What Jane Saw

November 6, 2013 by Michelle Bryant

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.

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