Life & Letters

Rachel White

  • Reckoning the Haint

    Drea Brown made UT Austin history during the spring as the first doctoral candidate to defend a dissertation in the Department of African & African Diaspora Studies. The department, founded in 2010 under the direction of associate professor and chair Edmund Gordon, was the first doctoral program in black studies in the southern U.S. Brown’s dissertation, “Hush…

    Rachel White

  • Doing the Right Thing

    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.…

    Rachel White

  • Telling a Good Story

    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.…

    Rachel White

  • An Educated Decision

    Voter turnout in the U.S. is below turnout in most other advanced democracies, with only about 60 percent of eligible voters participating in the past four presidential elections and about 40 percent participating in midterm elections. While prior research indicates that those with higher levels of education are more likely to vote, new research shows…

    Rachel White

  • The “C” that Changed the Constitution

    It took two centuries and one mediocre grade to ratify the 27th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In 1982, Gregory Watson stumbled upon a 200-year-old proposed amendment, written by James Madison, while researching a paper for his sophomore government class. It read: “No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives…

    Rachel White

  • Funding the Future

    A $1.5 million gift will fund seven scholarships and contribute to the Marilyn Ann White Endowed Discretionary Fund, or “the tutoring fund,” for students in all three branches of the UT Austin Reserve Officers Training Program. The gift provides additional funding for the Lt. Col. Herbert C. White Jr. Leadership and Scholarship Fund, awarded to…

    Rachel White

  • Life is Learning; Learning is Living

    Terry Orr jokes that pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in classical archeology in his late 70’s was all a ploy to avoid retirement. “A lot of people retire because they are tired of driving to the same office and dealing with the same people; but when you work for yourself, it’s different. You aren’t trying…

    Rachel White

  • Texas Book Festival Presents: “Dopers in Uniform” by John Hoberman

    Since 1995, the Texas Book Festival has connected Texas authors with readers through literary panels and readings, book signings, demonstrations, live music, family-fun and local eats. This year at the festival, Germanic Studies Professor John Hoberman will present his third book on the social impacts of anabolic steroids, Dopers in Uniform: The Hidden World of Police…

    Rachel White

  • This Fool’s No Ghoul

    On Halloween night, 13-year-old Rik Gern grabbed his wooden cane before setting off to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood as Charlie Chaplin. Delighted at the sight of a child festooned in a black bowler and matching mustache, families welcomed him inside to show off his foolproof impression to granny. “Look, Nana! Look who’s here to visit…

    Rachel White

  • UT Austin MAPATHON Helps with Disaster Relief

    Following the recent hurricanes and earthquake, LILLAS Benson joined the University of Texas Libraries and people around the world in using the OpenStreetMap platform to donate their time to hurricane relief efforts through open-source mapping. Videography and photography by Todd Bogin

    Rachel White

  • Longhorn Lightens the Load for Incoming Students

    Filling a 100-square-foot space with the essentials you’ll need to be successful for the next academic year is no small task, especially when you add it to the endless shopping list of books and school supplies. This year, families of college students expect to spend an average of $969.88 on back-to-school expenses, according to a…

    Rachel White

  • Predators Turned Prey

    Shark Week brings all sorts of shocking—and horrifying — spectacles to viewers. This year, audiences were promised the first-ever man versus shark swim off, where 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps will face off against “one of the fastest and most efficient predators on the planet,” a great white. But, perhaps, what’s more shocking is the…

    Rachel White

  • Can We Talk?: Why Discourse is Dying in America

    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…

    Rachel White

  • Army Strong: UT Army ROTC Celebrates 70 Years

    The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards. – Colonel Sir William Francis Butler, in Charles George Gordon Though the National Defense Act of 1916 created the Reserve Officers’…

    Rachel White

  • The Polls Didn’t Fail: Seven Observations about Polling and the 2016 Election

    2016 may very well be the year of the underdog. It was for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were down 1 to 3 to the Golden State Warriors, but came back to win game seven of the NBA Finals. It was for the Chicago Cubs, who were one game away from extending a 109-year World Series…

    Rachel White

  • Solving an Ice-Cold Case: How Lucy Died

    Sharp, clean breaks on the right arm of the oldest, most famous fossil of a human ancestor reopened the coldest cold case in human evolution. Lucy, a 3.18-million-year-old specimen of Australopithecus afarensis — or “southern ape of Afar” — is among the oldest, most complete skeletons of any adult, erect-walking human ancestor. Since her discovery…

    Rachel White

  • People, Places and Pages of Influence

    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…

    Rachel White

  • Helping Students Set Sail

    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…

    Rachel White

  • Living Off His Mind: Angelbert Metoyer’s Patient Pursuit to Understand

    When he was 7 years old, Angelbert Metoyer had his first art show in his father’s office. His father had adorned his office walls with a collection of his son’s drawings and invited his colleagues in to appreciate the artwork and purchase their favorite pieces. It was a simple gesture he arranged to help Metoyer…

    Rachel White

  • A Stand Up Longhorn

    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…

    Rachel White

  • 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…

    Rachel White

  • The Campaign for Your Vote: Just Add Brand Power

    After months of being bombarded by pollsters, campaign ads and the most outlandish sound bites on repeat, the moment will come for you to finally cast your ballot. Whom will you choose? “The presidency is the one office that represents the American people: all their wishes, dreams, desires, hopes, fears and everything else,” says history…

    Rachel White

  • 2013 HRA Recipients Wrap Up Their Research

    Established in 2009 by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin, the Humanities Research Award supports faculty efforts to complete an in-progress research project in the humanities by awarding select tenured and tenure-track faculty with $5,000 for three consecutive years, for a total of $15,000. Below are…

    Rachel White

  • Making a Mayacene

    Clues from Ancient Maya Reveal Lasting Impact on Environment Evidence left by ancient Maya in the tropical lowlands of Central America suggests that human-influenced climate change predates the Industrial Revolution. By looking at the Maya’s effects on climate, vegetation, hydrology and the lithosphere from 3,000 to 1,000 years ago, UT Austin researchers propose that the…

    Rachel White

  • Living The Examined Life

    The Pro Bene Meritis award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. 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…

    Rachel White