Department of American Studies
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The Horse and the Whale
Janet Davis on how animals tell the story of American development
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New Code for the Same Old Dreams
Iván Chaar López decodes border technology’s past and future
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Pictures Snapping into Place
Steven Hoelscher brings a geographer’s critical eye to the study of photography and history.
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Iranian protesters turn to TikTok to get their message past government censors
Images of the protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhhina Amini have circulated widely on social media. TikTok in particular is proving to be an effective tool of political activism both in and outside of the country.
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#PRADAMARFA
For better or for worse, Marfa is a city defined by artists. In his new short documentary, “Prada Marfa? A Film about a West Texas Icon,” American studies professor Randy Lewis takes stock of the town’s transformation through the lens of Prada Marfa, a hyperreal public art installation that has become emblematic of the city.
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Before Shark Week and ‘Jaws,’ World War II spawned America’s shark obsession
Every summer on the Discovery Channel, “Shark Week” inundates its eager audiences with spectacular documentary footage of sharks hunting, feeding and leaping.
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Smile, You’re on Camera: Behind the Lens of 24/7 Surveillance
“Even a strutting exhibitionist has something to hide: certain diary entries, genetic predispositions, financial mistakes, medical crises, teenage embarrassments, antisocial compulsions, sexual fantasies, radical dreams,” writes Randolph Lewis. “We all have something that we want to shield from public view. The real question is: Who gets to pull the curtains? And increasingly: How will we…
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American Girls in Red Russia: Chasing the Soviet Dream
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…
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Be Kind to Animals
Since Janet Davis’ early childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, she says she remembers a life surrounded by animals: chickens running around the yard, horse rides, caring for her pet dogs and cats. “It was a world saturated with animals, the formation of my moral consciousness, if you will,” says Davis, associate professor of American studies at The University of Texas at Austin.…
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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…
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Food for Thought
Government Professor Bartholomew “Bat” Sparrow first got the idea to teach a class about food from his wife, who had worked at Whole Foods for eight years. The result was an undergraduate course—“The Politics of Food in America”—that uses food as a lens through which to view the entire U.S. political system. “The idea was…
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From Bryan to Sicily: Public Scholars Join Academy to Community
In her most recent study, anthropologist Circe Sturm returned to her own backyard in East Texas. Sturm’s family hails from Sicilian roots, specifically a cluster of more than 1,000 Sicilians who settled in Bryan, Texas, around the turn of the 20th century. This enclave has managed to preserve many Sicilian traditions, including an annual ritual in which a single Sicilian-Texan family hosts 800 guests…
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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…
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Liberal Arts Events
A look at some of the most notable happenings across the college beauty Agatha Oliverira and Natasha Mevs-Korff participate in beauty, a public endurance piece performed Nov. 13 on the West Mall. The piece explored women’s relationships to each other and to their hair. Originally performed in Lagos, Nigeria, as part of artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji’s…
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The Secret Life of Magnum Photographs
American studies professor offers an inside look at some of the world’s most iconic images.
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Foodways Texas Moves to UT Austin’s American Studies Department
Created with flickr slideshow. Foodways Texas, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and honoring the Lone Star State’s unique food cultures, has moved to the American Studies Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Modeled after the Southern Foodways Alliance, the nonprofit represents a movement to document Texas’ food culture through oral history…
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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…
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How to Jumpstart Your Dissertation
Boot camp helps graduate students avoid pitfalls and get writing Like most graduate students, the hardest part of Kathleen Shafer’s dissertation was getting started. Shafer, a graduate student in the Department of Geography and the Environment, was among 11 graduate students from The University of Texas at Austin to attend Dissertation Boot Camp this summer,…
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End of Austin
Will rapid growth destroy the city’s weird and charming vibe? Walk by a magazine rack and take a look at the headlines. Chances are, you’ll find Austin gracing a “best city” list. Among its many accolades, the Texas state capital has been named the “best city to start a small business,” “best city for retirees,”…
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Books: Fall 2012
Fall 2012 titles from our college community.
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Whatever Happened to the American Dream?
International historian Jeremi Suri looks back at America’s greatest visionaries to show how our nation can achieve greatness again Some of America’s greatest triumphs were built on dreams. Without dreamers, Neil Armstrong wouldn’t have walked on the moon, proving the sky isn’t the limit. Steve Jobs wouldn’t have transformed the way we work, play and communicate through…
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Moving Forward in the Face of Challenge
Higher education has seen its share of challenges over the past half-decade. The global financial crisis that began in 2007 sent tremors across every campus in the country, causing us not only to tighten our belts but to rethink fundamental models of teaching, research and service that have guided our mission for more than a…
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Awards & Honors: Spring 2011
Staff Six staff members in the College received a 2011 President’s Outstanding Staff or Supervisor Award in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the continuing success of the university including: Sally Dickson (European Studies) Jared Diener (Religious Studies) Nancy Moses (Government) Annelise Notzon (English) Maria Pineda (Germanic Studies) Gail Sanders (Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American…
