history
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Infrastructure spending has always involved social engineering
The effort by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to find agreement over a federal infrastructure spending bill has hinged on a number of factors, including what “infrastructure” actually is – but the debate ignores a key historical fact.
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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…
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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,…
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Four Reasons Everyone Should Study History
In the past, STEM and the arts and humanities have largely been taught as unconnected disciplines, but there is more overlap between fields than many realize. Erika Bsumek, an associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and a 2018 recipient of the Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Awards, wants to help students see how…
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15 Minute History Podcast Tops ITunesU Charts
What’s the real story behind medieval witch hunts and demonic possessions? Why did Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, set forth on a spiritual quest? Listen in as award-winning UT Austin faculty and graduate students unravel history’s enigmas in 15 Minute History, a podcast series created by the History Department’s Not Even Past and the university’s…
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K-12 Teachers Enhance History Curriculum, Gather New Research at Gilder Lehrman Seminar
This summer, 25 primary and secondary teachers from across the country came to The University of Texas at Austin to hone their skills and gather new research at a weeklong seminar sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – one of the leading educational foundations in the country. Held June 23 through 29,…
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The Appendix: Experimental Journal Showcases History of the Arcane
While sifting through the musty collections of ancient pages at the Smithsonian, Christopher Heaney stumbled upon some fascinating materials on an apocalyptic prophecy by “Benjamin, the Anti Christ,” a San Francisco prophet who foresaw earthquakes, international war and brain paralysis. Unfortunately it didn’t fit into his research topic on Peruvian mummies, so he had to…
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Q&A: Doctoral Student Explores History of Science in Southeast Borderlands
Cameron Strang, a doctoral student in the Department of History, has been generating a great deal of interest among fellow historians with his research on skull collecting and scalping in the early American borderlands. He argues that science of the nascent United States was not exclusively from institutions in the Northeast, but that it incorporated…
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Media Highlights: Spring 2010
Daina Berry (History) was featured on the season finale of NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” as one of several historians who helped filmmaker Spike Lee trace his ancestry back to the Civil War. Numerous media outlets including Business Week and the Times of India featured new research by Brad Love and Ross Otto…
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Awards & Honors: Spring 2010
The Silver Spurs, the student service organization that cares for Bevo, gave out its 21st annual Endowed Teaching Fellowship awards to four liberal arts professors, who each receive a $6,000 prize. The group surprises each recipient with an unannounced presentation. They are: Kirsten Belgum (Germanic Studies) Robert Moser (Government) Elizabeth Engelhardt (American Studies) Lisa Moore…
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In Memoriam: Spring 2010
Shearer Davis Bowman, professor emeritus of history, died Dec. 4 at age 60. In 1986 Bowman began his career at The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught American history for 15 years. He wrote “Masters and Lords” and “At the Precipice,” which will be published this spring, as well as numerous articles and reviews.…
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News & Notes: Fall 2009
Debate and Individual Event alumni looking to reconnect The university’s debate and individual events (IE) teams have an illustrious history on campus. Both groups have won numerous championships and both feature outstanding alumni. Still, there has not been an alumni association for these successful teams… until now. Are you a former debate team member? Did…
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Lessons of the Immigrant Experience in Texas
Museum exhibit highlights Galveston as America’s Forgotten Gateway While riding a ferry to America’s most famous port of entry, Ellis Island, with a group of Texas high school students on a Jewish heritage tour, Suzanne Seriff began to wonder about the lesser-known gateways to America. Her curiosity about Galveston’s largely forgotten history as a major…
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We the People
Meet the Historians who Present and Preserve America’s Stories From the American colonial heritage to World Wars I and II to modern business, the Department of History brings together some of the nation’s most recognized scholars to examine the grand narrative—and individual stories—of the United States. The scholars have built a top-ranked history department and,…
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FDR: Traitor to His Class?
Historian H.W. Brands reviews president’s command performance, popular appeal and Depression-era policies In 1932, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt campaigned for the United States presidency, the country was in the darkest days of its deepest depression. Twenty-five percent of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Across the country, millions were homeless, farms were failing, industrial production was…
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Jewish Life in the Americas
The Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies More than 400,000 Jews reside in Latin America, comprising the fifth largest community of Jews after the United States, Israel, the former Soviet Union, and France. Their stories and experiences are a major focus of research and teaching at the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, which encompasses the history,…
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Research Briefs: Fall 2008
Why Pregnant Women Waddle The human spine evolved differently in males and females in order to alleviate back pressure from the weight of carrying a baby, according to anthropologist Liza Shapiro whose findings were first documented in Nature. The researcher believes the adaptation first appeared at least two million years ago, in the early human…
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Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Brings National Perspective to the Classroom
As a child, David Oshinsky explored the wonders of America in an un-airconditioned, stick-shift Chevy, packed to the roof with traveling gear for his family of four. The son of two schoolteachers remembers spending every summer the same way: criss-crossing states as they visited national parks, historic landmarks, presidential libraries and state fairs. You name…
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Tuberculosis: Anthropologist Discovers Oldest Case
500,000-year-old fossil points to modern health concerns As Turkish workers cut into a block of travertine stone destined for the international tile market, they uncovered a 500,000-year-old fossil, which anthropologist John Kappelman is using to expand scientists’ understanding of tuberculosis–and how the infectious disease may affect people who migrate. “Tuberculosis has re-emerged as a global…
