Announcement: congratulations to our 2013 graduate degree recipients!
We recently featured some of the fascinating theses from our graduating honors undergraduates, and we'd like to take a moment to congratulate some of our graduate students who will be graduating this spring and summer. Way to go, everybody!
Greg Seaver, MAWAKE-UP ARTISTS: MAXIMALIST VOICE IN THE NONFICTION OF JAMES AGEE, LESTER BANGS, AND DAVID FOSTER WALLACESherri Sheu, MABecky D'Orsogna, Ph.D.YOGA IN AMERICA: HISTORY, COMMUNITY FORMATION, AND CONSUMERISMTony Fassi, Ph.D.MANUFACTURING RUINKatie Feo Kelly, Ph.D.ORGANIZING THE AMERICAN DOMESTIC INTERIOR: 1978-2010Rebecca Onion, Ph.D.SCIENCE AND THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN CHILDHOOD, 1900-1980
Announcement: summer is upon us!
We're very happy that, following a few final exams and papers, summer vacation is nearly upon us. Like last summer, we'll be blogging at a more leisurely pace. But you will see the return of a popular feature that we began back in summer 2012: Stories from Summer Vacation. Stay tuned for reports from the UT American Studies community about how folks are spending their well-deserved months of respite (or, in reality, a few months to catch up on work, prepare for fall classes, polish up drafts of books and articles, read for qualifying exams, write dissertations - and occasionally relax!).
Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.- Henry James
Announcements: The End of Austin Featured in 'Life and Letters' Magazine
We've shared quite a bit of information with you about The End of Austin, a digital journal launched by Dr. Randy Lewis and a smattering of graduate students in the American Studies department.
And, in that vein, we have more exciting news to share. The End of Austin is featured in the Spring 2013 issue of UT College of Liberal Arts's Life and Letters magazine, and you can read the article here as well as in the print edition (and we highly recommend you click through for some wonderful illustrations of cyclops-like monsters attacking the city, as they often do).
A brief excerpt:
So what does the future hold for Austin? Will the city build a better freeway system or buckle under the heavy pressure of rush-hour commuters? Will the skyline be recognizable a century from now, or will it morph into another sprawling megalopolis? The city’s fate depends on the decisions that are being made right now, Lewis says.
“We have the raw ingredients of a great city based on location, climate and the university,” Lewis says. “But the decisions that we make in the next 10 to 20 years will determine whether Austin will be a world-class, great city, or if it will just be another Sunbelt urban zone.”
The hope for the writers and contributors of the website is to provide a shared brainstorming forum for both the community and the university—and ultimately find possible solutions for Austin’s biggest challenges.
Announcement: Performing Blackness Symposium Today!
The Department of Theatre and Dance’s Performance as Public Practice program and John L. Warfield Center’s Performing Blackness Series will host a discussion today of Charles O. Anderson/dance theatre X’s TAR, with conversation about Black dance, producing Black art, and the role of art in generating social change. The symposium will take place in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre in the Winship Building on the UT campus from 1:30-5:00p.m.Keynote Speaker: Dr. Thomas Frantz, Professor of African and African American Studies/Dance/Theatre Studies, Duke UniversityFeatured Panelists:Ms. China Smith, Founder and Executive Artistic Director, Ballet Afrique, AustinDr. Omise’eke Tinsley, Associate Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies, UT AustinDr. Michael Winship, Professor, Department of English, The University of Austin
The symposium is in conjunction with two public performances of dance theatre X’s TAR on April 12 and 13 at 8:00 p.m. in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre. Both performances are free and open to the public.Hope to see you there!