Natalia Molina Talk Tomorrow

Tomorrow, September 20th, at noon, Dr. Natalia Molina, Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Professor of History, at the University of California, San Diego, will give a talk based on her recent book, How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts, which examines Mexican immigration--from 1924 when immigration acts drastically reduced immigration to the U.S. to 1965 when many quotas were abolished--to understand how broad themes of race and citizenship are constructed. These years shaped the emergence of what Professor Molina describes as an immigration regime that defined the racial categories that continue to influence perceptions in the U.S. about Mexican Americans, race, and ethnicity. Through the use of a relational lens her work demonstrates that racial scripts are easily adopted and adapted to apply to different racial groups.Dr. Molina's talk, which will be in GWB 2.206, is part of the MALS lecture series and is free and open to the public.

UT AMS Grad Dr. Jeanette Vaught on Teaching With Archives

UT AMS grad and faculty member Dr. Jeanette Vaught has published an article on Cultrual Compass, the Harry Ransom Center blog, about her work with AMS grad and HRC Instructional Services Coordinator Dr. Andi Gustavson to use Ransom Center resources to help teach Intro To American Studies. We've included a excerpt of the article, which you can read in full here, below:

"When I had the opportunity to design my Introduction to American Studies: Cyborg Americans course, I knew I wanted to tackle a challenge: exposing over 100 undergraduates to archival holdings on campus. To me, one of the most important tasks that faces an instructor in the humanities is guiding students to the actual work of research, which often happens only once students are in smaller seminar settings. With the help of the Harry Ransom Center’s new Instructional Services Coordinator, Dr. Andi Gustavson, I knew it would be possible to design an assignment that could work in a large-format survey course and bring students to the Center. Wanting to make use of the rich pedagogical benefits of this on-campus cultural institution depended on Andi’s expertise and guidance as we navigated the process of designing and implementing this course from the beginning."

Announcement: New issue of The End of Austin released

Summer's here, which means that the latest issue of The End of Austin, has been published. Here's what editor and American Studies professor Randy Lewis had to say about this issue:

The big summer issue of our award-winning website is here: hipster hate, disappearing bees, unaffordable housing, exploited sex workers, weird slogans, dreams deferred, the fate of Barton Springs, rapidly changing neighborhoods, festival blues, documentary photography, Borges in Austin, and much more. The new issue features 25 original pieces from writers, photographers, and activists who are talking about life in the fastest growing city in the US. Check it out and share us on social media (nothing helps us more than that simple act).

For more information, check The End of Austin on Facebook and on Twitter.

Announcement: Congratulations to our newly minted Ph.D.s!

Enormous congratulations to the following graduate students who are now, as of this weekend's commencement festivities, official Ph.D. recipients. We are so proud of them!Sean Cashbaugh"A Cultural History Beneath the Left: Politics, Art, and the Emergence of the Underground During the Cold War"Supervisor: Randolph LewisBrendan Gaughen"Practices of Place: Ordinary Mobilities and Everyday Technology"Supervisor: Jeff MeikleJosh Holland"Kurt Hahn, the United World Colleges, and the Un-Making of Nation"Supervisor: Julia MickenbergLily Laux"Teaching Texas: Race, Disability and the History of the School-to-Prison Pipeline"Supervisor: Shirley ThompsonSusan Quesal"Dismantling the Master's House: The Afterlife of Slavery in the Twentieth-Century Representations of Home"Supervisors: Shirley Thompson and Stephen MarshallKirsten Ronald"Dancing the Local: Two-Step and the Formation of Local Cultures, Local Places, and Local Identities in Austin, TX"Supervisor: Steve HoelsherJackie Smith"Black Princess Housewive and Single Ladies: Renee Cox's Housewife Enactments and The Politics of Twenty-First Century Wealthy Black Womanhood"Supervisor: Shirley Thompson