Category: Uncategorized
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Writing Home
Chicano Literature Professor Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Wins National Book Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award By Jessica Sinn, Life & Letters Magazine The National Book Critics Circle has honored Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, an author and professor in the Departments of English and Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, with the 2013 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award during a ceremony March 13…
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Making the Grade: Strategies for Improving education systems in America
By Jessica Sinn, Life & Letters Magazine Few dispute the value of education, but discussions about how our nation should improve it are becoming more intense and polarized. Of all the competing arguments—more technology, smaller classrooms, improved teacher training, universal pre-kindergarten—most people would agree that America’s education system needs to improve, and soon. According to recent…
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Stories of Texas barbecue with heaping servings of places, people and tall tales
In Texas, barbecue is serious business. Be it ribs, brisket, sausage or something more exotic, barbecue to Texans is not just food — it’s a frame of mind. So what is it about barbecue that Texans hold so near and dear to their hearts? Is it the savory taste of wood smoke and meat so…
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Green is the New Burnt Orange at UT Elementary
School gardening program preps Little Longhorns and Their Families for Healthy Living By Jessica Sinn • August 1, 2018 Just around the corner from the University Elementary School cafeteria, a class of second-graders is sitting on tree stump chairs and watching their teacher point to sketches of plants on a handheld white board. “Alright! Now I want you all to…
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2019 Black Student-Athlete Summit Recap
By Jessica Sinn • January 28, 2019 More than 400 people from colleges and schools across the country came to The University of Texas at Austin to attend the fifth annual Black Student-Athlete Summit held Jan. 9-11 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. Attendees included professional athletes, athletic directors, coaches, professors and mental health professionals—all of whom play…
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Mission Moments: Kate Biberdorf
By Jessica Sinn • July 14, 2016 Like the explosive chemical reactions in her “Chemistry Circus” demonstrations, Dr. Kate Biberdorf is a force to be reckoned with. Dressed in goggles and a blue fire-retardant lab coat, she’s constantly moving around in a blur from one experiment to the next, showing students the wonders of science. Whether they’re making…
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Celebrating Pride Month
Meet Lisa Moore, director of the LGBTQ Studies Program and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights By Jessica Sinn • June 27, 2022 Lisa Moore came to UT Austin by way of Calgary, Canada, where her family had a cattle farm amidst the stunning backdrop of the Canadian Rockies. After earning her Ph.D. in English and a minor in Women’s…
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Celebrating Pride Month
Meet Shane Whalley, Steve Hicks School of Social Work adjunct assistant professor and owner of Daring Dialogues Consulting By Jessica Sinn • June 27, 2022 Growing up in a conservative household in Southern Indiana, Shane Whalley was always taught to not speak about religion, sex, politics and money outside of the home. Looking back at those days, Whalley laughingly points…
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Celebrating Pride Month
Meet Stephen Russell, professor of Human Development and Family Sciences By Jessica Sinn • June 27, 2022 Back in the early 1990s, Stephen Russell was among the first researchers to publish population-based studies focusing on health risks among LGBTQ youth. As the years progressed, the call for more research in this burgeoning field set him down an unexpected career path…
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The Power of Community and Connection
Meet several members of the new Texas McNair Graduate Association By Jessica Sinn • March 28, 2023 During the height of the pandemic—a stressful time of isolation and disconnect for many members of the Longhorn community—Dr. Eric Dieter, executive director in the Longhorn Center for Academic Equity (LCAE), reached out to some graduate students to see about starting…
Jessica Sinn 