Monthly Newsletters 1
 

Fall is in the air, and the Humanities Institute is pleased to share information on our upcoming events, as well as featured news and announcements. Our September 2018 Newsletter includes details on upcoming events for the coming months including the Difficult Dialogues Public Panel with featured speaker, Dr. Eric Klinenberg and our next Controversy & Conversation film screening of Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press at the Austin Public Library.

It also announces our incoming class of 2018-2020 Faculty Fellows, whose work will center around the theme of "Narratives Across the Disciplines," and includes information on the continuation of our Health and Humanities Research Seminar Series for faculty and research staff with guest speaker, Dr. Virginia Brown.

Read below to learn about all of our exciting initiatives for the season!

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Dr. Eric Klinenberg

Difficult Dialogues Public Panel on Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and Inequality with Featured Speaker Dr. Eric Klinenberg

Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Texas Union, Quadrangle Room
2308 Whitis Ave.
Austin, TX 78712
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Free and open to the public.

The University of Texas Humanities Institute and Planet Texas 2050 will hold a Difficult Dialogues public panel on Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and Inequality, featuring Dr. Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. Dr. Klinenberg’s talk and panel discussion will be one of two Difficult Dialogues public panels co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute and Planet Texas 2050 that will discuss issues related to the environment and sustainability. The Humanities Institute’s Difficult Dialogues program aims to bring resources for facilitating dialogue on difficult and controversial topics to the classroom and the public.

Dr. Klinenberg’s work has spanned topics from extreme weather events to the sociological value of public infrastructure. His first book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, described the devastating impact of Chicago’s July 1995 heat wave, an event that quickly became one of the city’s deadliest natural disasters. Dr. Klinenberg investigated the previously unexplained reasons behind the destruction left in the heat wave’s wake through years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research. His most recent book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, was released on September 11, 2018. Along with his books and scholarly research, Dr. Klinenberg has contributed to The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and This American Life.

Dr. Klinenberg's talk will begin at 7pm, followed by audience dialogue. Light refreshments will be served.

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Controversy & Conversation Film Screening: Nobody Speak (2017)

Thursday, October 4, 2018
APL Terrazas Branch
1105 East Cesar Street
Austin, TX, 78702
6:30 PM - 8:45 PM

Free and open to the public.

Nobody Speaks: Trials of the Free Press (2017) is themed around the effects of big money on American journalism. The documentary focuses on two incidents: Peter Thiel financing wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media, and casino owner Sheldon Adelson's secret purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. By shedding light on these interactions between billionaires and media outlets Nobody Speak explores recent ways in which two of America’s wealthiest private citizens have used their resources to influence or silence the press. The film’s examination of these two incidents invites viewers to reflect on the role of the free press in American society, the rights of private citizens in relation to the rights of the press, and the impact that political and financial elites can have on media outlets.

Join us for light refreshments and the screening at 6:30pm. The film will be followed by a brief community conversation.

Controversy & Conversation is a collaboration between the Difficult Dialogues Program and the Austin Public Library.

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Facing Racism: Art & Action Symposium

Thursday, September 27, 2018
Blanton Museum of Art Auditorium, Smith Building
200 East Martin Luther King Blvd
Austin, Texas 78705

9:30 AM - 8:00 PM

In partnership with the Blanton Museum of Art and the Central Texas Regional office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Humanities Institute is co-sponsoring a symposium held in conjunction with an exhibition of "Vincent Valdez: The City."

Inspired by the commitment of Vincent Valdez to creating socially engaged art, this day-long symposium will feature artists, curators, and scholars sharing experiences and ideas about the role of the arts in addressing racism.

Major support for “Facing Racism: Art & Action” is provided by David and Ellen Berman and the Carolyn Harris Hynson Centennial Endowment.

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The University of Texas Humanities Institute Appoints Faculty Fellows To Discuss "Narrative Across the Disciplines"

The Humanities Institute is pleased to announce the 2018-2020 class of Faculty Fellows. The Humanities Institute selects faculty from across UT-Austin to participate in a weekly three-hour seminar during the 2019 calendar year. This year’s scholars will be presenting and discussing work concerning the theme of “Narrative Across the Disciplines.” The current Fellows are affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Fine Arts, the Moody College of Communication, the School of Law, the School of Education, and the Dell Medical School.

A centerpiece of the Humanities Institute, the Faculty Fellows Seminar provides scholars the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines over the course of a semester. Fellows share the perspective of their disciplines on the theme and receive feedback on works in progress.

Faculty Fellows additionally have the opportunity to invite prominent visitors to campus to lead sessions of the seminar and deliver public lectures as part of the Institute’s Distinguished Visiting Lecture Series. The culmination of the Faculty Fellows Seminar will be a Symposium in Spring 2020, which will include the 2019 Faculty Fellows and a keynote speaker.

With this year’s theme, the Humanities Institute aims to discuss the central role that narrative plays in a variety of fields and endeavors. The social function of stories is evident in disciplines such as medicine, law, cognitive science, sociology, communication, and economics, as well as in the traditional humanities.

Fellows will consider a range of questions related to narrative and storytelling. For instance, what forms of inquiry and insight does a focus on narrative make available, and what additional possibilities remain to be explored?

The Fellows’ research will be made public beginning in January 2019 on the Humanities Institute's blog Thinking in Community. This blog currently has information about the 2016-2018 seminar on Health, Well-Being, and Healing.

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The Health and Humanities Research Seminar Series Continues

The Health and Humanities Research Seminar is a monthly series in partnership with Dell Medical School intended to engage scholars and practitioners across the health and humanities disciplines in research-oriented dialogue. Designed for faculty and research staff interested in Health and Humanities, the seminars feature presentations from speakers, followed by a group discussion, and closing with casual conversation and refreshments.

The seminar's upcoming speaker, Dr. Virginia Brown, will present her talk, "Psychiatric Advanced Directives, Patient Self-Determination, and Social Justice," at the October research seminar.

Dr. Brown is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at Dell Medical School. As a researcher in population health, she looks to combine her work as a clinical ethicist and medical sociologist to expand not only researchers’ understanding of research ethics, but also to enhance the way the ethical review of research (led at UT Austin by the Internal Review Board) extends protections from the individual to the collective. She also teaches an honors course titled Ethics in Medicine and Society to upper-level honors students in the College of Liberal Arts.

The inaugural speaker for the seminar was Dr. Barbara Jones, Associate Dean for Health Affairs, University Distinguished Professor, and Co-Director of the Institute for Collaborative Health Research and Practice at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She presented on "Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: Facing Loss, Finding Meaning, and Focusing on the Future.”

Additional speakers for the seminar series this semester include:

November: Jewel Mullen, M.D., MPH, "You Can't Fill a Vessel at an Empty Well: Cultivating Empathy to Achieve Health Equity." Dr. Mullen is Associate Dean for Health Equity and Associate Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School.

December: Courtney Donovan, Ph.D, Digital Narratives and Health-Disparity Mapping. Dr. Donovan is Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environment, San Francisco State University. Her visit is sponsored by the digital humanities project, “Communities of Care,” funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Seats for each seminar are limited. For more information, please contact Dr. Phillip Barrish at pbarrish@austin.utexas.edu.

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The National Humanities Center: Residential Fellowships

The National Humanities Center invites applications for academic-year or one-semester residential fellowships. Mid-career, senior, and emerging scholars with a strong record of peer-reviewed work from all areas of the humanities are encouraged to apply.

Located in the vibrant Research Triangle region of North Carolina, the Center affords access to the rich cultural and intellectual communities supported by the area’s research institutes, universities, and dynamic arts scene. Fellows enjoy private studies, in-house dining, and superb library services that deliver all research materials.

Scholars from all parts of the globe are eligible; stipends and travel expenses are provided. Fellowship applicants must have a PhD or equivalent scholarly credentials. Fellowships are supported by the Center’s own endowment, private foundation grants, contributions from alumni and friends, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. EDT, October 17, 2018.

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For more information on the Humanities Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, or to contact us, please visit us at humanitiesinstitute.utexas.edu.

Kind regards,
The Humanities Institute

 
   
 
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