Dedman College Research Archives - Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

Second Annual Human Rights Youth Summit Draws Local Students, Educators, and Activists to SMU Campus

Dedman College News Originally Posted: June 22, 2018 The Embrey Human Rights Program welcomes one hundred high school students and educators to campus this weekend for the second annual Human Rights Youth Summit in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. June 23-24, Youth Summit attendees will explore strategies for effective advocacy and develop a human rights network through dynamic workshops, leadership training, and networking opportunities with Dallas community leaders and activists. The summit has expanded since last year’s one-day program to now include an overnight stay on the SMU campus and a second day of activities. "Our annual Youth Summit was launched last year in response to community desire,” says Dr. Brad Klein, Associate Director of the Embrey Human Rights Program and [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-22T12:37:46+00:00 June 22nd, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Embrey Human Rights Events, Events|Comments Off

CPH Postdoctoral Fellow Paul Renfro offers historical perspective on the crisis at the border for the Washington Post

Washington Post Originally Posted: June 19, 2019 The real reason we’re locking children in cages We don't think nonwhite children deserve the same protections as “innocent” white ones. By Paul M. Renfro. Renfro is a postdoctoral fellow at Southern Methodist University, and beginning in August 2018, he will be a Dean’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the department of history at Florida State University. Americans are horrified by images and stories coming from the southern border. The U.S. government is brutalizing children and families — keeping children in cages, separated from their parents — purportedly in the name of border security. As outrage has increased, the spotlight has heated up, spurring politicians to speak out and contemplate action. As shocking and aberrant as this saga might seem — [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-19T10:39:43+00:00 June 19th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Graduate News, History|Comments Off

New Board officers begin one-year term

SMU News Originally Posted: June 1, 2018 The Board’s new ex officio faculty representative is Faculty Senate President Dayna Oscherwitz, French area chair in the Department of World Languages and Literatures, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Congratulations! Three new officers and three new trustees were named to SMU’s Board of Trustees during the board’s spring meeting May 4, 2018. The Board also passed a resolution to honor two former members as trustees emeriti. Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 has been elected as chair, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 was elected as vice-chair, and Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79 was elected as secretary. Officers are elected for one-year terms and are eligible for re-election up to four consecutive terms in any respective office. The new officers will begin [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-18T11:05:52+00:00 June 19th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Faculty News, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off

Paleobotanist Bonnie Jacobs Elected Fellow of Paleontological Society

Dedman College News Originally posted: June 15, 2018 Paleobotanist and Professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences Bonnie Jacobs has been named a Paleontological Society Fellow for her contributions to the field of Cenozoic paleobotany as well as her stellar mentorship of students and postdoctoral researchers. She was particularly lauded for her transformative research on the Cenozoic vegetation and climate of Africa. “The research I am working on with colleagues and students is aimed at understanding how tropical ecosystems in Africa came to be what they are today, and more specifically, how they were impacted in the past by global climate changes, first and foremost,” explains Dr. Jacobs. “I am always thrilled by the discovery of new fossils, but the most joyful, [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-15T11:38:03+00:00 June 15th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Earth Sciences, Faculty News|Comments Off

Brian Franklin, History, pens article for Washington Post on the historic perils of pastors courting politicians

Washington Post Originally Posted: June 15, 2018 Evangelicals need less politicking, more soul-searching Partisan politics are costing evangelical churches their souls. Brian Franklin works at Southern Methodist University, where he is the associate director of the Center for Presidential History and adjunct lecturer in the department of history. The Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Dallas this week. The two-day conference featured religious speakers from across the country, but the two that elicited the largest response were not pastors but politicians: Vice President Pence and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Tex.). Both Abbott and Pence used their time to their political advantage. Abbott began Tuesday morning with stories of faith and service, only to transition to culture-wars rhetoric: an invective against the secularist “onslaught against religious liberty” by “sacrilegious” [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-15T10:37:22+00:00 June 15th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

In conversation series, two Mexican-Americans compare what made them the leaders they are today

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: June 13, 2018 What does it mean to live in the hyphen? Two Mexican-Americans spent an hour Monday night tackling the question in the second round of “Duets,” the quarterly event series hosted by the Arts & Life team of The Dallas Morning News. Alfredo Corchado, Mexico Border correspondent for The Dallas Morning News, was joined by Luisa del Rosal, executive director of Southern Methodist University's Tower Center for Political Studies, to talk about his new book, “Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration,” and about living life as both Mexicans and Americans. Corchado and del Rosal’s own histories exemplify why a term like Mexican-American doesn’t tell you much on its own. Born in [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-14T08:50:29+00:00 June 14th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Political Science, Tower Center|Comments Off

New Bush-SMU institute hopes to become globally recognized source of economic policy ideas

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: June 12, 2018 This article was written by Matthew Rooney, managing director and Cullum Clark, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. North Texas has one of the most successful regional economies in the U.S. Over the past three decades, Dallas has grown faster, exported more and added more jobs than nearly any other part of the country. It has attracted people from all over the world to live, work and invest here. But Dallas has not generally been a place where national or international economic policy is made. Until now. The George W. Bush Institute and Southern Methodist University recently launched the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. This partnership is not unique — a number of the most influential and effective policy centers [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-13T08:19:41+00:00 June 13th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Economics, Events, Faculty News|Comments Off

SMU Chemistry Professor Receives NSF CAREER Award

Dedman College News Originally Posted: June 12, 2018 Peng Tao, Assistant Professor in SMU’s Department of Chemistry, was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support his research in fighting antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Tao’s innovative strategy involves developing computational methods and an advanced theoretical framework to predict protein evolution. “There are a special group of proteins called beta-lactamases in bacteria causing infections,” explains Dr. Tao. “The main function of these proteins is destroying antibiotics. And these proteins evolve very quickly leading to so-called ‘superbugs’. We are developing theoretical models to understand how these proteins carry out their functions as machines and predict how these machines may evolve when encountering new antibiotics. If successful, our models could be used by other researchers and pharmaceutical companies [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-12T11:12:26+00:00 June 12th, 2018|Chemistry, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Mark McCoy, Anthropology, rising seas are threatening historical sites around the world

Salon Originally Posted: June 11, 2018 The famous moai of Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) are, to many people, the face of archaeology. These massive statues made of dark, weathered stone, occasionally speckled with pale lichen, stare out across their island in the blue waters of the south Pacific. Their heads are oversized compared to their bodies, which gives them a dignity appropriate to their age; the oldest were crafted around 1200 CE. But the moai may not stand on Rapa Nui for much longer. They’re in danger from a very 21st century threat: climate change. Warmer temperatures will lead to a rise in the level of the oceans, with some researchers predicting we might see them climb by more than three feet by 2100. [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-12T09:24:26+00:00 June 12th, 2018|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

George H.W. Bush makes history by celebrating his 94th birthday

Washington Post Originally Posted: June 12, 2018 Jeff Engle, Center for Presidential History was interviewed for this article. After Barbara Bush died in April, there were fears that her husband, former president George H.W. Bush, might die, too. He was hospitalized with a blood infection the day after Barbara’s funeral. But on Tuesday, Bush made history by becoming the first former president to reach the age of 94. Gerald Ford died at 93 years and 165 days. Ronald Reagan lived for 93 years and 120 days. Jimmy Carter, born four months after Bush, will turn 94 on Oct. 1. Bush will mark his birthday with his family in Kennebunkport, Maine, though it’s unlikely he will be able to jump out of a plane, as he did on [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-06-13T08:25:55+00:00 June 12th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off