Dedman College Research – Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

Robert Jordan: ambassador and professor

Daily Campus Originally Posted: October 18, 2018 When the President asks for your service, do you say yes? Even if it could cost you your life? Robert Jordan, who would later become a professor at SMU, met George W. Bush long before the latter held the title of president. A lawyer, Jordan represented Bush during an SEC investigation into a stock trade. Jordan said the young George Bush was very decisive and friendly, with a memorable sense of humor. Young Bush was also impatient, and did not wish to spend time waiting for an investigation to proceed when he knew he had done nothing wrong. After about two years of debate, Jordan was able to convince the SEC of that as well. Soon after, Bush [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-19T06:51:57+00:00 October 19th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

New Smithsonian Exhibit Reflects the Passion of SMU Professor and an Army of Student Fossil Hounds

SMU News Originally Posted: October 15, 2018 Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas opens Nov. 9 at National Museum of Natural History Once the exhibit opens, “Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas” will allow visitors to visually dive into the cool waters off the coast of West Africa as they existed millions of years ago when the continents of Africa and South America were drifting apart. It’s a unique opportunity to examine fossils of ancient marine reptiles and learn about the forces that continue to mold life both in out of the ocean. But the back story is just as fascinating: SMU Emeritus Professor of Paleontology Louis Jacobs and his SMU colleague Michael Polcyn forged a partnership with collaborators in Angola, [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-17T09:52:32+00:00 October 17th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Earth Sciences, Events, Faculty News, Graduate News, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

Sign up today–Medieval Studies (MDVL 3351)

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-17T08:17:33+00:00 October 17th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

SMU Professor On O’Rourke: ‘He’s Going To Have To Rethink His Advertising Campaign’

CBS 11 Originally Posted: October 12, 2018 DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – While Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke is attracting big crowds and raising record amounts of money, $38.1 million in the last three months, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is still leading in the latest polls by nine points. SMU political science professor Cal Jillson said Friday, Rep. Beto O’Rourke must sharpen his advertising against Sen. Ted Cruz and stop playing Mr. Nice-Guy. Jillson said O’Rourke can still regain momentum. “He’s going to have to rethink his advertising campaign,” said Jillson. Jillson says O’Rourke must explain to voters why Texas would be better off with him as Senator than Cruz, something Jillson says O’Rourke has not done. “O’Rourke has been unwilling to do the negative stuff, but I [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-15T08:01:53+00:00 October 15th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Political Science|Comments Off

Starting conversations that never end

SMU Graduate Studies Originally Posted: September 2018 Find out how a Dedman Interdisciplinary Research Cluster created new connections between students and faculty from religious studies, art history, art and world languages and launched conversations exploring biases and inclusion. EXCERPT: One of the great rewards of graduate school is meeting like-minded individuals with whom one shares intellectual curiosities. These newfound relationships not only make graduate life enjoyable but also enrich one’s thinking and research work. At SMU, we have been fortunate to find a multidisciplinary community of students and professors with whom to exchange ideas in and outside of the classroom. During the spring of 2018, we had an opportunity to bring that community together through the Dedman Interdisciplinary Research Cluster titled “On Decolonial Options and the Writing [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-10T09:53:21+00:00 October 11th, 2018|DCII, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Graduate News|Comments Off

Meet SMU presidential historian Dr. Jeffrey Engel

SMU Daily Campus Originally Posted: October 11, 2018 Most days, you can find Dr. Jeffrey Engel in his office surrounded by history tomes. The Director of the SMU Center for Presidential History at SMU has filled his office with the work presidential historians, including his own. Dr. Engel was attracted to this area of study because he believes in the concept of narrative history. That is, an idea that history should be told in a form where it is accessible to people from all walks of life. “I remember feeling a profound sense of shame because a proper human should know events from the past,” Dr. Engel said, while reflecting on a moment from his childhood that reinforced his desire to study and make a [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-11T08:29:12+00:00 October 11th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

Event: October 25, Ann and Nate Levine Jewish Studies Lecture

Event Date: October 25, 2018 Location: Dallas Hall Time: 7:30 pm "Israel, BDS, and Campus Life: Complexities of Jewish Identity in the American Academy" by Profs. Doron Ben-Atar and Andrew Pessin, authors of _Anti-Zionism on Campus. The University, Free Speech, and BDS_ Many scholars have struggled with rising anti-Israel sentiments on college and university campuses worldwide. Drawing on their extensive qualitative research, Profs. Doron Ben-Atar and Andrew Pessin will explore the deleterious impact of the Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement on the most cherished Western ideals of free speech, civility, respectful discourse, and open research. Link for more information: https://www.smu.edu/Dedman/academics/programs/jewishstudies/events

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-10T08:55:00+00:00 October 10th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Jewish Studies Program, Religious Studies|Comments Off

Meet India Simmons, Human Rights Fellow 2018-19

Dedman College News Originally Posted: October 9, 2018 By: Ryan Garrett India Simmons is a junior majoring in Human Rights, International Studies, and Political Science. In addition to her academic pursuits, India has also competed on SMU’s Track and Field team. Through the EHRP, India has traveled to Poland, Germany, and Israel to further advance her knowledge and skillsets by seeing things first-hand. The trip to Poland and Germany, taken in December over winter break, was especially relevant to Simmons as it was focused around meeting with Holocaust survivors and visiting concentration camps. “It was a hard trip, physically and emotionally,” Simmons said. “(The survivors) were all elderly women. They were all so joyous. They were smiling the whole time. They were laughing. It was [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-09T10:58:21+00:00 October 9th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Embrey Human Rights Events, Events, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

The “Southwest Review” reimagined

The Daily Campus Originally Posted: September 25, 2018 In print for more than a century, the Southwest Review begins a new chapter as Greg Brownderville, SMU professor and editor-in-chief, updates the look of the magazine and takes the initiative to advance its digital presence. The “Southwest Review” is the third oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It was established in 1915 as “The Texas Review” out of the University of Texas at Austin, before it was moved to its current home at Southern Methodist University in 1924. The magazine was created to prove that there was a home for literature and the arts, even in unsung Texas, a region that was quickly transforming from a land of cattle and cotton to one of industry and urbanization [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-09T11:04:55+00:00 October 9th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, English, Faculty News|Comments Off

Dark Matter is a huge mystery. This device is trying to detect it.

National Geographic Originally Posted: October 8, 2018 Jodi Cooley, a physicist at Southern Methodist University and a principal investigator at the SuperCDMS dark matter detector was quoted in this article. In an otherwise unassuming facility in northern Seattle, a supercooled tangle of tubes and wires is poised to remake the world. Coursing with liquid helium, the device's interior hovers less than a tenth of a degree above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature. Inside the frigid cavity, carefully shielded from noise, microwave radiation can resonate like sound waves in a bell, hunting for hints of particles whizzing through that, in all other contexts, would be invisible. Meet the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment, or ADMX: the most sensitive scientific instrument of its kind ever built. If ADMX confirms the existence of [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2018-10-08T14:04:44+00:00 October 8th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Physics|Comments Off