Dedman College Research – Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

My college years were in the tumultuous 1960s. Graduates today must keep idealism alive.

USA Today Originally Posted: May 9, 2021 “I anticipate many of my students in the Southern Methodist University Human Rights Program, where I teach, will remain active in social justice causes for Black Lives Matter, women’s and LGBTQ rights, anti-hate activism, and beyond.” Rick Halperin, director of the SMU Dallas Human Rights Program, contemplates the future of his graduating human rights scholars while recalling his personal journey of protests as an undergraduate 50 years ago. Published in USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/.../college.../4942261001/

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-05-10T10:50:15-07:00 May 10th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Embrey Human Rights Events, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

Not just for finding planets: Exoplanet-hunter TESS telescope spots bright gamma-ray burst

SMU News Originally Posted: April 30, 2021 NASA has a long tradition of unexpected discoveries, and the space program’s TESS mission is no different. SMU astrophysicist and her team have discovered a particularly bright gamma-ray burst using a NASA telescope designed to find exoplanets – those occurring outside our solar system – particularly those that might be able to support life. It’s the first time a gamma-ray burst has been found this way. Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, typically associated with the collapse of a massive star and the birth of a black hole. They can produce as much radioactive energy as the sun will release during its entire 10-billion-year existence. Krista Lynne Smith, an assistant professor of physics at Southern Methodist University, [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-05-04T09:28:22-07:00 May 3rd, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Physics|Comments Off

Death and driving: SMU statistical model predicts the odds tying behavior, other variables to car accidents

SMU News Originally Posted: April 30, 2021 A predictability model built by an SMU research team can calculate the odds that certain variables – such as drunk driving or speeding 20 miles above the limit – will result in a severe car accident. For instance, the statistical model predicts that a 25-year-old man involved in an accident involving two cars will have a 2 percent chance of dying in that accident, if he is driving a 2012 Ford Focus on a dry Dallas road at 2 p.m. That’s if alcohol is not involved, and he is driving 80 mph on highway with a 70-mph speed limit. Yet, the chance that the crash would be fatal for the same driver in the same car at the [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-05-04T09:11:54-07:00 May 2nd, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Statistical Science|Comments Off

New duckbilled dinosaur discovered in Japan

Eureka Posted: April 27, 2021 An international team of paleontologists has identified a new genus and species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur, Yamatosaurus izanagii, on one of Japan's southern islands. The fossilized discovery yields new information about hadrosaur migration, suggesting that the herbivors migrated from Asia to North America instead of vice versa. The discovery also illustrates an evolutionary step as the giant creatures evolved from walking upright to walking on all fours. Most of all, the discovery provides new information and asks new questions about dinosaurs in Japan. The research, "A New Basal Hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) From the latest Cretaceous Kita-ama Formation in Japan implies the origin of Hadrosaurids," was recently published in Scientific Reports. Authors include Yoshitsugu Kobayashi of Hokkaido University Museum, Ryuji Takasaki [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-05-04T08:41:05-07:00 May 1st, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Earth Sciences, Faculty News|Comments Off

Texas Highways publishes article by history alumnus Roberto Franco

Texas Highways Originally Posted: April 2021 issue Growing up along the El Paso-Juárez border, I was a long drive from where much of the prevailing stories of Texas history took place. El Pasoans’ revolutionary heroes came from Mexico. Our cowboys were vaqueros, and our missions mainly told the history of Native Americans. Even if some of our schools were named after people who fought for Texas’ independence, those names hardly meant anything to me since I didn’t grow up hearing their well-known stories—real or mythic. Of course, even in the westernmost corner of the state, it was almost impossible to live unaware of the Texas ideology. I knew the Alamo existed, but it was so distant from my world it might as well have been [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-30T07:35:54-07:00 April 30th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Graduate News|Comments Off

Fashion Group International of Dallas and SMU Professor Maryann Cairns are spearheading the city’s initiatives in eco-friendly fashion

D Magazine Posted: April 27, 2021 The fashion industry in Dallas is pioneering initiatives and programs to support the next generation of environmentally conscious fashion professionals locally. In recent years, the industry at large has laid the groundwork to encourage sustainability by reducing the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions exacerbated by the materials the designers use. Locally, Fashion Group International of Dallas and the Cairns Lab at Southern Methodist University are emblematic of an encouraging shift to make fashion sustainable in Dallas. FGI has launched scholarship funds for environmentally-minded designers while SMU is putting data behind the problem to identify solutions. Spearheaded by Professor Maryann Cairns, an environmental anthropologist at SMU, the research center aims to quantify the impact the fashion industry has on [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-29T06:52:45-07:00 April 29th, 2021|Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Faculty News|Comments Off

Report for America fellow chosen to help cover southern Dallas for The News

Dallas Morning News Sriya Reddy is majoring in Journalism, Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, and History. Report for America fellow Sriya Reddy will join the newsroom of The Dallas Morning News in June to help cover southern Dallas. Reddy, who will graduate in May from Southern Methodist University, will write about income inequality, housing and other community issues in southern Dallas at The News for a year. She is one of 300 journalists who have been selected for the national program, which places journalists in newsrooms nationwide to report on undercovered topics in local communities. READ MORE

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-28T09:36:21-07:00 April 28th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, History, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

‘Fire Bones’ melds audio, video, text and more in a show for the smartphone age

Dallas Morning News Posted: April 28, 2021 When it comes to Greg Brownderville’s latest project, timing is everything. The Dallas-based poet and director of Southern Methodist University’s creative writing program this year released Fire Bones, a digital dreamscape of audio, video, music, text and art. Created with smartphones in mind, it takes its audience on a magical journey through the Arkansas Delta, where Brownderville grew up. He calls it “the world’s first go-show,” a term he coined to signify its ability to travel with audiences on their phones. “I wanted poetry to be a multisensory experience,” Brownderville says. “Different stories demand different forms of storytelling, and I was curious what would happen if you blended several at once.” But if Brownderville had created the project when [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-29T06:55:31-07:00 April 28th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, English, Faculty News|Comments Off

2021 Hilltop Excellence Award Recipients

The Hilltop Excellence Awards is SMU's most prestigious awards ceremony, annually recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of students, staff, and faculty at SMU. Congratulations to all of the recipients. READ MORE

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-27T10:31:47-07:00 April 27th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Faculty News, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

Congratulations to Dr. Johan Elverskog

Congratulations to Dr. Johan Elverskog, Dedman Family Distinguished Professor, Professor of Religious Studies, and, by courtesy, Professor of History who was awarded a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation to support his work through the National Humanities Center (NHC) during the 2021–2022 fellowship year. Professor Everskog’s work will focus on examining the history of Uighur Buddhism from 800 to 1800 CE.

By Katherine Nickles| 2021-04-26T08:50:41-07:00 April 26th, 2021|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, History, Religious Studies|Comments Off