History – Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

12 Surprising Facts About the Legislative Branch

The History Channel Originally Posted: October 3, 2019 The executive branch enforces laws. The judicial branch interprets laws. But it is in the law-making legislative branch, says Howard Schweber, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin, “that the people deliberate and arrive at an agreement about the common good.” When writing the U.S. Constitution, the framers built in three branches of federal government to ensure a separation of powers, and, as Article I states, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” “The point of the Constitution was to replace a system in which the national government could only make laws that affected states in their relations with one another,” Schweber says. [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-10-07T08:35:10-07:00 October 7th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

The William P. Clements Department of History and the Center for Presidential History welcome Gordon H. Chang

Alien Chinese Railroad Workers and American National History Date: Thursday, October 3, 2019 Time: 5:30 PM (CT) Location: Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom The Clements Department of History and the Center for Presidential History at SMU welcome Gordon H. Chang, history professor and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University, as part of the Stanton Sharp Lecture Series. Chang studies the history of America-China relations, U.S. diplomacy, and Asian American history and currently co-directs the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project. His lecture is free and open to the public following a brief reception. For more information, please contact Margi Evans at mfevans@smu.edu.

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-09-30T08:21:53-07:00 October 2nd, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, History|Comments Off

Great Expectations

Inside Higher Ed Originally Posted: September 10, 2019 Jo Guldi learns a lesson from students who embrace the challenge of high academic standards. At midterm, half of the class was failing. I had encouraged everyone to come to my office hours, and so they did, flooding in to ask questions and complain. At least one of my student visitors presented outrage at the way he had been treated and said he wanted me to account for the grades. The particular subject of his outrage was my standard of clear, well-supported, written argumentation. "We're supposed to be learning about history, not about writing," complained my student. I was taken aback. I briefly considered wrangling with his assumption that historical understanding and clear writing could be divorced, [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-09-24T10:58:09-07:00 September 24th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

Jill. E. Kelly, South Africa: How a chief defied apartheid and upheld democracy for the good of his people

The Conversation Originally Posted: August 20, 2019 By: Jill E. Kelly, Associate Professor of History, Southern Methodist University Disclosure statement Jill E. Kelly's research has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies (2015) and Fulbright (2010-2011, 2018-2019). The recently released report of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s advisory panel on land reform, and the latest efforts to force through two controversial traditional authority bills, point to the continued legacies of changes to the relationship between traditional leaders, their followers, and land in South Africa’s history. The panel calls for a resolution to the “contending philosophies around land tenure” — those of individual rights and those of communalism. But as traditional leaders fight to continue their control over communally held land, there also needs to be a [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-09-04T07:36:28-07:00 September 4th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

A Story About El Paso and Soccer That You Should Read

D Magazine Originally Posted: August 16, 2019 You might recognize the name Roberto José Andrade Franco. He’s a Ph.D. candidate at SMU who has written a few stories for D Magazine. Roberto is from El Paso. He was there when a North Texas man killed 22 people in a Walmart. At the time, Roberto had an assignment from Deadspin to write about soccer in Juarez. There was no way he could write about the sport without addressing the violence. The result was quite something. A taste: I’ve made that drive so many times I’ve lost count. I know where to stop for gas and which bathrooms are clean. As you drive into that open west Texas land, hours pass between glimpses of even moderate-sized cities. [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-09-04T07:42:10-07:00 September 3rd, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Graduate News, History|Comments Off

Welcome Back!

Happy first day of classes! It is going to be a great year!

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-09-04T09:23:12-07:00 August 26th, 2019|Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Earth Sciences, Economics, English, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Statistical Science, Tower Center, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off

Opinion: Parenting as violence erupts around the corner

Austin American Statesman Originally Posted: August 12, 2019 By Jo Guldi Jo Guldi is a professor at Southern Methodist University and a mother of a three-year-old. I am raising my child in a terrifying time from which I can’t protect her, nor have I done anything, with all my education and privilege, to fix the problems that inspire such rage and fear in me. My friend Rebekkah, a child therapist and descendant of survivors of pogroms, agrees. “I feel sickened,” she writes. Here we were, a child therapist and a professor, both mothers of small children, trying to digest the disturbing news of climate change, detention centers and mass shootings. The event we fixed on was not the incomprehensible gun violence in El Paso, but one [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-08-19T08:37:39-07:00 August 19th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, History|Comments Off

Congratulations to Hunter Kolon and Amanda Oh. They were recently awarded the Hatton Sumner Foundation Scholarship.

Tower Center Blog Originally Posted: July 8, 2019 The John G. Tower Center for Political Studies is thrilled to announce the recipients of The Hatton Sumner Foundation Scholarships. SMU incoming seniors Hunter Kolon and Amanda Oh were awarded scholarship that will support their interests in diplomacy and international affairs. READ MORE

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-07-15T10:04:31-07:00 July 15th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, History, Political Science, Statistical Science, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off

History Professor John Chávez Chairs Panel For World History Association Annual Conference

Dedman College News Originally Posted: July 8, 2019 History Professor John Chávez of SMU organized and chaired a panel for the World History Association’s annual conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 29, 2019. Presenting with him were John Mwangi Githigaro of St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya, and Dittmar Schorkowitz of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale, Germany. The panel, especially Schorkowitz’s paper, briefly compared continental and overseas colonialism together with other forms, such as settler, internal, neo-, and post-colonialism, concepts that have developed into distinct theories within the larger colonial paradigm in world history. Mwangi’s paper investigated the enduring legacies of colonial rule including the related practices, strategies, and mechanisms of political control in Kenya and Rwanda after independence. [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-07-08T06:49:28-07:00 July 8th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off

Jo Guldi and Sanderia Faye Smith, Festival of Books and Ideas serves up 5-day buffet of ideas for Dallas

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: June 6, 2019 The fifth annual Dallas Festival of Books and Ideas delivered an extravagant buffet of thought. Ideas overflowed, like the flash floods caused by downpours during the festival's final day on June 1. The talking points flitted from caring for the city's elderly to Dallas' cultural and racial diversity, to its need to be more welcoming, to its emerging status as a beacon of science and technology. As a kind of dessert to the main course, the festival also treated us to a candid look at Dallas' growing identity as a haven for people who write books. Speakers ranged from poets and novelists to scientists and architects, who over five days pondered a range of topics, underscoring the theme "The Open City." [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2019-06-17T09:29:39-07:00 June 14th, 2019|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Faculty News, History|Comments Off