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Q&A: Sea Monsters in Our Ancient Oceans Were Strangely Familiar

Smithsonian Magazine Originally Posted: September 18, 2018 Between 1961 and 2002, Angola was virtually inaccessible to scientists while the country struggled with war and civil unrest. Now, sixteen years after peace was achieved, never-before-seen fossils excavated from Angola’s coast will be on display in a new exhibit, called “Sea Monsters Unearthed,” which will debut at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on November 9. In 2005, Louis Jacobs and Michael Polcyn, paleontologists at Southern Methodist University and collaborators on the exhibition, led the first major expedition in Angola since the acceptance of the plate tectonics theory in the mid-1960s. Dubbed Projecto PaleoAngola, the expedition looked to study the effects of the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean on life over the last 130 million [...]

By | 2018-09-18T10:17:12+00:00 September 18th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Earth Sciences, Faculty News|Comments Off on Q&A: Sea Monsters in Our Ancient Oceans Were Strangely Familiar
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Immigration reform is rooted in Texas views, pollsters conclude

Dallas Morning News Originally Posted: September 12, 2018   The Bipartisan Policy Center says results of a survey to be released Friday support the view that Texas and its historic, pragmatic views on immigration are key to pushing for future reform. As the national debate over immigration rages on, conservative-leaning Texas is seen as an important bellwether state given its growing diversity, 1,000-mile border with Mexico and closeness to hot button topics ranging from sanctuary cities, the border wall, DACA to the separation of families entering the U.S. And those issues are complicated by a growing economy dependent on its immigrant labor force. The Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center think tank said results from the nationwide survey, conducted in conjunction with Southern Methodist University, show that, [...]

By | 2018-09-17T08:45:36+00:00 September 17th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, History|Comments Off on Immigration reform is rooted in Texas views, pollsters conclude
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SMU ranks No. 59 in 2019 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, up from No. 61 in 2018

Texas Tribune Originally Posted: September 10, 2018 Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin are the only Texas schools to rank in the top 50 nationwide, according to rankings released today from U.S. News & World report that placed the Houston private school in the 16th spot and UT-Austin in the 49th. With about a half-dozen of the state's colleges and universities again landing in the 50-to-200 range, there were few surprises for Texas schools in the 2019 rankings. Arguably the most influential comparison of higher education institutions in the country, the report is a marketing boon to colleges that rank highly, even as critics have questioned the methodology used to determine how schools fare. Compared to 2018, Rice, Baylor University, Texas Christian [...]

By | 2018-09-12T10:21:09+00:00 September 14th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences|Comments Off on SMU ranks No. 59 in 2019 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, up from No. 61 in 2018
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Who Gets to Write an Anonymous Op-Ed?

Rolling Stone Originally Posted: September 6, 2018 Jeffrey Engel, director of the SMU Center for Presidential History, is quoted in this article. What does a Trump administration official have in common with a woman fleeing gang violence in El Salvador and a student in Iran speaking out against Ahmadinejad? They share the rare distinction of having written anonymous op-eds for the New York Times. On Wednesday, the Times published an anonymous op-ed by a senior official inside the Trump administration claiming to be part of “the resistance,” working to thwart Trump’s “worst inclinations” from within the White House. The author called the president’s leadership style “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective,” and claimed to be working, along with “likeminded colleagues,” to limit the damage done by [...]

By | 2018-09-12T10:17:48+00:00 September 13th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off on Who Gets to Write an Anonymous Op-Ed?
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Congratulations to Pierce Allman ‘54 and Kelvin Beachum, Jr. ’10, ’12

SMU News Originally Posted: September 11, 2018 SMU Distinguished Alumni Awards to be presented on November 1 The University community will honor Pierce M. Allman ’54, Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 and Jane Chu ’81 with Distinguished Alumni Awards and Kelvin Beachum, Jr. ’10, ’12 with the Emerging Leader Award on November 1. The Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony recognizes extraordinary achievement, outstanding character and good citizenship in an event hosted by President R. Gerald Turner and the SMU Alumni Board. Pierce Allman has been a member of the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Executive Board since 1994. Beachum earned two degrees from SMU – a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a Master of Liberal Studies. More on Allman and Beachum: Pierce Allman, co-owner of Dallas real [...]

By | 2018-09-11T10:24:37+00:00 September 12th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences|Comments Off on Congratulations to Pierce Allman ‘54 and Kelvin Beachum, Jr. ’10, ’12
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Dialogue in the Classroom: an interview with Jill DeTemple

Essential Partners Originally Posted: September 6, 2018 Jill DeTemple Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University Can we make space in the classroom for students to develop convictions—identify what they believe, understand why they believe it, and become willing to share it—while simultaneously inviting them to hold those convictions with humility—an openness, curiosity, and willingness to listen to others? Dialogue in the classroom has been shown to deepen learning, improve student retention, and strengthen interpersonal connections. It can also help students strike that balance between humility and conviction, a balance that is crucial not only to intellectual rigor but also to the functioning of a diverse free society. For the past three years, Essential Partners has been working with a team of faculty [...]

By | 2018-09-11T08:24:51+00:00 September 11th, 2018|Anthropology|Comments Off on Dialogue in the Classroom: an interview with Jill DeTemple
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LHC CERN Announcement: Why Higgs Boson Decay Observation Matters

Newsweek Originally Posted: August 30, 2018 Higgs boson, the once-theoretical particle that backs up our best scientific model of the universe, has been observed decaying for the first time—and this is excellent news as it means everything we understand about our physical world still holds true. The discovery of Higgs boson in 2013 provided support for the Standard Model of particle physics. It describes three of the four fundamental forces in the universe—the strong force, the weak force, the electromagnetic force and the gravitational force—and explains how matter interacts. While incomplete, it is our best understanding of how the universe works. By observing the Higgs boson decaying, scientists have more evidence in support of the Standard Model. Scientists working at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider made [...]

By | 2018-09-06T07:57:28+00:00 September 6th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Physics|Comments Off on LHC CERN Announcement: Why Higgs Boson Decay Observation Matters
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Event: Sept. 11, Literature and Politics: A Conversation with B39 Writers

Date: Sept. 11, 2018 Location: EY Gallery Time:5:30-7:30 p.m. Contact: Lourdes Molina Five writers from Bogotá39, a group of the top Latin American writers under the age of 40, will discuss their work and its relationship with politics. Special guests: literary translator Christina MacSweeney and Dallas's own Will Evans from Deep Vellum Publishing. This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP: smu.edu/B39 Link for more information: www.smu.edu/b39  

By | 2018-09-05T18:07:20+00:00 September 5th, 2018|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Events, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off on Event: Sept. 11, Literature and Politics: A Conversation with B39 Writers
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