News – Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

10 steps toward better presidential debating

The Hill Originally Posted: October 19, 2020 BY BEN VOTH, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR Presidential debates exist as a televised tradition since 1960 in the United States, but the Commission on Presidential debates (CPD) presented this year is horribly flawed and must be re-imagined. Moderators have evolved to be the center of attention rather than the candidates — who seize on the opportunity to deliver propaganda rather than defend the policy. Our drift to “town hall” formats is an unfulfilling and unrevealing substitute for true debate. The debate scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, is likely to be the final presidential debate of the 2020 election season — this despite talk of a possible make-up debate for the missed Oct. 15 debate. Since the CPD took over the League [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-20T06:38:26-07:00 October 20th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Meet the Editors: A Conversation with Andy Graybill and Ben Johnson on the David J. Weber Series in New Borderlands History

UNC Press Blog Originally Posted: October 15, 2020 We’re pleased to share a Q&A with Andrew R. Graybill and Benjamin H. Johnson, series editors of our David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History. This series explores contested boundaries and the intercultural dynamics surrounding them and includes projects in a wide range of time and space within North America and beyond, including Atlantic and Pacific worlds. Series editors welcome outstanding works that “speak back” to the rich literature that has developed over the last few decades, using the concept of borderlands to examine, analyze, and interpret both the North American borderlands and other areas connected to continental processes of making and crossing borders. We are also pleased to announce two new members of the [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-15T08:56:51-07:00 October 15th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, History, SW Center|Comments Off

Weber-Clements Book Prize Winner Announced – Maurice Crandall for These People Have Always Been a Republic

Clements Center Originally Posted: October 15, 2020 The 2019 Weber-Clements Prize for the Best Non-fiction Book on Southwestern America is awarded to Maurice S. Crandall for his volume, These People Have Always Been a Republic: Indigenous Electorates in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, 1598-1912 (David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History, University of North Carolina Press, 2019). READ MORE

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-15T08:54:11-07:00 October 15th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, SW Center|Comments Off

The Outsized Role of the President in Race Relations

Smithsonian Originally Posted: October 8, 2020 resident Barack Obama’s love of the Martin Luther King quote “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” went so deep that he had it woven into a rug in the Oval Office. For Obama, writes author Mychal Denzsel Smith, the quote was used “to temper the hope his presidency inspired, to remind those who had placed their faith in his message of change that it would not be one singular moment… that would usher in a new and just society.” Since the founding of the nation, the United States has had its share of moments that bent the arc in a more just direction, particularly on matters of race, such as the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-15T08:58:22-07:00 October 12th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Unexpected Change Brings Unexpected Rewards

Tower Center Blog Originally Posted: October 8, 2020 Allison Schultz ’21, a Highland Capital Management Tower Scholar and recipient of the Hamon Internship, quickly adapted her summer internship at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to an online-only format. Although she was not able to interact in person, her experience was no less diminished. Find out what Allison found to be rewarding in the post below. As a summer college intern for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, I was prepared to attend trials, analyze legal documents, draft memos, and conduct research for one of the leading prosecutor’s offices in the nation. Weeks before the start of the program, with the outbreak of COVID-19 ravaging New York City and progressively spreading across the nation, the office transitioned the internship [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-08T18:42:34-07:00 October 7th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Tower Center, Undergraduate News|Comments Off

It’s Time to Reform How Presidential Debates Go

American Thinker Originally Posted: October 3, 2020 Amid the clamor and uproar of presidential debate number one on Tuesday night, moderator Chris Wallace invited the president to come and take his seat as the moderator. Though meant in jest, the exchange was an important signifier of the ongoing struggle to have better presidential debates. The responsibility for the quality of presidential debates rest squarely with the Commission on Presidential Debates, as it has since that commission took over the process from the League of Women Voters in 1987. While improvements have been made, the process continues to be squandered by the commission, and its admission Wednesday that immediate reforms will be implemented is an admission of ongoing problems. Reforms are possible to make the debates a more ideal means for public [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-06T08:00:26-07:00 October 6th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News|Comments Off

Prevent the flu at SMU

SMU health officials urge students, faculty and staff to take preventive measures to protect their health against the flu. Because flu can spread by contact with people who are ill, SMU health officials recommend getting a flu shot when they become available. FREE flu vaccinations are available for all students starting September 21. For your safety, we will be administering shots at flu shot stations outside the Health Center. NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED! Getting a flu shot this year will be far more important than ever this year due to COVID-19. READ MORE

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-05T06:45:42-07:00 October 5th, 2020|Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Earth Sciences, Economics, English, Events, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Statistical Science, World Languages and Literatures|Comments Off

North Texas Political Science Experts React to 2020 Presidential Debate

WBAP/KLIF Posted: September 30, 2020 North Texas political scientist experts react to Tuesday night’s Presidential Debate. University of North Texas Debate Coach Brian Lane said moderator Chris Wallace wasn’t able to control them. “I felt for him. We were joking that Wallace should get hazzard pay for that kind of appointment,” said Lane. Lane said Americans really didn’t get much of a debate at all, more name calling. “We got a lot of exchange back and forth, name calling…there was a lot of missed opportunity there,” he said. Lane said candidates didn’t really take advantage of the opportunity to address important issues. Lane did though pay close attention to their body language. “The president was on the attack was very animated…When Biden was talking Trump [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-10-01T08:13:08-07:00 October 1st, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Faculty News|Comments Off

Parents Should Not Be Spanking Their Kids, and Here’s Why

Parents Magazine Originally Posted: September 2020 While most parents spank their children at some point, experts advise against the disciplinary practice. Learn more about the negative psychological, behavioral, and emotional effects of spanking, and figure out better alternatives for discipline. Few topics spark more debate among parents than spanking. But even though a majority of parents have used physical punishment on their children at some point, according to the including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), many experts and organizations, have spoken out against it. “Parents who occasionally spank aren't bad people,” explains George W. Holden, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Southern Methodist University and author of Parenting: A Dynamic Perspective, 2nd ed, who has studied the topic for about 25 [...]

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-09-30T07:12:28-07:00 September 30th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Faculty News, Psychology|Comments Off

SMU Presidential Debate

Ben Voth, Director of Debate and Speech will host four Presidential Debate events outside on the SMU campus. Sept. 29, Oct. 7, 15, and 22. Events are open to the community. From 7:30-8pm, there will be a pre-debate lecture. 9:30- 10pm there will be audience discussion.

By Katherine Nickles| 2020-09-29T09:38:20-07:00 September 29th, 2020|Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Dedman College Research, Events, Faculty News|Comments Off