Into the COLAverse

Join Dan Oppenheimer of the latest “Into the COLAverse: Office Hours” who talks with Professor Aldama about his comic book odyssey, including his recently published Pyroclast and forthcoming Through Fences, The Absolutely (Almost) True Adventures of Max Rodriguez, and The Steampunkera Chronicles. 

Art Markman, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing, shares his journey first finding his way to a cognitive science degree at Brown, a PhD at University of Illinois, the publishing of numerous books and innovating new cross-disciplinary learning spaces within and outside the classroom. […]

Faegheh Shirazi, professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, shares her journey from Iran to the US and the path that led to her research and teaching on the policing, marketing, and creative consumption of clothing, textiles, and food within and beyond Muslim societies. 

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, professor in the School of Journalism, and founder of Voces Oral History Center, shares her journey from growing up in Devine, Texas, to earning journalism BA and MA degrees at UT Austin, as well as a PhD from UNC, Chapel Hill. These and years of […]

Jo Hsu, professor in the Rhetoric and Writing, shares their journey from a love of storytelling and fiction reading as a child to an MFA in writing and PhD in Rhetoric at Penn State. Along the way we learn of the power of story to open us to new ways of seeing and experiencing the world—to […]

Rebecca Falkoff, professor in the Department of French and Italian, shares her journey from an undergrad studying Faust, literary theory, and languages at UPenn to a PhD in Italian Studies at UC Berkeley. Along the way we learn of her rich and expansive research and writing on hoarding—from 19th century Parisian flea markets to Sherlock […]

Judith Coffin, professor in the Department of History, shares her journey to French cultural history, especially focused on issues of gender, labor, and material practices of consumption and production. Along the way we learn about the impact of the invention of the sewing machine, the work and reception of Simone de Beauvoir, and so much […]

Anthony K. Webster, professor in the Department of Anthropology, shares his journey early interests in representation, language, and literature to Navajo poetics. Along the way we learn about linguistic anthropology, processes of attunement, lingual life histories, intergenerational poetic practices, hip hop, and healing of word-arts.

Annette M. Rodríguez, professor in the Department of History, shares her journey from childhood road trips in the Southwest to degrees at the University of New Mexico then Brown. Along the way, we learn of her innovative scholarship, collaborations, and data mapping projects that enrich understanding of historical continuities and inversions that create racialized constructions […]

David Yaeger, professor in the department of Psychology, shares his journey from being a K-8 teacher to a professor today focused on researching teen development and how we might design social and learning environments that encourage the growing of a belief that they can change, rather than the more negatively impactful sense of personality as […]

Randy Lewis, professor and chair of American Studies Department, shares how East Texas roots and New Jersey upbringing led to BA then PhD degrees at UT Austin where, as scholar and creator, he’s been innovating and expanding multiple fields of inquiry, shedding new light on film, music, and urban studies as well as cultural histories […]

Ashanté Reese, recently promoted to associate professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department, shares her journey from growing up in East Texas to Trinity University (BA), American University (PhD) to her innovative scholarly interventions in critical food and food justice studies, Black studies, and Black geographies. Along the way we learn of the […]

Scott Graham, professor in the Department of Rhetoric & Writing, shares his journey from philosophy to rhetoric, bioscience, health practice, and AI. Along the way we learn about the importance of new models for health care practice and delivery (Tweetorials included) as well as the pros and cons of AI systems in our everyday lives. 

Samantha Pickette, professor in Jewish Studies and Assistant Director to the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, shares how an early fascination with TV and literature her to become a scholar of representations of Jewishness, especially Jewish femininity in TV. Along the way, we learn about how today’s non-legacy TV increasingly represents the complexity of Jewishness […]

Hervé Picherit, professor in the Department of French & Italian, shares his journey from growing up in a Francophone family in Wyoming to writing, researching, and teaching French literature and film. He shares wonderful new insights into well-known French authors such as Marcel Proust and Louis-Ferdinand Céline as well as lesser knowns from WWII and those writing […]

Join UT Profs Frederick Luis Aldama (English), Domino Perez (English), and Steven Mintz (History) as they discuss and deliberate the current state of literary studies and the humanities generally within and outside the university.

Adela Pineda is an award-winning scholar and Lozano Long Endowed Professor in Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies. In this episode, Frederick talks with Adela about her origin story and what events led her to her field. They discuss visual technologies, literature, film, and the Mexican Revolution.

Lars Hinrichs, professor in the department of English, invites us on a journey from the University of Freiburg to UT Austin and how language evolves (especially varieties of English) from within and shaped by different communities.

Jossianna Arroyo-Martínez, professor in the departments of Spanish & Portuguese and African and African Diaspora Studies, takes us on a journey deep into how Latin American and Hispanophone Caribbean cultural traditions at once work within and against colonial legacies and its destructive race, sexuality, and gender stereotypes that continue to operate today in social media […]

Paola Bonifazio, professor in the department of French and Italian, discusses how the Italian film industry helped promote the modernization of Italy in and through its active shaping of identity and behavior of Italian people. She also shares insight into the huge popularity of photoromance magazines (graphic storytelling that uses photographs instead of drawings) in […]

Janet M. Davis, professor in American Studies and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, shares her journey from the Midwest to UT classroom and her exploration of American culture and nation building, from railroad and big top circus spectacles to founding of animal rights. We end with a discussion of the social and political implications of the […]

Janine Barchas, professor in English and Regent’s Council Centennial Professor in the Book Arts, shares how she became fascinated with the literature and all things (eyeglasses, donkey carriage, and pianos) to do with Jane Austen, including for instance how cheap reprints grew working class readerships.

David Sosa, professor in the department of Philosophy and the Louanne and Larry Temple Professorship in the Humanities, shares his journey as Cuban-American family in Providence Rhode Island and continuing legacy of studying philosophy, explaining the divisions between the different traditions and movements of philosophy including those that look to the cognitive sciences to understand […]

Bassam Sidiki, professor in the department of English, shares his journey from growing up in Karachi tohis scholarly work today focused on postcolonial studies, bioethics, and medical humanities. Along the way he shares with us new ways of understanding such beloved authors as Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad, Jack London, and Mark Twain, and so much […]

Jorge Pérez, professor in Spanish and Portuguese and Peter T. Flawn Centennial Professor, talks about his work on films made in Spain during Franco’s dictatorship and the new wave of films made post-Franco regime, including especially how film and fashion cohere and begin to shape new sets of ideas, values, and beliefs construct cultural identities.