UT Public Lectures TodayinAustin

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2011-03-08T04:09:00Z

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Scholar lectures on bureaucracy & power in revolutionary Paris

2010-09-14T20:05:46Z

Monday, March 7, noon, GAR 4.100. "Local Bureaucracy, Universal Power: The Political Construction of Scale in Revolutionary Paris, 1789-1815," will be presented by Dr. Stephen Sawyer, assistant professor of history and chair of the Department of History, American University of Paris. Sawyer specializes in urban political history with an emphasis on the role of cities in territorial and state construction in the Atlantic world. He has published in Annales: Histoire et Sciences Sociales as well as chapters in several books. He is currently preparing a book manuscript for publication on the history of the Paris Municipality from 1789 to 1880.

Author Rabih Alameddine discusses storytelling

2011-02-16T12:52:45Z

Monday, March 7, noon, Student Activity Center (SAC) 5.118. Lebanese-American writer and painter Rabih Alameddine presents "The Hakawati: Middle Eastern/Non-Middle-Eastern and Western/Non-Western Storytelling: A Reading/Discussion." Alameddine reads from his novel "The Hakawati" ("The Storyteller") and follows with a discussion about modes of storytelling in the Arab world and the Western world, asking whether in the age of Tom Cruise, Jet Li and Shakira there can be anything resembling an authentic form of local storytelling.

Harry Ransom Center offers free exhibition tours

2011-03-05T06:00:00Z

Sunday, March 6, 2 p.m., Harry Ransom Center, 21st and Guadalupe. Take a free guided tour of the exhibitions "Becoming Tennessee Williams" and "Culture Unbound: Collecting in the Twenty-First Century" on Sundays at 2 p.m. Call 512-475-8086 to make arrangements for groups of 10 or more.

Tour Blanton's "Recovering Beauty" exhibit

2011-03-05T06:00:00Z

Sunday, March 6, 3 p.m., Blanton Museum. Discover the "recovery" of beauty in Argentina that was led by a close-knit group of artists determined to celebrate life and joy after decades of harsh political rule.

Explore Landmarks during Explore UT

2011-03-02T20:19:03Z

Saturday, March 5, 11 a.m., Bass Concert Hall (PAC). Curious about public art? Join student docents to learn about Landmarks projects located throughout the main campus during the 12th annual Explore UT, a day featuring nearly 400 events suitable for the entire family. Throughout the day, student docents will be stationed near works of art in order to share Landmarks campus maps, provide activity guides for children and answer questions about the collection. Explore Landmarks meets at the following sculptures: "Figure on a Trunk," near Bass Concert Hall in the Main Plaza; "The West," east of the Computation Center, near Inner Campus Drive; "Amaryllis," across from Texas Memorial Museum.

Ransom Center offers free public tours of exhibits

2011-03-04T06:00:00Z

Saturday, March 5, 2 p.m., Harry Ransom Center, 21st and Guadalupe. Take a free guided tour of the exhibitions "Becoming Tennessee Williams" and "Culture Unbound: Collecting in the Twenty-First Century" on Saturdays at 2 p.m. Call 512-475-8086 to make arrangements for groups of 10 or more.

Textile artist Magda Sayeg presents lecture

2011-02-16T12:42:15Z

Saturday, March 5, 1 p.m., Blanton Auditorium. Textile artist Magda Sayeg gives a special lecture on "A Knitted Wonderland" in the auditorium during Explore UT.

Seminar examines Scowcroft & Thatcher

2011-03-01T10:19:18Z

Friday, March 4, 2:45 p.m., Harry Ransom Center 3.206 (Tom Lea Rooms). The Faculty Seminar on British Studies presents "Brent Scowcroft, Mrs. Thatcher, and National Security," a talk by Professor Bartholomew Sparrow, Government Department. In one of the most important achievements of the first Bush administration - the peaceful reunification of Germany - National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft was utterly opposed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Yet the disagreement masked a remarkable closeness between Scowcroft and the British, as throughout his career Scowcroft repeatedly acted in concert with them and maintained an effective and special relationship. Sparrow is the author of "From the Outside In: World War II and the American State," "Uncertain Guardians: The News Media as a Political Institution" and "The Insular Cases and the Emergence of American Empire." He is currently writing a biography of Brent Scowcroft.

Modern Arabic literary heroine is lecture topic

2011-02-23T14:41:38Z

Friday, March 4, 3 p.m., Texas Union, Eastwoods Room. "A Room of One's Own: The Modern Arabic Heroine Between Career and Domesticity" is a talk by William Granara, Harvard University. Granara examines two contemporary Arabic novels, "Granada" by Radwa Ashour, and "Munira's Bottle" by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, both of which bring the issue of women's role in family and society into deeper scrutiny, as the rebellious female protagonist, in her desire to live her own life on her own terms, takes her family into treacherous political waters. Set during the Inquisition of early 16th-century Spain ("Granada"), and during the first Gulf War of the last decade of the 20th century ("Munira's Bottle"), these novels construct new and exciting complex female protagonists who commit themselves to balancing home and career during times of great social and political upheaval.

CMAS hosts public reading and performance showcase

2011-02-25T15:08:45Z

Friday, March 4, 5:30 p.m., San Jacinto Conference Center, Room 207 AB. The Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) sponsors an event showcasing the creative work of Amalia Ortiz, Belinda Acosta and the participants of the CMAS @ 40 Creative Writing Workshops. Refreshments will be provided.

Tropical glacial melt in Peru is colloquium topic

2011-02-14T09:46:27Z

Friday, March 4, 4 p.m., Geography Building (GRG) 102. Dr. Daene C. McKinney, P.E., presents "Modeling Basin-Scale Water and Climate Issues in a Glacier Dominated Basin: The Rio Santa Basin, Peru." Accelerated tropical glacial melt in Peru's Cordillera Blanca region is causing rural communities and urban authorities to seek technical support for risk management and adaptation actions to support livestock, irrigation and human consumption. McKinney is the William A. Cunningham professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.

"Persian Girls" is talk, reading by Nahid Rachlin

2011-02-23T13:38:02Z

Thursday, March 3, 11 a.m., Parlin Hall (PAR) 208. Nahid Rachlin reads from and discusses her latest book, "Persian Girls," a beautifully written memoir that parts the curtain on one Iranian household, delving into the complex and fascinating dynamics of growing up female in a paternalistic society. Rachlin attended Columbia University M.F.A. program on a Doubleday-Columbia Fellowship and then went on to Stanford University's M.F.A. program on a Stegner Fellowship. In addition to "Persian Girls," her publications include four novels, "Jumping Over Fire," "Foreigner," "Married to a Stranger" and "The Heart's Desire," as well as a collection of short stories, "Veils." Rachlin's short stories have appeared in more than fifty magazines, including the "Virginia Quarterly Review," "Prairie Schooner," "Redbook" and "Shenandoah."

Journalism and violence in Mexico explored in talk

2011-02-25T09:14:59Z

Thursday, March 3, 12:30 p.m., Sid Richardson Hall (SRH) 1.313, Hackett Room.

Pleasures & perils of feminist blogging discussed

2011-03-01T09:47:24Z

Thursday, March 3, 4 p.m., Union Building 2.102 (Eastwoods Room). The History Gender Symposium presents Dr. Ann Little, associate professor in early American history at Colorado State University and the author of the blog Historiann. Little discusses her experiences using new social media to discuss academic topics and issues of gender in higher education.

Drama critic John Lahr discusses Tennessee Williams

2011-03-01T09:46:09Z

Thursday, March 3, 7 p.m., Jessen Auditorium in Homer Rainey Hall at The University of Texas at Austin. The University Co-op presents "Tennessee Williams and the Out-Crying Heart," a Harry Ransom Lectures event with John Lahr, senior drama critic of the "New Yorker." In this talk, Lahr discusses the origins of Williams' dramatic voice and how it changed over the decades.

Enlightenment in Spain and colonies is talk topic

2011-02-22T15:14:59Z

Wednesday, March 2, 4 a.m., Texas Union 3.128 (Sinclair Suite). The Distinguished Speaker Series in Latin American History and the History Gender Symposium proudly present a talk by Dr. Bianca Premo, assistant professor of history at Florida International University and author of "Children of the Father King: Youth, Authority and Legal Minority in Colonial Lima." Premo's talk is titled "Taking Tyrants to Court: How Women and Other Litigants Made a Spanish Imperial Enlightenment."

Panel presents early thoughts on Egyptian revolt

2011-02-25T08:54:24Z

Tuesday, March 1, 7 p.m., Texas Union, Santa Rita Room (3.502). "People Power in Egypt" is a public panel and discussion of the recent Egyptian revolution featuring Jason Brownlee, Government Department; Yoav Di-Capua, History Department; Tarek El-Ariss, Middle Eastern Studies; and Samuel Shimon, author and editor. Light refreshments will be served.

Talk explores war, violence and the humanities

2011-03-01T08:52:27Z

Tuesday, March 1, 7:30 p.m., Avaya Auditorium, Applied Computational Engineering & Sciences (ACES) Building. Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg presents a discussion of "There Are No Bystanders When We Are at War." A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Sonnenberg specializes in interdisciplinary research on war, violence, psychic trauma and post-traumatic psychological disorders. A reception follows the discussion. Sonnenberg is on the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He participated as a Humanities Institute (HI) faculty fellow in spring 2010 and organized the wildly popular HI series "Teaching Our Teenagers to Think About War and Peace." He currently teaches at the School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. He is a founding member of the Humanities Institute Director's Circle. Contact Paula Kothmann with questions.

Dr. Tip Meckel, Gulf Coast Carbon Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 3/1/11

2011-02-01T16:23:00Z

Put It Back: Geologic Sequestration for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions

In this talk, Dr. Tip Meckel will discuss one of the promising but little known options to reduce atmospheric emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). Oxidation (by burning) of carbon stored in fossil fuels—coal, oil, gas—has transferred more than 250 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere since 1800. Changes in atmospheric concentration of CO2 show that the rates of emission exceed the rates of uptake, resulting in increases of atmospheric CO2. Fossil fuel reserves and rapidly growing global energy demand suggest that continuation of “business as usual” will result in rapidly increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. A variety of risks ranging from increased average temperature to decreased pH of ocean surface water are predicted from this change.

One method of reducing CO2 emissions, while still using fossil fuel resources, is to capture the CO2 from the combustion source before it is released to the atmosphere, and re-inject it into the subsurface of geologic environments similar to those from which it was extracted. This “put it back” process is known as carbon capture and geologic sequestration. Meckel’s research focuses on developing and testing techniques to assure that geologic sequestration sites will retain stored CO2 for geologically significant time periods.

Dr. Tip Meckel conducts sequestration research for the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at The University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Gulf Coast Carbon Center at BEG in 2006 focusing on geologic characterization, structural geology, monitoring design, and pressure evolution for CO2 injections. Dr. Meckel directs the research program for the Southeast U.S. Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership in Cranfield Mississippi, and leads the Texas research initiative to identify sequestration potential in state offshore lands.

Dr. Meckel earned his master’s degree in geology from the University of Montana in Missoula in 1998, and his doctorate in geology from The University of Texas at Austin in 2003. He subsequently taught undergraduate geology at Colby College in Maine before working with the U.S. Geological Survey as a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow on subsidence issues in Louisiana.

PLEASE RSVP TO:

Faith Singer-Villalobos
Communications Coordinator
Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)
The University of Texas at Austin
Email: info@austinforum.org
http://www.austinforum.org/speaker.html