Spring 2020
Message from the Director
Our semester is well underway here at the Glasscock Center, with activities ranging from our weekly faculty and graduate colloquia, working group activities, and book chats, to our own major events and those which we support and co-sponsor through a range of grants.
We have been busy organizing the celebration of our 20th Annual Susanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship, which has been awarded to Louis Hyman (Cornell). His book, Temp: How American Work, American Business, and the American Dream Became Temporary, is the untold history of the surprising origins of the “gig economy.” The book was named a “Triumph” of 2018 by The New York Times book critics, is the winner of the William G. Bowen Prize, and has been shortlisted for the 800-CEO-READ Business Book Award. The New York Times writes that Temp is “Illuminating and often surprising…a book that encourages us to imagine a future that is inclusive and humane rather than sentimentalize a past that never truly was.” Please join us for a community event at 6:30pm on Wednesday, March 4th in the George Bush Presidential Library, and the award presentation and lecture at 4pm on Thursday, March 5th in our own Glasscock Library (Room 311).
Our two initiatives, Global Health Humanities (GHH) and Humanities: Land Sea Space (HLSS), which reflect pressing global issues and novel cross-disciplinary research, have been gaining strong momentum through various research activities and building new partnerships. Colonial Psychiatry and its Aftereffects will take place on April 1st and is co-sponsored with the History Department. This forum engages the practices and concepts associated with colonial psychiatry and their ongoing effects upon global health. Coastal Communities and Justice, a symposium to be held on April 23rd, will explore questions concerning environmental justice, community, and forms of resilience in coastal places in Texas and beyond. This event is co-sponsored with the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center at Texas A&M. We are very excited to be screening the documentary film, Seadrift (Tim Tsai, 2019) as part of the symposium. The film tells the story of tragic events which took place in the Seadrift, Texas fishing community in 1979 and their aftermath. Seadrift has been featured at numerous film festivals, including Slamdance, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. As always, our Glasscock events are free and open to all!
The Glasscock Center recently welcomed two graduate research assistants to the team, Shannon Gonzenbach (English) and Victoria Green (Philosophy). They are assisting us with our two initiatives, as well as making progress on researching and developing new GCHR projects related to the public humanities. We’re delighted to have them on board!
We hope that you enjoy the rest of the semester, and we look forward to welcoming you to our colloquia and upcoming spring events! Check them out on our web calendar for more information.
Emily Brady
Susanne M. and Melbern G. Glasscock Director and Chair
Professor of Philosophy