Headlines & Publications
Ashley Bender: "Legislature should pass a paid parental leave bill" for Austin American Statesman
4/30/21
"On April 21, 17 state treasurers from across the U.S. urged Congress to institute a paid family leave plan policy," writes Assistant Professor Ashley Bender, PhD, in an op-ed for Austin American Statesman. "Unfortunately, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar was not among them. Yet now more than ever, we need Texas state officials to consider the benefits of paid family leave, broadly, and paid parental leave, more specifically."
Gretchen Busl: "What speculative fiction and possible worlds theory taught me about grief" for Tor.com
4/27/21
"Those novels which tell alternate histories do so knowing that the past cannot be changed, that their story is not the 'truth'—but speculative fiction is not escapism," writes Associate Professor Gretchen Busl, PhD, in an op-ed for Tor.com. "Narrative theory reminds us that counterfactual fiction is a tool for better understanding our own world, even as it seems to contradict it."
Jackie Hoermann-Elliott: "Writing to Live" for Fort Worth Weekly
4/14/21
"In college writing classes, it’s not uncommon to read essays interrogating psychological disorders, misogyny, racism, and the deleterious effects of homophobia that have impacted students’ lives," writes Jackie Hoermann-Elliott, PhD, in an op-ed for Fort Worth Weekly. "What is novel is the upward trending interest in writing about personal traumas brought on by the pandemic."
Danielle Phillips-Cunningham: "The long history of Black women organizing in Georgia might decide Senate control" for The Washington Post
12/10/20
"With Georgia narrowly supporting the Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992, there has been no shortage of well-deserved stories about Black women’s influence on the state flipping," writes Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, PhD, Program Lead of Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies, in an op-ed for The Washington Post. "This is not surprising. Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown, Errin Haines, Keisha Lance Bottoms and others have worked tirelessly to ensure that the voices of African Americans and other historically marginalized people in the state are heard. Their work was instrumental in securing Joe Biden’s win and forcing a U.S. Senate runoff in the state."
Jackie Hoermann-Elliott: "Woman. Mother. Ph.D.?" for Fort Worth Weekly
6/27/18
"In May, I earned my doctorate from Texas Christian University. In June, a media firestorm was unleashed on the subject of women earning doctorates," writes Jackie Hoermann-Elliott, PhD, in an op-ed for Fort Worth Weekly. "Last week, British cultural historian and columnist Dr. Fern Riddell set the Twitterverse aflame with her cheeky hashtag #ImmodestWomen, seeking a conversation among British and North American professors about Western culture’s resistance to seeing female scholars as equal intellectual partners."