Happenings on the Hill
Literacy App Tied For Grand Prize
A treasure-hunting smartphone app developed by SMU and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) to help low-literate adults learn to read tied for the grand prize in a competition hosted by the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE.
The SMU-LIFT team, PeopleforWords, won $1.5 million as a grand prize winner and an additional $1 million achievement award for the most useful app to help adult English language learners learn to read in the competition presented by the Dollar Literacy Foundation.
Author Sets Novel During George W. Bush Presidency
Thomas Mallon, an American novelist, essayist, and critic, will talk about his novel Landfall at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at the SMU Fondren Library.
The historical fiction novel is based on the political life of George W. Bush, starting in the late 1970s and reaching to the events of Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and the war in Iraq.
The event is free, and a reservation-only reception is $30 and includes a copy of the book. Visit smu.edu/friends for tickets, more information.
‘Supreme Court in Age of Trump’
David A. Kaplan, award-winning legal affairs writer, will deliver the 2019 William J. O’Neil Lecture in Business Journalism, “The Supreme Court in the Age of Trump,” at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at SMU’s Owen Arts Center, 6101 Bishop Blvd.
The lecture is based on Kaplan’s latest book, The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court’s Assault on the Constitution, a critique of U.S. judicial power. Kaplan is the former legal affairs editor of Newsweek, where he covered the Supreme Court for a decade. A graduate of Cornell and the NYU School of Law, he teaches courses in journalism and ethics at NYU.
Admission is free, and tickets are not required. Visit mcs.smu.edu for more information.
