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CENTERS & INSTITUTES

The following centers and institutes are located at Southern Methodist University, serving as resources to the University, the community and the world. Many also offer opportunities for scholarly research and writing, conferences, periodic lectures and symposia. Questions about the centers and institutes should be sent to their directors or faculty members.


All University

Linda and Mitch Hart eCenter The eCenter provides leadership in the development and use of interactive network technologies. It promotes the creation and dissemination of knowledge about these technologies and their effects on global society by drawing together researchers and practitioners from the academic, corporate, and civic communities.
Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility The Center supports research, writing and teaching in ethics at the graduate and undergraduate level; organizes local seminars, colloquia, and workshops; and recognizes citizens who exemplify the spirit of moral leadership and public virtue.

  Arts

Temerlin Advertising Institute The Institute strives to advance the state of advertising communication through partnerships with both industry and government and through programs to blend the research interests of the academy and the profession. While enhancing the effectiveness of advertising domestically and abroad, Institute professors with high levels of advertising expertise and experience provide undergraduate instruction to a select group of students, within an environment that fosters creativity, energy and ethical conduct.

Business

Business Information Center The Center provides high-quality information services for Cox Business School students and others in the University community.
Business Leadership Center The Center provides Cox Business School students with the "soft skills" needed to be successful in business. The BLC offers classes and seminars that complement the curriculum at the school.
Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship As one of the oldest entrepreneurship centers in the United States, the Institute has for more than 25 years been committed to encouraging those who can to build a business of their own.
JCPenney Center for Retail Excellence The Center is a leading source of academic expertise on consumer shopping behavior and the effects of retailer activities on shopping behavior.
Maguire Energy Institute The Institute promotes the study of policy, marketing, and management issues related to oil, natural gas and electricity.
Southwestern Graduate School of Banking The School offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-industry program designed for those seeking a dynamic approach to graduate-level instruction in banking.

Engineering

The Institute for Engineering Education

The Institute is one the nation's leading organizations that develops and delivers engineering curriculum for K-12 students. Today, the Institute is home to nationally recognized and award winning programs such as The Infinity Project and Visioneering which reach millions of students in all fifty states.
The Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing This Center conducts cutting edge research and development in new, sophisticated manufacturing technologies. In 2005, the center became part of the highly competitive National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing. Each year, over 300 corporate researchers and academicians visit the center.

 Law

Center for Pacific Rim
Legal Studies
The primary goal of the Center is to enhance the international and American law students' legal skills so they may be more effective as lawyers, corporate executives, government officials, or members of the judiciary, and as members of a global society.
Law Institute of the Americas Established in 1952, the Institute was designed to promote good will and to improve relations among the people of the Americas through the study of comparative laws, institutions, and governments, and to train lawyers in handling legal matters pertaining to the nations of the western hemisphere.
London Forum The London Forum is committed to the mission of pooling, fostering and developing specialized scholarship in the area of international economic development law as it relates to Developing Countries, by providing a range of coordinated venues based in London and at the other Constituent and Collaborating Institutions, for meaningful research, debate and capacity-building as well as for academic, curricular and program development and publication opportunities accessible to young and promising scholars and policy-makers from the Developing World. The Forum also undertakes specific capacity-building training programs.
Ellen K. Solender Institute in Free Speech and Mass Media Law The Solender Institute provides materials to researchers from courts, legislatures, bureaucracies, the legal profession, legal education, mass media, and telecommunications services. Its focus is on media law and issues affecting the free flow of information.

 Science and Humanities

Center for Scientific Computation The center is an interdisciplinary research center devoted to the application of computational techniques to problems in mathematics, engineering, and applied sciences. 
Center for Statistical Consulting and Research The Center seeks to advance the understanding of the theory and methodology of statistical science by engaging in the most effective processes and in first-class research activities.
William P. Clements Center For Southwest Studies The Center sponsors scholarly research and writing, conferences, periodic lectures and symposia on the people, institutions and cultures of the Southwest.
Institute for the Study of Earth and Man The Institute develops and supports interdisciplinary research projects in the geological sciences, archaeology, anthropology, energy and the environment.
John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies The Center supports teaching and research programs in international studies and national security policy. It also sponsors conferences, lectures, seminars, symposia and workshops on contemporary political issues.

 Students

Altshuler Learning
Enhancement Center
The Center provides undergraduate students with academic support and guidance beyond the classroom experience, helping them become more independent, self-confident, and efficient learners.
Gifted Students Institute The Institute is dedicated to the education and development of talented and gifted students by providing services to educators and their schools, as well as students and their families.

 Teaching and Education

Center for Teacher Education The Center prepares undergraduate and graduate students to meet the requirements for certification in elementary, secondary, and all levels music education in the state of Texas and in most other states.
Center for Teaching Excellence The Center establishes university-wide programs that promote and encourage teaching excellence; provides individualized support for the development of teaching excellence; and recognizes excellence in teaching and pedagogic innovation.
Institute for Reading Research The Institute promotes reading skills through research in the areas of reading acquisition and progress in young children, adult literacy, reading instruction, and bilingual education. 

 Theology

Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism The Center helps Christian denominations recover, develop, and renew their evangelistic heritage and ministry by providing a comprehensive program of research, publication, and continuing education.
Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions The Center promotes a deeper understanding of the varieties of religious life and expression within the Latino communities in the USA and Latin America and addresses issues related to the Latino/a religious experience within a broader ecumenical and religious context.

 

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