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This month, The Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) at the University of California, Berkeley, launched the Certificate in Global Digital Infrastructure, the first and only program of its kind in higher education. Created and led by internet infrastructure expert and Professor Nicole Starosielski of UC Berkeley’s Department of

Nataliia Goshylyk is a lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, where she teaches Ukrainian. Dr. Goshylyk received her M.A. in Philology from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn State University, and her PhD in linguistics from Kharkiv National University. She is the recipient of the Berkeley Language Center Summer Fellowship in 2022, as well as a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship from 2021-2022, and she was an Erasmus Mundus Ianus II recipient in 2015, where she did research in Graz, Austria.

Since joining UC Berkeley in 2009, Professor Jacob Dalton has helped shape the university’s Tibetan Studies program, bridging language, religious history, and Buddhist traditions. In this interview, he reflects on the program’s evolution, the challenges of learning Tibetan, and the broader significance of preserving Tibetan culture amid ongoing political and linguistic shifts.

Two new Chancellor’s Chairs will expand access for students, create tenure-track opportunities for up-and-coming scholars, and recognize the groundbreaking work of senior faculty in the fields of dance and performance studies. 

Since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2012 with a dual major in dance & Performance Studies and Psychology, Megan Lowe has performed with esteemed San Francisco Bay Area dance companies like Flyaway Productions, Lenora Lee Dance, Dance Brigade, Scott Wells and Dancers, Lizz Roman and Dancers,  and Epiphany Productions, all while choreographing her own works presented both live and on film.

Megan is also the Program Manager for Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies!

Liesl Yamaguchi, Assistant Professor in the Department of French at UC Berkeley, is a scholar and translator whose work bridges 19th-century French literature, poetics, linguistics, literary theory, and translation. In this interview, Professor Yamaguchi reflects on her path to academia, the interdisciplinary nature of her research, and the creative challenges of translation. She offers a preview of her forthcoming book, On the Colors of Vowels: Thinking Through Synesthesia, which examines the convergence of literary and scientific discourses on synesthesia in the 19th century.

Inspired by UC Berkeley Professor Frances Hellman and started at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, the Hellman Fellows Fund provides much needed support to pre-tenure assistant professors who have served for at least two years. Established in 1995, the Hellman Fellows Program has since expanded to include all ten UC campuses and a handful of private institutions. 

Alankrita Malhotra is a sophmore and is forging an interdisciplinary path by combining her passions for Data Science and the humanities. Her work on computational folklore and Nordic flavor networks under the guidance of Professor Timothy Tangherlini, who we interviewed for the project last month, highlights the innovative potential of digital humanities.

There’s a new performance hall at UC Berkeley, and its arrival comes at an exciting and critical time for the Department of Music: From fall 2020 to fall 2024, the number of declared undergraduates majoring in music at Berkeley grew 236%.

“Music is, in fact, the fastest growing major on campus, by a large margin,” said Mark Shaw, music department manager.

According to Berkeley’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, the number of declared undergraduate music majors jumped from 55 in fall 2020 to 195 in fall 2024.

Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Ph.D., is a UC Berkeley alum who graduated with an English degree in 1992. Today, Valerie is a consultant, researcher, publisher, and creator of the children’s picture book series, Cocoa Kids Collection®.

UC Berkeley Professor Timothy Tangherlini, of the Department of Scandinavian and the School of Information, has been named one of the co-principal investigators on a groundbreaking $7.5 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense. The project, led by researchers at Indiana University, will bring together an interdisciplinary team of experts in informatics, psychology, communications, and folklore to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) influences online communication, including the spread of misinformation and radicalizing messages.

A project funded by the University of California’s Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) spotlights UC Berkeley's contribution in addressing critical global challenges through interdisciplinary innovation.

We are delighted to announce that Linda Haverty Rugg, professor in UC Berkeley's Scandinavian Department, has been named co-recipient of this year's prestigious Prize for the Introduction of Swedish Culture Abroad, awarded by the Swedish Academy—the institution responsible for the Nobel Prizes.

Berkeley, CA — UC Berkeley’s Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry (CICI) and the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs (ICCTP) have been awarded $2.6 million to support a groundbreaking multi-year initiative titled “A Counter-Imaginary in Authoritarian Times.” Through collaborative workshops, conferences, performances, publications, and a dynamic, open-ended digital platform, this project brings together academics, artists, activists, and other community members to develop concrete strategies, tools, and proposals to create a counter-imagin