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September 8, 2022

Berkeley News
Dutch Studies Program hosts visit from Queen Máxima of the Netherlands for launch of Global Research Network

A tradition that began in 1944 of Dutch royalty visiting UC Berkeley continued today with a visit to campus by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. She was accompanied by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Dutch minister of education, culture and science, who announced the launch of the Dutch Network for Academics in the United States (DNA-US).

September 7, 2022

Berkeley News
Angel Island arts project explores immigration, architectures of incarceration

On a sunny afternoon in November 2020, in front of Sweet Adeline Bakery in south Berkeley, Susan Moffat came upon a string quartet.

“Their playing was spectacular,” said Moffat, creative director of Future Histories Lab at UC Berkeley.

The Booker Prize
Selby Wynn Schwartz's (Comp Lit '05) book 'After Sappho' has been longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

Selby Wynn Schwartz's debut novel...  After Sappho has been longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize! The judges write: "A poetic patchwork of fragments of literary history that together take shape as an intergenerational tale of the Lesbian family. An ancestry eruditely, playfully recovered." 

August 29, 2022

Rhetoric Ph.D. candidate Linda's Kinstler's new book 'Come to this Court and Cry' receives international praise

Linda Kinstler's (Rhetoric PhD Candidate) new book Come to This Court and Cry: How the Holocaust Ends, published by Public Affairs, has received national and international praise since it's publication in the US this August. Read select reviews below: 

The Guardian: Come to This Court and Cry by Linda Kinstler review – when Holocaust memories fade

Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Art Practice professor Stephanie Syjuco's current exhibition 'Double Vision' reconsiders mythologies of the American West

Art Practice professor Stephanie Syjuco's current exhibition Stephanie Syjuco: Double Vision reconsiders mythologies of the American West and reveals how these works and their presentation within a museum can perpetuate colonial lore. Double Vision creates an expansive multimedia installation that transforms images of renowned works from the Carter’s collection and investigates narratives of national identity. Using digital editing, staged photography, and archival excavation to reframe works by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, and others. 

August 23, 2022

The Magnes
"In Real Times" exhibition from The Magnes headed to The National WWII Museum
The Magnes exhibition In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights (1926-1951), created to showcase the Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection, is poised to open at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans on September 1. As The Magnes’ first-ever traveling exhibition, this partnership sets in motion plans to showcase the Arthur Szyk and Vishniac collections across the US and internationally.
A Year on Angel Island

In 2022-2023, UC Berkeley’s Arts + Design Initiative and Future Histories Lab will sponsor a series of music and dance performances, exhibitions, public conversations, and courses using Angel Island’s historic immigration station as a jumping-off point for discussion about race in America, global migration, and architectures of incarceration. We’ll use the arts, design, and historical and landscape interpretation to understand current events and envision better futures.

August 22, 2022

The Booker Prizes
Alum Selby Wynn Schwarz (Ph.D. '03) long-listed for Booker Prize for debut novel "After Sappho"

"What if the centre of history were occupied by what women thought about?"

Selby Wynn Schwartz, author of After Sappho, talks about the influence of Virginia Woolf, writing in the first-person plural and reading ravenously. Schwartz received her Ph.D. in comparative literature at UC Berkeley in 2003.

August 19, 2022

Professor Eric Falci Appointed as Chair, English Department

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Eric Falci will chair the English department, as of July 1, 2022. Falci is a professor in the English department and specializes in Irish and 20th and 21st century British poetry. He will serve as chair following outgoing interim chair and professor Ian Duncan.

Professor Alva Noë Appointed as Chair, Department of Philosophy

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Alva Noë will chair the department of Philosophy, as of July 1, 2022. Noë is a philosopher of mind whose research and teaching focus is perception and consciousness, and the philosophy of art. 

August 18, 2022

Dædalus, A Publication of the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences
Essay: Beyond the Survival of the Global Humanities

Abstract

Dædalus, A Publication of the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences
Essay: The Public Futures of the Humanities

Abstract

The Division Welcomes 10 New Chairs and Directors

On July 1, 2022, the Division of the Arts & Humanities welcomed new chairs and directors for 10 departments and centers: 

Professor Estelle Tarica Appointed as Chair, Department of Spanish & Portuguese

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Estelle Tarica will be chair of the department of Spanish & Portuguese, as of July 1, 2022. Tarica is Professor of Latin American Literatures and Cultures in the department of Spanish and Portuguese and a former chair of the Latin American Studies program. She will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Michael Iarocci.

Professor Ronald Rael Appointed as Chair, Department of Art Practice

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Ronald Rael will be chair of the department of Art Practice, as of July 1, 2022. Rael holds a split appointment as Professor in the College of Environmental Design and in the department of Art Practice. He will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Al-an deSouza.

Associate Professor SanSan Kwan, Chair of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

SanSan Kwan will chair the department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies as of July 1, 2022. Kwan is Associate Professor and previously served as the department Vice Chair. She will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Joe Goode. 

Distinguished Professor James I. Porter Appointed as Chair, Department of Rhetoric

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that James I. Porter will be chair of the department of Rhetoric, as of July 1, 2022. Porter is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Classics as well as the Program in Critical Theory. He will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Michael Mascuch.

Associate Professor Robert Ashmore Appointed as Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Robert Ashmore will be chair of the department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, as of July 1, 2022. Ashmore is Associate Professor in the department and specializes in Chinese literature of the third through eleventh centuries. He will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Andrew Jones.

TEDxBerkeley
TEDxBerkeley: Poulomi Saha on Indian Spirituality at the Heart of the Early American Republic

WATCH

August 17, 2022

Arts Research Center
Beth Piatote Announced as New Director of the Arts Research Center

The Arts Research Center is thrilled to welcome incoming Director Beth Piatote. She will serve as ARC’s faculty director for the next three years and bring her brilliance, creativity, and political commitments to ARC as she continues to showcase how the arts act as vital research. She takes over from ARC’s incredible past Director, Julia Bryan-Wilson, who finished her tenure this summer.