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October 31, 2023

Professor Andrew F. Jones: "If you take literature seriously enough, you will find that it's a material force that changes the world"

This is an interview with Andrew F. Jones, Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, who also holds the Louis B. Agassiz Chair in Chinese, he is also the Head Graduate Advisor. Bold questions posed by Ann Chen. 

October 27, 2023

Interview: Mario Telò on bringing “antiquity” into steady dialogue with the "now"

Mario Telò is a Professor of Rhetoric, Ancient Greek & Roman Studies, and Comparative Literature; participating member in the Critical Theory DE.

To start us out, how did you first come to study classics and comp lit? And are there any interests you enjoy outside of academia that you see informing your studies? 

October 24, 2023

Berkeley News
Berkeley News: New banners celebrate 150+ years of Berkeley's prominence in teaching world languages

At least 60 languages — from Mongolian and Old Norse to Polish, Catalan, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic and Biblical Hebrew — are taught at UC Berkeley, one of the nation’s top institutions for the breadth and depth of its world languages program. A growing emphasis also is being placed at Berkeley on revitalizing and preserving endangered languages, most of them spoken by Indigenous peoples.

California Magazine
California Magazine: Mona Simpson's Literary Commitment

Mona Simpson made her mark on the literary world with her very first major work, the critically praised novel Anywhere But Here (1986), which was later adapted into the 1999 film by the same name starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. Since then, the Berkeley alum ('79) has added five more books to her name and garnered high-profile awards including a Whiting Prize, a Guggenheim, and a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

October 23, 2023

Dana BaniHammad: "Whenever I can, I like to speak Arabic with others"

Tell me about yourself and what languages you speak.
I am a double major in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and Political Science and I speak Arabic, English and a little bit of Turkish. I took Turkish at Berkeley.

Three Arts & Humanities faculty members selected as 2023 Hellman Fellows

Congratulations to assistant professors Lilla Balint (German), Fumi Okiji (Rhetoric), and Nathaniel Wolfson (Spanish and Portuguese) on being named 2023 Hellman Fellows!

October 20, 2023

Berkeley Language Center receives grant to support critical uses of A.I. in language instruction

The Berkeley Language Center (BLC) announced that it received a $150,000 grant from the Department of Education’s International Research and Studies Program to develop instructional materials on critically utilizing machine translation technology in language acquisition.

Berkeley News
Largest recent hire of faculty in the arts brings 10 gifted scholars to Berkeley

The recent hire of 10 faculty members in UC Berkeley’s Division of Arts and Humanities is "the largest arts hire in recent years, and it shines a light on the important role that artists play at a public research university," said Sara Guyer, dean of the division.

October 19, 2023

Art Daily
Art Daily: Hilary Harkness's first exhibition with P·P·O·W is now open

Hilary Harkness graduated in 1993 with a B.A. in Art Practice.

October 18, 2023

Wilson Wang: Learning my Best Friend's Language

Tell me about yourself and what languages you speak. 
I’m a senior with a double major in Film and Media Studies and Philosophy and I’m a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese. I also speak English and Cantonese Chinese, the latter of which I’ve been taking over the years here at Berkeley. I’m also on the Division of Arts & Humanities Dean's Leadership Team.

Department of English
Cathy Park Hong on Poetry, A.I. and an Intellectual Homecoming

This semester we were pleased to welcome Cathy Park Hong to the UC Berkeley Department of English as Professor and Class of 1936 First Chair in the College of Letters and Science. We spoke to her about poetry, AI and UC Berkeley as an intellectual homecoming. 

October 17, 2023

Aaron Oculto: "language-learning enabled a bridge connecting me to my parents and my own heritage"

Tell me about yourself and what languages you speak. 
I am a double major in Political Science and South and Southeast Asian Studies with a minor in Political Policy. I currently speak English, Tagalog, and American Sign Language, and I'm currently learning Burmese. 

October 16, 2023

A courageous past and a thriving present: Berkeley’s Korean program celebrates 80 years

The launch of Berkeley’s Korean program in 1943 was “a meaningful and significant part of Korean language history,” according to Associate Professor Jinsoo An, Choong Kun Cho Chair in Korean Studies and director of the Center for Korean Studies.

October 12, 2023

Pedro Rolon: Like Miasma: Hybrid Writing, Experimental Inquiry

Pedro Rolon is a PhD student in Comparative Literature and a Critical Theory DE Student who focused on a set of readings in the fields of Caribbean Studies, Black Studies, and Eco Poetics as well as engaging in the practice of experimental modes of critical writing.

Rolon received a Summer Research Grant from the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry within the Division of Arts & Humanities as part of the Mellon Foundation New Strategies for the Humanities grant.

Lauren Bartone: Botanical Genealogies

To celebrate National Humanities Month (October), we're featuring all types of humanities research from undergraduates, graduates and faculty at UC Berkeley.

Lauren Bartone is an 2nd year PhD student in Italian Studies who focuses on the history of botanical gardens and botanical collections that are grounded in the process of colonization.

Asli Akalin: "Berkeley is one of the best places to learn Chinese"

Tell us about yourself and what languages you speak. 

I studied economics and computer science in my undergrad at Berkeley and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in my graduate studies at Berkeley. I speak English, Turkish, Chinese, and Italian. And, I can speak Spanish and a little bit of German, though I’m definitely a beginner.

October 10, 2023

Nick Anderman: Exploring the Colonial History of Maritime Logistics

To celebrate National Humanities Month (October), we're featuring all types of humanities research from undergraduates, graduates and faculty at UC Berkeley.

Rokshana Bushra: Documenting Women's Narratives in Rural Bangladesh

To celebrate National Humanities Month (October), we're featuring all types of humanities research from undergraduates, graduates and faculty at UC Berkeley. 

October 9, 2023

David Kurkovskiy: "There's something special that happens when you meet people where they're at"

Tell us about yourself and what languages you speak. 

I'm a graduate student in the Slavic Languages and Literatures program at Berkeley. I also have a designated emphasis in Jewish Studies. I speak English, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Polish, Yiddish, Lithuanian, and French.

October 6, 2023

US News and World Report
Why Majoring in the Humanities Can Be a Great Career Move

There is an academic department at Arizona State University that may surprise many people: More than 90% of undergraduates that do a local internship are employed when they graduate.

The department? Not business or computer science, as many people may initially guess.

English.