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August 2, 2023

Iggy Cortez joins the Department of Film & Media as Assistant Professor

UC Berkeley’s Division of Arts & Humanities is pleased to welcome professor Iggy Cortez as of July 1, 2023. Cortez is an assistant professor in the Department of Film & Media and specializes in world art cinema; digital media ecologies; queer theory; comparative critical race studies; and American independent film.

Mohamed Wajdi Ben Hammed joins the Department of Comparative Literature as Assistant Professor

UC Berkeley’s Division of Arts & Humanities is pleased to welcome professor Mohamed Wajdi Ben Hammed as of July 1, 2023. Ben Hammed is an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and specializes in modern Arabic literature, with a particular focus on how pre-modern Islamic concepts of time negotiate postcolonial transformations within the region’s political economy. 

Nicholas Baer joins the Department of German as Assistant Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome professor Nicholas Baer as of July 1, 2023. He is an assistant professor in the Department of German and specializes in film and digital media, aesthetics, critical theory and intellectual history. 

Accordionist and Ethnomusicologist Marié Abe joins the Department of Music as Associate Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome professor Marié Abe as of July 1, 2023. She is an associate professor in the Department of Music and focuses on the intersection between improvisation and composition.

Xueyin (Snow) Zhang joins the Department of Philosophy as Assistant Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley welcomes Xueyin (Snow) Zhang as of July 1, 2023. Zhang is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy with a specialization in formal epistemology, particularly Bayesian. 

Professor Shannon Jackson will be chair of the History of Art Department

The Division of the Arts & Humanities is pleased to announce that Shannon Jackson will be chair of the History of Art Department, as of July 1, 2023. Jackson is the Cyrus and Michelle Hadidi Professor of the Arts & Humanities and holds appointments in the departments of Rhetoric and Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. She specializes in collaborations across visual, performing, and media art forms and the role of the arts in social institutions and in social change. She will serve as chair following outgoing chair and professor Greg Levine. 

Poulomi Saha will be Co-Director of the Critical Theory Program

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce Professor Poulomi Saha as the new co-director of the Critical Theory program at UC Berkeley, effective July 1, 2023.

Sylvia Tiwon will be Chair of the Department of South and South East Asian Studies

The Division of the Arts & Humanities is pleased to announce that Sylvia Tiwon will be Chair of the Department of South and South East Asian Studies, as of July 1, 2023. 

Kate Heslop will be Chair of the Department of Scandinavian

The Division of the Arts & Humanities is pleased to announce that Kate Heslop will be Chair of the Department of Scandinavian, as of July 1, 2023. 

Mark Csikszentmihalyi will be Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures

The Division of the Arts & Humanities is pleased to announce that Mark Csikszentmihalyi will be Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, as of July 1, 2023. 

Anne Nesbet will be Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

The Division of the Arts & Humanities is pleased to announce that Anne Nesbet will be Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, as of July 1, 2023. 

Nesbet is a professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and in the Department of Film and Media. Her research focuses on silent and early sound film in France, Germany, and Russia as well as early Soviet culture. A current project centers around Soviet cinema and the construction of architectural space. 

Duncan MacRae will be Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce Professor Duncan MacRae as co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, effective July 1, 2023. 

Justin Davidson will be Director of the Program in Romance Languages and Literatures

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce Professor Justin Davidson as Director for the Program in Romance Languages and Literatures, effective July 1, 2023. 

Eric Falci will chair the Celtic Studies Program

The Division of the Arts & Humanities announces that Eric Falci will chair the Celtic Studies Program, as of July 1, 2023. Falci is professor and chair for the English department and specializes in Irish and 20th and 21st century British poetry. 

Professor Ethan Katz has been appointed as Director for the Center for Jewish Studies

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce Professor Ethan Katz as the new Director for the Center for Jewish Studies, effective July 1, 2023. 

Liesl Yamaguchi joins the Department of French as Assistant Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome professor Liesl Yamaguchi as of July 1, 2023. Yamaguchi is an assistant professor in the Department of French with a specialization in linguistics and translation.

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed joins the Department of Middle Eastern Languages & Culture as Assistant Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome Professor Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed as of July 1, 2023. Jacobsen Ben Hammed is an assistant professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages & Culture with a specialization in the continued life of Islamic philosophy as it was absorbed and transformed in Islamic theology and mysticism. 

Professor Cathy Park Hong joins the Department of English

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome Full Professor Cathy Park Hong as of July 1, 2023. Park Hong is joining the Department of English and holds the Class of 1936 First Chair in the College of Letters and Science. 

Grace Erny joins the Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies as Assistant Professor

The Division of Arts & Humanities at UC Berkeley is pleased to welcome professor Grace Erny as of July 1, 2023. Erny is an assistant professor in the Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies and specializes in the archaeology of early Greece from the end of the Late Bronze Age through the Archaic period. 

July 26, 2023

Art Practice
Art Practice Summer Abroad visits the coastal city of Eleusis, Greece

This July, the Department of Art Practice hosted its first Summer Abroad course in the coastal city of Eleusis, Greece. For four weeks, a group of 21 Cal students lived in Eleusis while participating in a summer Art 160 course called “Artmaking, Community, and Social Impact” led by Professor Jill Miller.