News

On July 1, 2023, the Division of the Arts & Humanities welcomed 16 new faculty: 

Marié Abe, Department of Music: Marié Abe joins the division as an associate professor in the Department of Music and focuses on the intersection between improvisation and composition.

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.