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.
These new scholars, welcomed to campus to continue Berkeley’s legacy of shaping cultural movements, generational narratives and historical moments, are at the forefront of their respective fields in poetry and creative writing, ethnomusicology, world cinema, printmaking, painting, theater directing and other fields. Their hiring was modeled after a cluster hire — an approach in which multiple scholars are hired into one or more departments based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests — to provide them with an intentional community of practice.
"The arts at Berkeley help to shape the conversations we have, the research we do, and guide us toward our commitment to the greater good," said Guyer. "These faculty bring new perspectives and ideas to campus — from their studios, classrooms and screens — that help us to imagine a world that doesn’t yet exist."
She added that Berkeley’s arts departments are experiencing "an incredible amount of interest, and we’re seeing enrollments rise in art practice, music, and film and media studies, in particular, especially as incoming undergraduates understand how the arts provide an arena for creative problem-solving, storytelling and critical inquiry."
The new faculty members are Maria Abe, Iggy Cortez, Timmia Hearn DeRoy, Cathy Park Hong, Darian Longmire, Zamansele Nsele, Luanne Redeye, Juan David Rubio, Solmaz Sharif, and Nicole Starosielski.
Berkeley’s artists and practitioners — both faculty members and alumni — have always been shape-shifters.
Early on, the division’s Department of Art Practice was the academic home to famed abstract expressionist Hans Hoffman. Other examples include visual artist Jay DeFeo, who studied art at Berkeley in the mid-1940s and received her B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the Department of Art Practice; writer and journalist Joan Didion, a 1956 Berkeley graduate with a B.A. in English; Shirin Neshat, who left Iran in 1975 to study art at Berkeley, where the visual artist earned her B.A and M.F.A. degrees from the Department of Art Practice; Vietnamese professor and novelist Viet Than Nguyen, who received a B.A. in English and ethnic studies in 1992 and a P.h.D in English in 1997; and the late Richard Taruskin, a world-famous musicologist on the Berkeley faculty until he retired in 2014.
Today, Berkeley continues to be a haven for some of the most celebrated artists and practitioners, including conceptual artist Stephanie Syjuco, an associate professor of sculpture; Professor and Art Practice Chair Ronald Rael, known for his architecture, installations and human rights and advocacy along the U.S.-Mexico border; and Professor Joe Goode, a choreographer, writer and director who is a longtime innovator in the field of dance.
The division has deliberately hired new faculty during the past few years in larger, more intentional groups to foster collaborative research opportunities and affinities throughout the division. The hiring also reflects increasing student demand in the arts.
"Student interest in the arts continues to grow," said Guyer, "and the division is working hard to meet student demand by recruiting the most creative, thoughtful and innovative artists and scholars working in the world today."
The campus community has the opportunity to meet each of these new faculty members at Loft Hour, a lunchtime series being presented during the 2023-24 academic year by the Arts Research Center. Two new arts faculty members will be featured each month, in conversation about their practice and scholarship.
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