On July 1, 2022, the Division of the Arts & Humanities welcomed new chairs and directors for 10 departments and centers:
Robert Ashmore will chair the department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. 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.
Stephen Best is the new director of the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley. Stephen is professor in the department of English, holds a courtesy appointment in the department of Film and Media, and is a member of the Critical Theory designated emphasis. Building upon the extraordinary work of his predecessors, Stephen will direct programs that support faculty and students in their research, promote a growing humanities network at Berkeley and beyond, and launch new strategies to engage undergraduates and the public.
Eric Falci will chair the English department. 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.
SanSan Kwan will chair the department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. 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.
Alva Noë will chair the department of Philosophy. Noë is a philosopher of mind whose research and teaching focus is perception and consciousness, and the philosophy of art.
Beth Piatote 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.
James I. Porter will chair the department of Rhetoric. Porter is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Classics as well as for the Program in Critical Theory. He will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Michael Mascuch.
Ronald Rael will chair the department of Art Practice. Rael holds a split appointment as Professor and architect in the College of Environmental Design and in the Department of Art Practice. Rael’s research interests connect indigenous and traditional material practices to contemporary technologies and issues, and he is a design activist, author, and thought leader within the topics of additive manufacturing, border wall studies, and earthen architecture. He will serve a three-year term following outgoing chair and professor Al-an deSouza.
Debarati Sanyal is director of the Consortium for Interdisciplinary ResearchSanyal is a professor in the French department and affiliated with Critical Theory, The Center for Race and Gender, and European Studies. Sanyal's areas of expertise include critical theory, critical refugee studies, human rights and humanitarianism, transcultural memory studies, Holocaust studies, postwar French and Francophone culture, and 19th-century French literature.
Estelle Tarica will chair the department of Spanish & Portuguese. 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.