Arts & Humanities Leadership Circle

The Arts & Humanities Leadership Circle is a vibrant community of alumni and friends who believe in the transformative power of the arts and humanities—and who are committed to sustaining Berkeley’s global leadership in these fields. By making a three-year pledge of $1,000 or more annually, Leadership Circle members directly support the people, programs, and ideas shaping the future of human understanding.

Whether you are newly reconnecting or have remained deeply engaged, this is your invitation to stay involved—not only as a supporter, but as a participant in Berkeley’s creative and intellectual life.

Your support fuels critical research, student opportunity, and faculty innovation across our 21 departments and programs. Last year alone, Leadership Circle donors contributed more than $795,000 in flexible funding—providing immediate resources to meet emerging needs, support breakthrough scholarship, and empower the next generation of changemakers.

As a Leadership Circle member, you’ll gain access to curated events, private gatherings, and behind-the-scenes experiences designed to connect you with faculty, students, and fellow alumni who share your passion for the arts and humanities. This is more than a giving circle—it’s a community of thought leaders, artists, writers, and cultural stewards who believe in the enduring value of a humanistic education.

Make your gift online or by mail... or contact us for other giving options.

Consider a monthly recurring gift of $100 to any department or fund within Arts & Humanities.

Upcoming Events

Preview this semester's upcoming in-person and virtual events.

September, 2025

Virtual Event | Cults and Conspiracy Theories

Join us for a fascinating one-hour virtual event featuring two of Berkeley’s most compelling voices on topics that capture our imaginations — in popular culture, politics, and beyond.

Professor Poulomi Saha (English), an expert on cults in popular culture and the instructor behind one of the Division’s most popular undergraduate courses, and Professor Tim Tangherlini (Scandinavian and Computational Folklore), a leading scholar of conspiracy theories and digital storytelling, will each give lightning talks on their current research. A moderated discussion and audience Q&A will follow, exploring how cults and conspiracies capture the imagination, influence belief, and reflect deeper cultural truths.

This is a rare chance to go behind the scenes of two dynamic fields—and hear from the scholars who are changing how we understand them.

Private invitations will be sent to all members for this event.

October, 2025

In-person | Curating the Future: Berkeley Alumni Shaping the Field

Join us at Platform Artspace for a dynamic Homecoming event spotlighting three distinguished Berkeley alumni who are redefining curatorial practice at leading local and national institutions. This panel will explore how UC Berkeley has long served as an incubator for critical, creative, and community-engaged curatorial work—and how these alumni are carrying that legacy forward in transformative ways.

Following the panel, enjoy a catered lunch and stay for a hands-on screenprinting activity led by our campus printmaking technician. All attendees are invited to print a custom-designed Homecoming tote bag to take home.

Open to all alumni during homecoming weekend.

In-Person | Kissing, Licking, and Smudging: Medieval French Reading Culture and a Private Visit to See the Manuscripts at the Bancroft Collection with Professor Henry Ravenhall

Why did medieval readers kiss, smudge and deface their books? For medieval readers, the experience of reading was about more than sitting alone quietly with a book, Professor of French Henry Ravenhall says; physically interacting with manuscripts provided a way for readers to connect with each other and express themselves in ways they perhaps couldn’t in their daily lives. His research has shed new light on the social nature of reading in the Middle Ages, and how our reading habits today could be more similar to those of medieval readers than it first appears.

For this lecture, Ravenhall will explore this phenomenon and expand on reading culture in the medieval period. The 30-minute lecture will be followed by a group visit to the Bancroft collection to see one of the manuscripts, The Romance of the Rose, that Ravenhall uses in his research, as well as other manuscripts held in the Bancroft collection.

Open to all alumni during homecoming weekend. Limited seating available, RSVP can be made on the homecoming website. Link forthcoming.