Humanities News

Two new books published by UC Santa Cruz poet, lecturer, and alumnus Gary Young

UC Santa Cruz literature lecturer Gary Young has just released "That's What I Thought," a new poetry collection which has been honored with the Lexi Rudnitsky Editor's Choice Award from Persea Books in New York City.

DVD box set curated by Shelley Stamp wins 2018 New York Film Critics Circle Award

"Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers"--a Kino Classics box set curated by UC Santa Cruz film and digital media professor Shelley Stamp and executive produced by actress, director, and screenwriter Illeana Douglas--has received a 2018 Special Award from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Lit prof offers true love and dreams of miraculous escape

The latest book by UC Santa Cruz literature professor Micah Perks, is a unique anthology of her short stories that sometimes reads like a novel. Written over the past 15 years, it’s a linked collection of engaging tales about the same people--all set in Santa Cruz, California.

Legendary poet Gary Snyder to read at UC Santa Cruz for annual Morton Marcus event

Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, essayist, and environmental activist Gary Snyder will be the featured guest at the ninth annual Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Reading on Thursday, November 15, at the Music Center Recital Hall on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

In Memoriam: Helene Moglen (1936 – 2018)

Visionary tech pioneer Jaron Lanier to deliver Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture

Computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and acclaimed author Jaron Lanier will deliver the 2018 Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture on Monday, October 29, at the Music Center Recital Hall. He will speak on the topic, "How the Internet Failed and How to Recreate It."

UC Santa Cruz receives Mellon Foundation humanities grant to explore Earth Futures

Catastrophic environmental breakdown, mass species extinction, financial collapse, racist separatism, global nuclear war…there is much speculation these days that we are living at the end of democracy, liberalism, capitalism, a cool planet, and civilization as we know it...

New faculty to advance campus teaching, research

UC Santa Cruz is welcoming more than 35 new faculty members this year, bringing the campus total to 603.

Emeritus UCSC philosophy professor honored at Oxford University as All Souls College’s first African Prize scholar

In 1959, UC Santa Cruz emeritus professor of philosophy William Abraham won a Prize Fellowship at Oxford University’s All Souls College, an award recognized by many as the ultimate post graduate achievement at the renowned institution. In doing so, the Ghanaian academic became the first African to receive this honor, and in fact remains the only African Prize Fellow to date.

Sounding it out

Alumnus Alexis Harte’s long career as a singer/songwriter has included original albums and songs for TV and film, and his company has become a pioneer in scoring and sound design.

Fire in the belly

Alumna Caroline Carpenter was the first woman to graduate at the top of the Los Angeles Fire Department Academy—a testament to determination and grit.

Alumna Reyna Grande pens NY Times op-ed on immigration

Earlier this week, the New York Times published an op-ed by UC Santa Cruz alumna Reyna Grande titled "The Impossible Choice My Father Had to Make." The piece was a response to a statement by Ivanka Trump that appeared to blame immigrant parents for the separation of families this summer at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Voices from the Dickens Universe

Here's your chance to get an audio immersion in UC Santa Cruz's famed Dickens Universe—you'll feel like you're right there, uncovering new meanings in the text, drinking tea, and getting ready for the Victorian dance.

UC Santa Cruz awarded two NEH grants for Humanities projects

UC Santa Cruz has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support humanities projects in the Literature Department.

Alumna author Kate Schatz spotlights ‘rad girls’ under age 20

'Rad Girls Can': Stories of Bold, Brave, and Brilliant Young Women is the title of the latest book by UC Santa Cruz alumna Kate Schatz, the New York Times best-selling author of 'Rad Women Worldwide' and 'Rad American Women A-Z.'

Dickens Universe to offer public talk by alumnus on new novel ‘The Spirit Photographer’

2018 marks the 38th year of the Dickens Universe at UC Santa Cruz, and the event is nearly sold out. But fear not. A special feature of this year's program is a free day, Tuesday, July 17, when the conference will be open without charge to members of the local community.

Linguistics professor Jim McCloskey receives Dizikes Award for teaching in Humanities

Linguistics professor Jim McCloskey was presented with the John Dizikes Teaching Award in Humanities at the Humanities Division’s 2018 Spring Awards celebration held at the Cowell Provost House.

Graduates mark new era, seek to improve world for all

More than 3,200 students participated in commencement ceremonies in the colleges, Graduate Division, and Baskin School of Engineering.

Standing tall and giving back

For graduating senior Asante Nkosi, a double major in sociology and history allowed him to connect his experiences with his interest in black U.S. history, the Civil Rights Movement, and the contemporary moment.

Commencement stories: Isabell Retamoza

Isabell Retamoza is a literature and feminist studies major and THI undergraduate fellow, with plans to study law at Northwestern University.

Harry Potter course leaves students spellbound

Renee Fox, an assistant professor of literature at UC Santa Cruz, was not quite sure what to expect when she offered a class on Harry Potter for the first time this winter. Then the course became a surprise hit with students.

Speakers challenge audience to rethink modern incarceration

Angela Davis returns to UC Santa Cruz with the two surviving members of the ‘Angola 3’ to discuss solitary confinement and call on society to transform itself to no longer rely on prison repression.

Bettina Aptheker to lead 'Women In the Arts' panel at Kuumbwa

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation Presidential Chair for Feminist Studies and The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz will present "Always Moving Uphill: Women in the Arts," on Tuesday, May 29, at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in downtown Santa Cruz.

Angela Davis joins May 22 panel discussion about mass incarceration

Angela Davis will join a May 22 panel discussion about mass incarceration, solitary confinement, and criminal justice reform that is being convened by Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Haney.

UCSC Night at the Museum to explore global impact of 1968 protest movements

The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz will present "UCSC Night at the Museum: Global 1968—Race and Revolution around the World," a free public event at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, on Wednesday, May 16.

Influential historian Hayden White dies at 89

Hayden V. White, professor emeritus in the History of Consciousness Department at UC Santa Cruz, died at his Santa Cruz home on March 5, 2018, at age 89. He was a 40-year resident of Santa Cruz who traveled the world.

'And Then They Came for Us' brings history into the present

The Humanities Institute and Cowell College will present a special screening of "And Then They Came for Us," winner of the Accolade Global Film 2017 Humanitarian Award, on March 14 at the Del Mar Theater in downtown Santa Cruz.

Campus receives Mellon Foundation grant to help create new forms of digital publication

UC Santa Cruz is the lead institution on a $100,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to help build a sustainable system for the digital publication and discovery of historical records.

Do universities have an ethical role to play?

The revered feminist studies professor Bettina Aptheker will make a passionate defense of universities as places of ethical and critical thinking during her Alumni Weekend talk at Quarry Amphitheater.

Gun control advocate Gabby Giffords joins fundraiser for Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship

Former Arizona Congresswoman and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords attended a fundraising event to support the Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship.

McHenry Library to celebrate new visualization spaces that enhance digital scholarship

An opening celebration to formally launch the VizWall, a large scale visualization installation, and the VizLab, a Virtual Reality and 360 Lab, will take place on Feb. 7 at the Digital Scholarship Commons on the ground floor of McHenry Library.

Karen Yamashita's memoir explores Japanese-American internment

Award-winning author and UC Santa Cruz literature professor Karen Tei Yamashita will read from her new memoir on Thursday, February 1, as part of the 2018 winter installment of the Living Writers Series.

In Memoriam: Stuart 'Page' Stegner (1937-2017)

Stuart "Page" Stegner, a member of the pioneer faculty at UC Santa Cruz who taught for over three decades and ran the Creative Writing program, passed away on December 14, 2017 in Reno, Nevada

Questions That Matter public humanities series to explore 'Freedom and Race'

The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz will present "Freedom & Race"--the fourth installment of its signature "Questions That Matter" series--on January 30, at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in downtown Santa Cruz. The evening will feature a conversation with humanities dean Tyler Stovall and history of art and visual culture professor Jennifer González.