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Humanities News

December 12, 2022
UC workforce innovation internship program returns summer 2023 for its second offering
The eight-week program offers UC students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on career experience in emerging fields of innovation.
November 29, 2022
Humanities Division welcomes two new associate deans
Literature professor and Creative Writing Program director Micah Perks and associate professor of Feminist Studies Gina Dent began work as associate Humanities deans in September. They known for their advocacy for students and their excellence in teaching, research, and creative activity.
November 22, 2022
Growing Our Own - From research opportunities to the professoriate
Solidifying its commitment to increasing the diversity of its faculty, both underrepresented minorities and female faculty, last year, the University of California launched the Growing Our Own initiative.
October 31, 2022
Coha/Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures seeks 2022-2023 cohort
This year, the Coha/Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures aims to expand its reach by offering five 2022-2023 prize winners, along with past awardees, the opportunity to participate in The Coha-Gunderson Creativity Workshop, a quarter-long winter workshop followed by a springtime exhibition.
October 26, 2022
Acclaimed poet and bestselling memoirist Natasha Trethewey is guest of honor at the Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Reading on November 3.
Acclaimed poet Natasha Trethewey, author of the bestselling memoir Memorial Drive, is this year's distinguished speaker at the 13th annual Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Reading at UCSC on November 3.
October 13, 2022
Bettina Aptheker: Exploring the complicated history of LGBT people in the Communist Party
Beloved emeritus professor Bettina Aptheker to discuss new book, Communists in Closets, at free event October 25 at UCSC’s Cowell Ranch Hay Barn
October 10, 2022
Tahir Amin to speak about unequal access to medications and the global fallout from intellectual property wars: October 18 talk in downtown Santa Cruz
Tahir Amin, a critic of the power structures that result in the unequal distribution of desperately needed medications across the globe, will be the inaugural speaker of the Sawyer Series focusing on “Race, Empire, and the Environments of Biomedicine.”
October 04, 2022
UCSC welcomes 41 outstanding new faculty members
With the start of the 2022-23 academic year, UC Santa Cruz welcomes 41 new senate faculty members. The research and creative scholarship and expertise brought to our campus by these new faculty colleagues will strengthen existing areas of work and open discovery opportunities.
October 03, 2022
UCSC’s Center for South Asian Studies positioned for exponential growth
Anuradha Luther Maitra and Thomas Kailath, longtime supporters and champions of the Center for South Asian Studies (CSAS) and the broader UCSC campus, have established the Anuradha Luther Maitra and Thomas Kailath Endowed Professorship in South Asian Studies.
September 23, 2022
The enduring power of Ramses The Great
Archaeologist and UCSC history professor Elaine Sullivan to speak October 2 about the religious, cultural and political realms of Pharaoh Ramses II, now the focus of a popular exhibit in San Francisco.
September 12, 2022
UC Santa Cruz recognized for longstanding commitment to undergraduate teaching in latest rankings
UC Santa Cruz is ranked among the top 10 public universities for excellence in undergraduate teaching, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report. UCSC also ranked as a leading university for social mobility and among top public universities.
August 25, 2022
In Memoriam: Audrey Stanley, Professor Emerita of Theater Arts
Audrey Stanley was a beloved figure on campus, a pioneering faculty member closely associated with both Arts and Humanities divisions, and with Cowell College.
August 22, 2022
Building communities to stand up against anti-black racism
This month, the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at UC Santa Cruz held its first-ever Summer Institute, “Political Education and Liberatory Knowledge,” complete with immersive, hands-on workshops that emphasized solidarity against systemic oppression and community-based strategies to fight anti-black racism and imperialism.
August 11, 2022
Mythologizing for a purpose
After years working across industries from filmmaking to horse-wrangling, alumnus Justin DiPego channels both his vast career experience and his UCSC creative education into his latest novel—"Wrong Side of a Workingman."
August 11, 2022
Turning awareness into action
After years of working to bring feminist history and thought to a young audience through her popular Rad Women series, author Kate Schatz (Stevenson ’03, literature and creative writing) moves to turn teaching history into teaching practice and show adults what they can do to combat racism.
August 10, 2022
Incoming UC Santa Cruz class exemplifies academic excellence and diversity
UC Santa Cruz anticipates welcoming approximately 5,100 new Banana Slugs this fall, concluding an admissions cycle that reflected increased interest in the campus. Campus leaders are carefully managing student enrollment and working to provide more on-campus housing for students because of a statewide housing crisis that is particularly difficult in Santa Cruz.
August 04, 2022
Dickens Universe returns to campus
The Dickens Universe, now in its 41st year, returned to campus in late July after two years in the virtual realm. The conference turned UCSC into a bustling community of scholars, students, and community members who socialized at Victorian teas, talked about books, and wrapped up their evenings with “post-prandial potations.”
July 29, 2022
New book traces the scientific and technological development of militarized border
In her new book, Professor of Feminist Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Felicity Amaya Schaeffer draws stunning connections between indigenous ways of life and relationships to the land with modern-day, militaristic border surveillance technologies.
July 25, 2022
Help ‘Stuff the Bus’ and get students ready for school
With the new school year just around the corner, the United Way of Santa Cruz County and Santa Cruz Office of Education are looking for volunteers to help Stuff the Bus. Come and help fill new backpacks with school supplies for K-12 students.
July 07, 2022
The Humanities Division honors faculty, alumni, and students at the 2021-22 Spring Awards
UC Santa Cruz’s Humanities Division marked the end of the school year with their Spring Awards, a ceremony that celebrates the achievements of students, instructors, and alumni.
June 29, 2022
Autistic adults have become increasingly visible in media, books, television, and more in the past decade, but challenges with representation persist
Researchers documented a shift toward more numerical representation for adults in popular portrayals of autism, which have historically focused on children.
June 28, 2022
UC Santa Cruz celebrates innovative and dedicated teachers
The Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching (COT) in collaboration with Chancellor Larive and CP/EVC Kletzer, Cruz celebrated UCSC’s innovative and dedicated teachers with a gathering at the Cowell Provost House in early June.
June 27, 2022
Campus recognizes innovative, dedicated teachers
The Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching (COT) in collaboration with Chancellor Larive and CP/EVC Kletzer, Cruz celebrated UCSC’s innovative and dedicated teachers with a gathering at the Cowell Provost House in early June.
June 13, 2022
Zimmer to develop Responsible AI course
Zimmer will join colleagues from around the U.S. to plan classes that better explore the impact of artificial intelligence on our world.
June 07, 2022
Proposal for new program, Pathways to the Professoriate in the Arts and Humanities, selected for funding by UC President’s Office
A new cross-divisional initiative to prepare graduate students in the Arts and Humanities at UC Santa Cruz from historically underrepresented groups to go on to the professoriate has been selected for funding.
June 06, 2022
UC Santa Cruz named No. 2 public university for ‘making an impact’
Princeton Review has named UC Santa Cruz the No. 2 public university in the nation for students focused on making an impact on the world. The honor underscores the university’s commitment to encouraging positive social impact and is an increase from last year’s No. 3 spot.
June 06, 2022
Associate Professor Nick Mitchell receives 2021-22 Distinguished Teaching Award
Nick Mitchell was honored for his positive impact on students and the leading role he has played in creating new programs that foster the intellectual development of students and UC Santa Cruz
June 03, 2022
‘Crossing Latinidades’ program selects UC Santa Cruz faculty and graduate students for national research and mentoring collaboration
Two UC Santa Cruz faculty were awarded $310,000 grants to lead national research working groups, and two doctoral students have been selected for one-year research fellowships and a summer institute focused on interdisciplinary research methods.
June 01, 2022
Seeking Okinawan rights
UC Santa Cruz doctoral candidate Lex McClellan-Ufugusuku appeared before the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, exploring whether the people of Okinawa could be recognized as Indigenous—meaning they might have the right to block or stop new military bases under guidelines about Indigenous people set up by the U.N.
May 31, 2022
Chailen August
Chailen August’s time at UC Santa Cruz put him on a path he never expected. Not only did he embark on a study of drill rap and its interpretation in Ghana, Africa, but, as part of a study-abroad program, he also had a visceral experience of what his enslaved ancestors may have endured.
May 31, 2022
Sean Lawrence
With his work studying the relationship between Germany’s Deutsche Bank and the Ottoman Empire, Sean Lawrence shows that many things we think of as unique to our modern capitalistic world really have roots dating back much further.
May 10, 2022
New Department of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies invites students to think critically about race during a time of global reckoning with racism
CRES was first introduced as a degree program in 2014 and, thanks to its rapid growth and strong faculty and student advocacy, gained departmental status in 2021.
May 06, 2022
The Newton you don't know
Caltech professor Jed Buchwald will lecture on Isaac Newton’s attempt to change the history of civilization at inaugural Nauenberg Lecture on May 13
May 03, 2022
Deep Read welcomes author Yaa Gyasi to UC Santa Cruz
The annual program of The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz has brought together students, faculty, alumni, and other curious minds from across the globe to unpack and discuss Transcendent Kingdom, the most recent novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi.
May 02, 2022
Puzzling it out
Linguistics student David Tuffs started making crossword puzzles to stave off boredom during COVID-19 restrictions. Now he's had his third puzzle published in the New York Times.
May 02, 2022
Wisdom Cole: Paving the way for a new generation of Black leaders
National Director of the NAACP Youth & College Division and UCSC alumnus Wisdom Cole (Oakes ’15, chemistry) will be a keynote speaker at the John R. Lewis College dedication ceremony on May 6.
May 01, 2022
Summer Session Invites Students to Stay for Summer
UC Santa Cruz Summer Session enrollment is underway and for the first time since 2019, students can choose to stay on campus for in-person classes, or the option remains to study online from anywhere.
April 29, 2022
New global and community health majors available this fall
UC Santa Cruz students who want to build a future with better, more equitable health outcomes will have the option to declare one of two new global and community health majors, starting in fall 2022.
April 28, 2022
Linguist Sandra Chung elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sandra Chung, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Linguistics, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
April 21, 2022
Alumna’s foreign service success earns her a new post as U.S. Ambassador
Claire Pierangelo (Kresge College, History ’82) will be sworn in as Ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros on May 2.
April 15, 2022
Honoring UC Santa Cruz’s 2022 Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni
Each year, UC Santa Cruz’s five academic divisions select one graduate student alumnus/a/i as their Distinguished Graduate Student Alumni honoree. The awards ceremony for the 2022 cohort will take place on April 23 of Alumni Weekend.
April 12, 2022
Watsonville Filipino history digital archive now available for public viewing
The Watsonville is in the Heart Digital Archive is now viewable online and features oral history recordings, original documents, photos, and family artifacts highlighting Filipino history in the Pajaro Valley.
April 12, 2022
Caitlin Keliiaa and Philip Longo receive American Council of Learned Societies fellowship
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) announced the recipients of their 2022 ACLS Fellowships. Philip Longo, Continuing Lecturer in the Humanities Division’s Writing Program, and Caitlin Keliiaa, assistant professor in UC Santa Cruz’s Feminist Studies Department, will both be receiving awards that will allow them to take leave to continue their scholarly research.
April 12, 2022
Paid fellowship opens doors and opportunities for Humanities students
Unique partnership between The Humanities Institute, a leading national media outlet, and a generous UC Santa Cruz donor amplifies opportunities for UC Santa Cruz students
April 07, 2022
Harryette Mullen named 2022 Humanities Division Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna
The Humanities Division’s 2022 Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna, Harryette Mullen (M.A. Literature ’86, Ph.D. Literature ’90), published her first poetry book Tree Tall Women in 1981 and has since published dozens of poems, stories, books, and essays that have been published worldwide and reprinted in over one hundred anthologies.
April 05, 2022
UC Santa Cruz hosts ‘Universe in Verse’ April 16 in the Quarry Amphitheater
The fifth annual Universe in Verse—a charitable celebration of science and nature through poetry and music, created and hosted by writer Maria Popova (Marginalian)—will be held in person at UC Santa Cruz in the Quarry Amphitheater on Saturday, April 16.
April 04, 2022
Ricky Bluthenthal announced as 2022 social sciences distinguished alumni award recipient
The Social Sciences division is proud to announce trailblazing health equity researcher and advocate Ricky Bluthenthal (Merrill ’86, History and Sociology) as the recipient of the 2022 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.
March 28, 2022
Seed funding grants for early-stage research, creative projects given to 19 awardees
The UCSC Office of Research has awarded funds this month to 19 projects through its inaugural Seed Funding for Early Stage Initiatives program
March 10, 2022
UC Santa Cruz to implement strategic plan for internationalization
UC Santa Cruz is advancing comprehensive internationalization to ensure that the members of the campus community are prepared and encouraged to study, teach, conduct research, and work in a global context, and that institutional policies, programs, and initiatives are aligned to achieve this shared goal.
March 02, 2022
Danielle Dadiego named recipient of 2022 Society for American Archaeology Dissertation Award
UC Santa Cruz alumna Danielle Dadiego (M.A. Anthropology, ’17; Ph.D. Anthropology, ’20) has worked in the archeology field for nearly two decades. Her dissertation, Beads, Bullets, and Brokerage: Exploring Economic Agency in Eighteenth-Century West Florida, has been nationally recognized by the 2022 Society for American Archaeology Dissertation Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the archeology field.
March 01, 2022
Introducing The 2022 Deep Read: Yaa Gyasi’s Transcendent Kingdom
The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz announces the return of The Deep Read annual program. The group will read Transcendent Kingdom, the acclaimed novel from Brooklyn-based author Yaa Gyasi.
February 24, 2022
Record applications enable UC Santa Cruz to build strong, diverse fall class
With record-breaking applications from undergraduate students, UC Santa Cruz is looking to admit students who will be ready to contribute to and benefit from a high-impact research university.
February 17, 2022
'Abolition. Feminism. Now.' earns national praise
The book, authored by Professor Emerita Angela Y. Davis and Associate Professor Gina Dent, is garnering national attention for its pathbreaking examination of abolition and feminism in the 21st century.
February 08, 2022
UC Santa Cruz announces ambitious investment to hire 100 additional faculty over decade, part of broader effort to advance student success and research excellence
To advance its place as an international leader at the intersection of innovation and social justice, UC Santa Cruz announced today its intention to prioritize faculty hiring by adding 100 additional faculty over the next decade.
February 07, 2022
'From the Margins: Dante 701 Years Later' to provide critical perspectives on author's work
Funded through the Siegfried B. and Elisabeth Mignon Puknat Literary Studies Endowment and presented by The Humanities Institute, the series will include events taking place throughout 2022 to engage with Dante’s work through a much different lens than the usual discussions of his life and work.
February 03, 2022
Bridging the educational divide on a global scale
Alumnus Fred Mednick, founder of two-time Peace Prize–winning NGO Teachers Without Borders, has worked to expand worldwide educational access for over two decades.
January 26, 2022
History professor earns 2021 National Jewish Book Award for look at New York Hasidic Jewish community
Nathaniel Deutsch was recently announced as a winner of a 2021 National Jewish Book Award in the category of American Jewish Studies for his recently-published work, A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg. He shares the award with his co-author Michael Casper.
January 20, 2022
UC Santa Cruz receives National Endowment for the Humanities grant to connect studies of humanities, engineering
UC Santa Cruz will create a new Certificate in the Humanities introducing students enrolled in the Baskin School of Engineering to humanities disciplines aimed to help them better understand the social and cultural impacts of technological change.
January 20, 2022
Grant supports project to digitize, preserve materials at Biblioteca Amazónica
The project will concentrate its efforts on those items within the archives that are unique to the Biblioteca Amazónica and not available elsewhere. One important inclusion will be back issues of three local newspapers — El Eco, La Razón, and El Oriente — that have never been fully digitized before.
January 05, 2022
Legal studies major Aissata Ba looks back on the “whirlwind” of meeting Michelle Obama at recent event
Aissata Ba, a 20-year-old Black Muslim first-generation American, was among a group of students brought together to be part of a conversation with Michelle Obama on some of the themes addressed in her best-selling memoir.