Social Consciousness
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2020 Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture to feature visionary author Margaret Atwood
Award-winning poet, novelist and essayist Margaret Atwood will be featured in conversation with UCSC alumna Kate Schatz, the New York Times bestselling author of “Rad American Women A-Z,” as part of the Humanities Division’s annual Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture Series.
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New art game explores intersection of personal trauma and climate induced wildfires
Sin Sol (No Sun) is an augmented reality game that allows players to experience the feelings of a climate change event. Set 50 years in the future, it tells the story of environmental collapse from the past—which is our present in 2020.
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History professor Eric Porter examines musical improvisation as a response to crisis
“Playing for Keeps: Improvisation in the Aftermath” is an exploration of the various ways that musical improvisation can be used as a method for responding to crisis and dealing with trauma and stress.
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UCSC historian Greg O’Malley awarded NEH grant for research on slavery in early America
UCSC history professor Gregory O’Malley has received a Public Scholars Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to write a biography of David George, who was born a slave in 1743 and whose pursuit of freedom intersects with major events of the Revolutionary Era.
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College Nine: Embracing world cultures and developing tomorrow’s leaders
College Nine encourages students to take part in experiential learning opportunities and inspires them to become global citizens.
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New Sikh and Punjabi Studies chair to enhance Asian Studies with focus on social justice
Associate professor of literature Guriqbal Singh Sahota has been appointed the new Sarbjit Singh Aurora Endowed Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies.
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Humanities Institute and Cabrillo Festival to celebrate fight for equal voting rights
The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz has teamed up with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Bookshop Santa Cruz to present “Celebrating Woman Suffrage and the Struggle for Voting Rights”—a live Zoom panel discussion followed by audience Q&A
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Virtual Dickens Universe to spotlight link between Victorian and African American studies
For nearly four decades, the Dickens Project at UC Santa Cruz—the largest multi-campus consortium on Victorian studies in the world—has presented the Dickens Universe, a week of intense study and festivities among the redwoods. But this year, due to the pandemic, it will instead be hosting a weeklong “Virtual Dickens Universe.”
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New film by Jennifer Taylor portrays Vermont town as microcosm of divided America
“For the Love of Rutland,” a new documentary by UCSC film professor Jennifer Taylor, is an exploration of the multiple problems now faced by rural America–most notably the opioid epidemic, income inequality, racism, and xenophobia.
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Karen Yamashita offers dazzling short stories about growing up in Japanese America
Sansei and Sensibility, the latest book by UC Santa Cruz emerita professor of literature Karen Tei Yamashita is a dazzling collection of short stories about growing up and living in Japanese America.
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Connecting on campus
Social psychologist Rebecca Covarrubias documents the experiences of students who are the first in their family to attend college.
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UCSC’s SocDoc graduate documentary films to be screened online June 15 to August 31
UC Santa Cruz will present the premiere of thesis films by nine graduating M.F.A. students in the field of social documentation this year—in a special online presentation from June 15 to August 31.