Juergen Kempff, Spanish language curriculum director, passed away Oct. 17 after a long battle with cancer. Kempff obtained his doctorate in Hispanic linguistics from UC Santa Barbara in 1989 and joined UCI's Department of Spanish & Portuguese in 1993. In addition to directing the Spanish language program, he regularly taught Hispanic linguistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Although Kempff was a native German speaker, his heart was in Spain, where he traveled frequently; its language and culture informed his research and teaching. Kempff received several awards for instructional excellence and published works on linguistics and language acquisition. He is survived by his wife, Lois, and three children, Daniel, Marcus and Nicole. The School of Humanities will miss his gentleness and friendship.   More »

UCI's Thesaurus Linguae Graecae is celebrating its 37th anniversary and honoring the memory of founding director Theodore F. Brunner with a two-day conference Oct. 29-30. TLG is the world's first digital humanities archive. The project has collected and digitized most Greek texts from Homer (8th century B.C.) to the fall of Byzantium (AD 1453). The conference begins Thursday, Oct. 29 at 3 pm at the University Club Library with a keynote address by Prof. James O'Donnell, Georgetown University Provost. The conference continues in the Calit2 auditorium Friday, Oct. 30 from 8:45 to 5 p.m. It will feature panels and papers on topics related to text preservation, scholarly collaboration and the future of large digital collections. Information: beshanor@uci.edu, 949-824-8232.   More »

Anne Friedberg, former professor of film & media studies at UC Irvine, passed away Oct. 9 at the age of 57. Friedberg was a founding faculty member of the film studies program, and she oversaw its transition to the Department of Film & Media Studies in 2002. She was also on the founding faculty of the doctoral program in visual studies. Friedberg left UCI after 18 years to become chair of critical studies and create the interactive media arts & practice program at USC in 2003, but she remained exceptionally supportive of film & media studies and visual studies at UCI. She is survived by her husband, Howard A. Rodman, son Tristan and brother Richard Friedberg.   More »

Vicki L. Ruiz, dean of the School of Humanities, was recently inducted into Stanford University's Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame, established in 1995 to recognize distinguished alumni of color. Ruiz, who received a doctorate in history from Stanford in 1982, has studied and written about labor and civil rights activists, as well as female cannery workers in 1930s Southern California. She was nominated by El Centro Chicano, Stanford's Chicano and Latino organization.   More »

Julia Lupton, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Fellow and English professor, and her twin sister, graphic designer Ellen Lupton, recently published Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things. The book takes a fresh, funny look at toilet paper, rolling luggage, stuffed animals and potted plants, as well as housekeeping, entertaining, parenthood and time management. “Our lives belong to our families, routines and jobs,” says Lupton, a mother of four. “We wrote this book to help people feel a sense of control over their daily lives.”   More »

Victoria E. Johnson has received the 2009 Katherine Singer Kovács Book Award for outstanding scholarship in film and media studies. Johnson, UC Irvine associate professor of film & media studies, is the author of "Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity." The book traces the depiction of the Midwest in television and popular culture and how the media's portrayal of this region often conflicts with reality. The award is presented by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies.   More »

Steven M. Thomas couldn’t ask for more from his first novel "Criminal Paradise." The book was released in paperback in March after a successful hardback offering last year, and it’s a Best First Novel finalist in the International Thriller Writers' 2009 Thriller Awards, one of five novels chosen from hundreds of nominations. “Paradise” follows the exploits of career-criminal-turned-detective who tries to break-up a sadistic Costa Mesa restaurant owner’s sex-slave business. Thomas, who graduated from UC Irvine’s highly rated creative writing MFA program in 1999, will have his second novel, “Criminal Karma,” released by Ballantine Books in July.   More »

As VHS tapes become a thing of the past, UC Irvine’s Lucas Hilderbrand doesn’t want us to forget the significant impact of analog media on American culture. In a new book, the film & media studies assistant professor details how video technology transformed home entertainment by allowing consumers to view movies and TV programs at their leisure and redefined government interpretation of copyright laws. “VHS held an important role in our society for three decades – from leading the home-video revolution to igniting format wars and legal battles over copyright-protected material,” says Hilderbrand, author of “Inherent Vice: Bootleg Histories of Videotape and Copyright.” “Knowing the history of analog helps us understand where we are today.”   More »

A war-torn family's redemption through rugby and the struggles of Vietnamese Americans to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina are just some of the stories told in films featured in the 4th Biennial Vietnamese International Film Festival. The festival runs Thursday, April 2, to Sunday, April 12, and features more than 60 films by Vietnamese filmmakers. Some screenings will take place at UC Irvine's Film and Video Center. UCI’s Vietnamese American Community Ambassadors will host the premier of “Sad Fish,” starring UCI alumna Orchid Lam Quynh (pictured), at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4, in the Humanities Instructional Building, room 100.   More »

Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature and director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at UC Irvine, is one of 14 nominees for the Man Booker International Prize for "Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance." The prize, established in 2005, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction in English or whose work is generally available in English through translation. In his book, published in early March, Ngugi explores how original African cultures have been decimated during periods of slavery, colonialism and globalization and describes the importance of saving the continent's cultural future.   More »

Two important rankings just out for graduate-level acting programs place UC Irvine in the top 10 nationally. Actingbiz.com, which ranked UCI eighth, called the department "another excellent graduate program, with many alumni heading straight out of school to Broadway and (beyond)." Among them is Teal Wicks (pictured) who stars as Elphaba in the San Francisco production of "Wicked." Another eighth-place listing came from mfaactor.com The graduate professional training program is ranked in the top 12 by U.S. News & World Report and listed in the "most highly recommended" category by ARCO The Performing Arts Major's College Guide. "The word is out," said Eli Simon, drama professor and department chair, "that we are one of the top 10 training programs in the country."   More »

Frank B. Wilderson III, professor of African American studies and drama at UC Irvine, has received the 2008 American Book Award for his recently released memoir, "Incognegro." The prestigious award, granted by the Before Columbus Foundation, honors outstanding achievement from America's diverse literary community. Past winners include Toni Morrison, Jayne Cortez and Audre Lorde.   More »

Margot Norris, UC Irvine Chancellor's Professor of English and Comparative Literature, has been nominated as a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. The prestigious academy celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding in Helsinki this year in April and honors academics in sciences, humanities and the arts who have made significant contributions to scholarship. Norris specializes in 20th-century literature and intellectual history. Her most enduring interest has been in the work of James Joyce. She has published four books on James Joyce and serves as president of the International James Joyce Foundation.   More »

Myron Simon, a longtime English professor noted for his work in ethnic literature, died Monday, Aug. 18, at the age of 80. Simon taught at UCI for 25 years starting in 1969 and for some of that time held a joint appointment in the Department of Education because of his interest in how English is taught. He was known as an attentive professor who demanded the best from his students, said Brook Thomas, English department chair. His groundbreaking anthology of ethnic literature Ethnic Writers in America was published in 1972. He lived in University Hills at the time of his death.

The city of Vienna will honor Ruth Kluger, professor emerita of German at UC Irvine and a Holocaust survivor, by reprinting and distributing 100,000 copies of her memoir as part of the Einestadteinbuch (A city, a book) festival Nov. 24. Kluger’s autobiography, Weiterleben.Eine Jugend, was a best seller in Germany and details her childhood in a series of concentration camps. Her English language memoir, Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered, is based on Weiterleben.Eine Jugend. During the festival, Kluger will be honored at a gala celebration and reception hosted by the mayor of Vienna.   More »

Three UC Irvine professors were among 190 artists, scientists and scholars who received 2008 Guggenheim Fellowships. The three are Edward Fowler, professor and chair of East Asian Languages & Literatures; Simon Leung, associate professor of studio art; and Ruben Ochoa, adjunct professor of sculpture. Guggenheim Fellows are selected on the basis of their professional achievements and potential for continued success. Fowler (pictured) was recognized for a family memoir, Leung for post-studio art, and Ochoa for his contributions to installation art.   More »

UC Irvine alumnus and editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez has drawn his second Pulitzer Prize for what the judges called his “provocative cartoons.” Winners were announced Monday, April 7. Ramirez is a senior editor and the editorial cartoonist for Investor’s Business Daily. He received his first Pulitzer for editorial cartooning in 1994, when he was with The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tenn. Ramirez earned a double bachelor’s in studio art and art history from UCI in 1984, and his early editorial cartoons ran in the student newspaper. He also received the university's highest honor, the Medal, in 1997.   More »

Carrie Noland, UC Irvine professor of French, is co-editor of a new book titled Migrations of Gesture. The book examines the cultural significance of gestures as a form of human expression. An interdisciplinary collection of essays from fields including anthropology, art history, film studies and dance, Migrations of Gesture studies the ways in which gestures shape and are influenced by culture. Cultural practices of gang walking, ballet, and classical Indian dance are examined. Noland wrote the introduction for Migrations of Gesture and a chapter on poet Henri Michaux. Contributors include UCI professor of Asian American studies and of English and comparative literature Ketu H. Katrak. Sally Ann Ness of UC Riverside is co-editor of the book, which is published by the University of Minnesota Press.   More »

Seemingly secular modern artifacts are often haunted by forms associated with the divine, according to a recently published book, Our Distance from God: Studies of the Divine and the Mundane in Western Art and Music, by James D. Herbert, department chair and professor of art history at UC Irvine. Using five case studies spanning four centuries, ranging from Louis XIV’s Versailles to Robert Wilson’s contemporary set designs, Herbert explores how specific works of art establish a relationship, or lack thereof, between the divine and the mundane. Our Distance from God is published by UC Press.   More »

The shovels were out in force Thursday, Feb. 21, as UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts broke ground on a five-story $33-million building. The Media Arts Building will incorporate various architectural elements from existing buildings in the arts school, including brick and masonry and strong red accents. Glass walls will wrap around the 38,000-square-foot facility. When complete in spring 2010, the building will house a professional exhibition gallery, a multimedia performance space, a motion capture studio, and offices and studios for MFA students. “We want to connect the arts to the community,” said Nohema Fernandez, dean of the arts school. “It’s going to be a very exciting place.” Fernandez also announced that the Studio Theater will be renamed the Robert Cohen Theater, after the Claire Trevor Professor of Drama and founding chair of the drama department.   More »

In a new twist on Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream will be transported to late 19th century India under British rule, complete with Indian dance and music. The UC Irvine production will focus on how human nature deals with the constant conflict between rational restraint and passionate indulgence, according to third-year drama graduate student and director Benjamin Pohlmeier. “By setting the production in India during the British Raj, we can heighten the contrast between a forcefully restrained court and a world of passionate mysteries,” Pohlmeier said. The play will run Feb. 28-March 8 at UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts Studio, with 8 p.m. shows Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. matinees March 1 and 8. Tickets are $8-$10 and can be purchased through the UCI Arts Box Office, 949-824-2787, or at www.ticketmaster.com.   More »

William Reeburgh, professor of Earth system science at UC Irvine, has been elected to a fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows are elected annually based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. Reeburgh is among 38 scientists elected to the academy this year. In all, more than 2,000 fellows represent all sub-specialties of microbiology, including basic and applied research, teaching, public health, industry and government service.   More »

UC Irvine researchers Liane Brouillette, educational leadership professor, and Kristen Monroe (pictured), political science professor, have received an $828,000 grant from the California Postsecondary Education Commission for a project aimed at improving English and arts education in kindergarten through second grade classrooms. The four-year grant period involves 180 teachers and more than 7,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District. Brouillette and Monroe will develop curriculum and provide professional development training for teachers on how to incorporate art into classroom lessons as a way to strengthen students' English language skills. Storytelling, drawing, music and other creative activities will be used to reinforce language skills.   More »

A new exhibit at UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art + Technology called in a thousand drops… refracted glances uses more than 100 suspended screens and several audio channels to challenge visitors to examine the human form as well as their own perspectives by constructing and deconstructing bodies through stitching, collage, multiplication and reduction. The exhibit, created by three new media artists from Vancouver, Canada, who also possess experience in film, live performance and interactive installation, is free and open to the public Tuesdays-Saturdays through March 15.   More »

Alejandro Morales, professor of Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine, has been selected to serve a three-year term on the board of directors of the California Council for the Humanities. Morales will join 20 additional board members in awarding grants and administering the organization's programs. Morales is the author of seven biographical novels in which he tells the fictional story of a character's life using historical events. He received the Luis Leal Award in 2007 in recognition of his contributions to Chicano/Latino literature and his accomplishments as a major American writer.   More »

Film and Media Studies lecturer Lauren Steimer was recently appointed director of UC Irvine’s Film and Video Center, just in time for the FVC's Winter 2008 film program. Specializing in Hong Kong action cinema, film exhibition history and labor, Steimer has worked in the film industry for more than a decade, operating seven motion picture theaters. She is currently researching the effects of Hollywood's shift from a producer-controlled to exhibitor-controlled industry. “In years past, the FVC has brought the work of ‘independent’ and avant-garde filmmakers to the greater Irvine community. I hope to continue this tradition, but I also believe that FVC needs to exhibit restored 35mm ‘classics’,” Steimer said. This quarter’s film program will focus on classic art cinema, transnational documentary films and a student filmmaking series. The screenings kick off Jan. 17 with the Irish musical “Once.”   More »

Minority, gay and lesbian and urban images are erased from TV depictions of the American Midwest to reinforce its image as white and straight, according to Heartland TV, a new book by UC Irvine professor Victoria Johnson. An assistant professor of film and media studies and of African American studies, Johnson explores the cultural function of the Midwest in television programming and marketing by analyzing media industry policies and case studies. From television shows in the 1950s to the present, the image of the Midwest is that of a timeless, pastoral heartland representing America's ideals in regards to race, sexuality and citizenship. Johnson’s research interests include critical history and theory of U.S. television and film, cultural studies, and critical race theory in film and TV.   More »

UC Irvine history professor Mike Davis recently received the 2007 Lannan Literary Award in Nonfiction and $150,000 for making “significant contributions to English-language literature.” The Lannan Literary Awards and Fellowships, established in 1989, recognize both up-and-coming and established writers who show potential for continued outstanding work. The Lannan Foundation supports artists and writers and promotes cultural freedom, diversity and creativity. Davis’s research interests are in world history, environmental history and U.S. urban history. He is currently working on a book about climate change, water and power in the American southwest.   More »

Praise continues to pour in for Wizard of the Crow, the 2006 novel by UC Irvine professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o. This week, the novel was named a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The award is touted as the largest international prize of its kind and recognizes fiction published in English. Nominations for Wizard of the Crow came from libraries in Ireland, Russia, South Africa, Gambia and Kenya. Ngugi's book also won the California Book Awards Gold Medal for fiction earlier this year. Ngugi is a Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature and director of the International Center for Writing and Translation.   More »

Legends and rumors surrounding UC Irvine's tunnels are featured in Haunted Halls: Ghostlore on American College Campuses, a new book by Elizabeth Tucker, English professor at Binghamton University. The book details college folklore and legends involving academic buildings and residence halls, just in time for Halloween. The book mentions the tunnels as part of a section on university tunnel systems and the legends created around them.   More »

A handful of popular blogs have evolved into books, but Grand Text Auto – a blog about the potential of digital media, from literary Web sites to experimental computer games – is the first to spawn its own gallery showing. The exhibit, which runs Oct. 4-Dec. 15 at UC Irvine's Beall Center for Art and Technology, brings the spirit of the blog to life by showcasing cutting-edge works by the blog’s six contributors and their collaborators. The blog-meets-reality showing includes projects like a literary game played with 3-dimensional text and an experimental novel distributed around the world on mailing labels.   More »

“Bluntly beautiful and unnerving” -- that's the phrase The New York Times' Sunday Book Review used to describe Five Skies, the latest novel by Ron Carlson, director of UC Irvine’s highly acclaimed Master of Fine Arts writing program in fiction. Carlson’s novel brings together a heartbroken rancher, a drifter and a misfit teen for a summer project in the Rocky Mountains: constructing a ramp to catapult a daredevil motorcyclist across a gorge. On Oct. 3, UCI Libraries will present a talk by Carlson on his new book, Ron Carlson Writes a Story. The author also will share insights into the process of creating a story.   More »

Teachers, gamers, journalists, bloggers and tech wizards – almost anyone creating and sharing knowledge online – can participate in a competition for $2 million worth of grants, announced by the University of California Humanities Research Institute. The competition is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s $50 million Digital Media and Learning initiative. The competition will help find ways to use social networks like MySpace as educational tools for young people, said David Theo Goldberg, director of UCHRI and professor of comparative literature at UC Irvine.   More »

Atlantic Monthly’s 2007 fiction issue commends UC Irvine’s master of fine arts creative writing program as one of the country’s top ten. In the article “Where Great Writers Are Made,” UCI’s program is noted as one of the five most selective. Such selectivity pays off, according to poet and faculty member James McMichael, who told the magazine, “We’ve had some years where every member of the class ends up with a book contract.” UCI’s M.F.A. program is also lauded for having some of the most notable alumni, including Pulitzer-Prize winners Michael Chabon and Richard Ford, as well as Alice Sebold, bestselling author of The Lovely Bones. More than 350 program directors, faculty, students and graduates were interviewed for the article, which is available on newsstands now.   More »

Vicki Ruiz has been named interim dean of UC Irvine's School of Humanities, which includes 12 departments and 2,650 students. A professor of history and Chicano/Latino studies and chair of the history department, Ruiz’s research focuses on Latinas' role in 20th century America. In addition to her scholarship, she has served as director of outreach programs including Humanities Out There and U.S. History Seminar for the California History/Social Science Project. Ruiz is president of the American Studies Association and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. UCI will continue recruiting for a permanent dean to replace Karen Lawrence, who has been named the next president of Sarah Lawrence College.   More »

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake traveled Friday, July 20, to Beijing, China, where he will be the American keynote speaker at the 2007 Silk Road to the Future Olympic banner presentation Friday, July 27. Designated as an Ambassador of Peace by the Legends of China Foundation, Drake said, "It is with great pride that I accept the foundation’s gracious invitation to speak at this monumental event. Creating opportunities for cultural exchange and understanding among students and educators in our two nations is essential to our university’s mission." The Silk Road to the Future presentation has been held annually since 2001 in preparation for Beijing’s first Olympic Games in 2008. Each year, students from the U.S. and China create works of silk art representing world peace, which are added to a banner depicting China’s Silk Road. The completed banner will be carried during the games’ opening ceremony.   More »

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, distinguished professor of English and comparative literature, has been nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in fiction for Wizard of the Crow. The awards, presented in the categories fiction, debut fiction, nonfiction and poetry, are given annually to writers of African descent. This year, the fiction category will be judged by prominent writers Martha Southgate, Austin Clarke and Zelda Lockhart. Wizard of the Crow has already won the California Book Award Gold Medal for fiction, was nominated for the 38th Annual National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Awards, and appeared on the list for the Commonwealth Foundations Writers Prize. The sixth annual Hurston/Wright Legacy Award ceremony will be held Nov. 2.   More »

In his new essay collection, China’s Brave New World – And Other Tales for Global Times (Indiana University Press), history professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom shares with readers his unique experiences and observations of Chinese cultural changes. Part memoir, part history lesson, China’s Brave New World takes a deliberately non-academic tone as Wasserstrom recounts his visits to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Taipei – 10 trips in the last 20 years – seeking better understanding of China’s past and future. Wasserstrom warns against simple interpretations of the changes he’s observed, such as Mickey Mouse becoming a beloved household figure or McDonald's becoming a popular restaurant for special-occasion dinners. This does not signify the Americanization of China, Wasserstrom says. China’s history, like the history of globalization, is complex, nuanced and “messy.”   More »

Seymour Menton, professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese, joined such literary figures as Carlos Fuentes and Carmen Laforet this month, when he was named to Sigma Delta Pi’s Order of Don Quijote. This is the highest honor from the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society and is conferred annually to less than 10 people around the world. “Menton’s exemplary record of scholarship has earned him this international distinction,” the society announced. Menton has taught at UC Irvine since 1965, serving as founding chair of the Department of Foreign Langauges and Literatures, and later of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.   More »

Vanity Fair’s special issue on Africa, guest-edited by U2 singer and human rights advocate Bono, praises UCI’s distinguished professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o. A feature article on African literature declares, “Wizard of the Crow, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s nearly 800-page magnum opus, is a sweeping satire of an African despot and his acolytes.” The magazine recently flew Ngugi, who directs the campus’s International Center for Writing and Translation, to New York City for a photo shoot. Also on news stands this month, Esquire magazine reviews Ron Carlson’s Five Skies, which it describes as “transporting, absorbing.” Carlson directs UCI’s master of fine arts writing program in fiction.

The new issue of Faultline, the award-winning literary and arts magazine produced by UC Irvine students, was recently released. This volume features new and emerging writers and poets, as well as poetry translations. Contributors include fiction writers Matt Sumell and Jessica Z. Hutchins, and poets Matt Haines and Jennifer Pilch. Copies can be purchased at the campus store, at independent booksellers around Southern California, or by e-mailing faultline@uci.edu.

HumaniTech director Barbara Cohen appeared on CNN’s Time Warner Local Edition to discuss technology’s impact on people and HumaniTech’s work. Founded at UC Irvine eight years ago, HumaniTech continues helping faculty, staff and students understand and embrace tools such as email and podcasting. Over the years, HumaniTech's public events have brought to campus tech industry leaders (including Henry Samueli of Broadcom and Dan Clancy of Google), journalists (such as David Halberstam and Victor Navasky, editor of The Nation), and even rock stars such as Thomas Dolby and David Byrne.   More »

The UCI Libraries opened their spring exhibit Tuesday, May 15, entitled “Surviving War, Surviving Peace: The Central Highlanders of Vietnam.” Through photographs, the exhibit shows how indigenous ethnic minority groups struggled to maintain their cultural identity and quality of life as refugees during the Vietnam War, and after the war when policies of relocation and assimilation were enforced. The photographs portray a way of life that is mostly gone. Inspired by a recent donation to the UCI Libraries from 1972 alumnus Joseph Carrier, the exhibit is located in the lobby of the Langson Library and will be showcased through the fall.   More »

Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack Miles has accepted a position at UCI as a Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies starting July 1. Miles' extensive writings on religion, literature and politics include the highly acclaimed God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. He is working on a book about Islam. In his 20-year academic and public career, Miles has served as literary editor and editorial board member of the Los Angeles Times. Miles joins another Pulitzer winner on the humanities faculty, Barry Siegel, who heads the literary journalism program.