UCI will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a traveling photography exhibit and a four-day conference. "Icons of a Border Installation," running through Nov. 2 in the Student Center, features images of wall remnants in unified Berlin. A conference called "1989: 20 Years After" is set for Nov. 5-8 and will feature a keynote address by Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's first post-communism finance minister. The photo exhibit is hosted by the German department and sponsored by the Goethe Institute of San Francisco. UCI's Center for the Study of Democracy is hosting the conference.   More »

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 »

A dedication ceremony for the new Humanities Gateway building will take place at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, followed by a reception and open house. There will be readings by English professors James McMichael, Jack Miles and Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Hossein Omoumi, Maseeh Professor of Persian Performing Arts, will play classical Persian music, and acclaimed video artist Bill Viola will exhibit his 2005 work Tempest (Study for the Raft). Information: 949-824-1342.   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 »

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 »

UC Irvine English professor Richard F. Kroll, a major figure in Restoration and 18th century literary studies, died Feb. 5 after a prolonged battle with pneumonia. He was 56. Born in Kenya, Kroll joined the UCI faculty in 1992. His books, "The Material Word" and "The Circle of Commerce," reshaped the field as they challenged accepted paradigms and helped open literary works to rhetorical, economic and political analysis. In 1999, students named him the Outstanding Professor in the Humanities -- a testament to his dedication and teaching abilities.   More »

David J. Morris, a 2008 graduate of UC Irvine's M.F.A. fiction writing program, has been awarded the prestigious Staige D. Blackford Prize. Established in 2003, the award honors the top work to appear in the Virginia Quarterly Review in the past year. Morris, a former Marine, spent a handful of summers in Iraq before writing his thesis, titled "My Baby." Past recipients of the Staige D. Blackford Prize include Philip Caputo, Pauline W. Chen and Roger Wilkins.   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 »

Oakley Hall, English professor emeritus at UC Irvine, passed away May 12 in Nevada City, Calif. The legendary author of critically-acclaimed works such as Warlock, Hall spent more than 20 years involved with UCI and the humanities community. As director of UCI's Programs in Writing, he was instrumental in the development of the university's renowned creative writing program. Students Hall mentored include Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Michael Chabon and Richard Ford. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Hall, four children and seven grandchildren.   More »

UC Irvine history professor Sarah Farmer was recently awarded a fellowship from the National Humanities Center. The fellowship provides funding for Farmer and 41 other humanities scholars to travel to the center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., to conduct an individual research project and share ideas with other academics through seminars, lectures and conferences. Farmer’s research project is titled “Frenchmen into Peasants: Yearning for Country Life in Twentieth-Century France.” The National Humanities Center is a privately incorporated independent institute for advanced study in the humanities.   More »

Robert Hine, history professor emeritus at UC Irvine, has received the 2008 Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award, which honors emeriti professors in the University of California system. Hine is an iconic figure in the historiography of the American West and a prolific writer whose retirement publications include a critically acclaimed biography of philosopher Josiah Royce, two undergraduate textbooks in history, two memoirs and two soon-to-be-released historical novels.   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 »

Vicki L. Ruiz, a UC Irvine historian specializing in Chicano/Latino studies, has been named dean of the UCI School of Humanities. The UC Regents confirmed Ruiz’s appointment at their meeting today (Wednesday, March 19) at UC San Francisco. As dean, Ruiz hopes to strengthen interdisciplinary activities across academic units and to foster cross-school initiatives involving multi-ethnic community engagement. “The School of Humanities at UCI has a distinguished reputation for both its global research and community connections,” Ruiz said. “I prize the diversity in excellence that characterizes the school and share with colleagues an unflagging commitment to promoting dynamic, imaginative collaborations.”   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 »

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 »

Dave Morris, a graduate student in UCI’s MFA fiction writing program, has won a $25,000 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The fellowship recognizes writers and provides funding for them to produce new work. Morris has worked in a television factory, as a rock climbing guide, a bike messenger, a photographer and a Marine infantry officer. He has covered the war in Iraq for Salon.com and the Virginia Quarterly Review since 2003 as an embedded reporter, and is currently working on a memoir of the Iraq war. Morris is author of Storm on the Horizon: Khafji—The Battle that Changed the Course of the Gulf War (Free Press). His piece, published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and titled “The Big Suck: Notes from the Jarhead Underground” was chosen for The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007.   More »

The School of Humanities hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Humanities Gateway Building Friday, Nov. 16. Scheduled to be completed by summer 2009, the 70,000-square-foot, four-story building will include a 110-seat auditorium, a film screening room and two open-air interior terraces. The back of the building facing West Peltason Drive will feature undulating glass walls and an outdoor courtyard for events and receptions. Humanities Gateway will sit in the northwest corner of the Humanities Plaza. “Humanities Gateway symbolizes energy and accessibility,” said Vicki Ruiz, history professor and interim dean of humanities. “The building will also embody critical engagement with the public.”   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 »

Vicki Ruiz, professor of history and Chicano/Latino studies and interim dean of humanities at UC Irvine, was recently elected to a three-year term on the advisory board for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The museum collects and studies objects that reflect the experience of Americans. Ruiz is an expert in 20th century U.S. history, specializing in Chicana/o studies, oral narratives, gender studies, labor, immigration, and California and the West. In addition, Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, a three-volume set co-edited by Ruiz and published in 2006, recently won two awards: “2007 Best in Reference,” by the New York Public Library, and “Outstanding Title,” by the American Association of University Presses.   More »

Elisa Tamarkin, associate professor of English at UC Irvine, has been awarded the title of Chancellor’s Fellow, effective Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2010. The title honors and recognizes scholars of exceptional value to the university, whose achievements in scholarship demonstrate extraordinary promise for world-class contributions to knowledge. The three-year honor includes $25,000 per year to support research efforts. Tamarkin will use the funding for her new book project “Irrelevance: The Scholarly Life in the Age of News,” which focuses on topics of relevant and irrelevant knowledge since 1830, and on the relationship between the academy and the press.   More »

Julia Lupton, English and comparative literature professor at UC Irvine, has been awarded the title of Chancellor’s Fellow effective Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2010. The title honors and recognizes scholars of exceptional value to the university, whose achievements in scholarship demonstrate extraordinary promise for world-class contributions to knowledge. The three-year honor includes $25,000 per year to support research efforts. Lupton is a Shakespearean scholar and Humanities Out There founding director.   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 »

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.

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 »