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Novelist and filmmaker David Bezmozgis said his novel The Betrayers (2014) offers one “provocative” answer to the moral dilemma. “If we accept that there are sociopaths and psychopaths in this world, why would we not also accept that the opposite exists,” he asked. “That some people are good, because they are born that way? That there is a limit to how good anyone can actually be? The only way you will know is when you are tested.”
Students heard from social entrepreneur Jessica Jackley, author Reza Aslan, and producer Tim Kring about finding a career that “fits your passions,” as Jackley put it. A leader in international microlending, she said the humanities gave her the perspective that allowed her to navigate the world of non-profit global entrepreneurism. Jackley, who founded the non-profit microlending firm Kiva, had studied philosophy, poetry and political science.
Each year, the Music Department at UC Santa Barbara hosts "Montage," a concert open to the public highlighting the diverse musical talents on our campus. The 2017 showcase was held on Sunday, November 12 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Santa Barbara. HFA intern Giovanna Vicini spoke to Petra Peršolja, a graduate pianist, and Scott Marcus, chair of the Music Department, about their roles in the unique concert.
Syrian clarinetist-composer Kinan Azmeh captivated a Santa Barbara audience with a composition about a lover’s resilience in a war-torn Syrian village, which he dedicated to the Islamic philosopher Ibn ‘Arabi.
Azmeh appeared alongside the UCSB Middle East Ensemble for a concert, lecture, and poetry reading to open the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society’s annual conference “This Vast Earth,” hosted by UCSB’s Center for Middle East Studies.
“I was totally inspired by what I read,” Azmeh said, telling the audience how discovering Ibn ‘Arabi’s poetry led him to compose the music. “The piece ended up being a depiction of Ibn ‘Arabi’s journey, of love and fate intersecting.”
“We tried to define the parameters [of the event] around not vilifying religion as the culprit of xenophobia,” said Kathleen Moore, a UC Santa Barbara Religious Studies professor and co-organizer of the “Thank G@d We’re Not Like Them: The Global Dimensions of Religious Othering" workshop. “We wanted to isolate religion enough to understand why it’s instrumental in the way that people construct the archetypal enemy and use religion as a negative mirror to reflect the values that are positive about oneself.
On the third floor of the UCSB Library, I stop by a new exhibition put on by the Special Research Collections. Its sign has a fancy name —something complicated about botany and science—and I’m wondering what this could possibly have to do with me, an Art and English student...
As a humanities major, the idea of attending a seminar comparing the economies of South Korea and Taiwan was a bit daunting. I feared I would be confused by business terminology and complex governmental models...
Gasps, yells, and laughter rocked the auditorium as Werner Herzog’s 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre screened at the Pollock Theater last week. The legendary German-born director was there to watch the film alongside nearly 250 enthusiastic UCSB students and community members.
Their spirited reaction was a fitting welcome to a director who is known for his originality and feistiness. But Herzog also displayed the humility of an artist who puts his work above all else. “I am just a quiet soldier of cinema,” Herzog told the crowd at one point, prompting applause.
