The COVID-19 pandemic has levelled a financial hit to almost every industry, but there is one that often gets ignored: sex work.
UC Santa Barbara’s Multicultural Center hosted an event co-sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center called “Sex Work in the Time of COVID.” The event featured three panelists — Sinnamon Love, Chiqui, and MF Akynos — all sex worker activists working and organizing in the United States and Europe. The conversation was led by Feminist Studies professor Mireille Miller-Young, and Black Studies professor Terrance Wooten.
UC Santa Barbara welcomed Ta-Nehisi Coates, a MacArthur Fellow and author of the National Award-winning book Between the World and Me, in an event sponsored by the Center for Black Studies Research and UCSB Arts and Lectures. Coates spoke in conversation with UCSB professor Terrance Wooten of the Department of Black Studies. Coates voiced his concern about whether recent civil rights protests will lead to meaningful progress in justice for Black Americans.
History of Art and Architecture professor Swati Chattopadhyay was joined by Arijit Sen, a professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, to discuss her book, Unlearning the City: Infrastructure in a New Optical Field, as part of an HAA lecture series. In her book, Chattopadhyay explores the power structures of the everyday life of Indian Streets.
Migrants are more than just statistics, said UC Santa Barbara history professor Miroslava Chávez-García as she was discussing her latest book Migrant Longing: Letter Writing Across the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands at a recent virtual event.
Chávez-García shared her parents courting letters from 1961- 1965 when the United States government’s Bracero – “or manual laborer” - program was actively contracting Mexican men to temporarily move to the U.S. as agricultural workers to financially support their families. It caused many young adults to put their dreams aside to help their family escape poverty.
Three University of California professors are lead researchers for the Wayfinding Project, a multi-year study of how writing affects the lives of recent college graduates. UC Santa Barbara Writing Program professor Karen Lunsford discusses the the project’s recent findings, as well as what is in store for the future.
Brad Silberling, director and executive producer of Netflix’s holiday series “Dash & Lily,” joined UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center to talk about the inspiration behind the show and the New York Christmas spirit viewers can enjoy from their own television screens.
UC Santa Barbara alumnus and Pride of Place researcher, Justin Bengry gave a lecture on LGBTQ representation within the United Kingdom. He presented his groundbreaking research project “Pride of Place” along with a slide show presentation showcasing the various components that highlight the project including a map and locations.
In this interview, UCSB’s East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies assistant professor, Suma Ikeuchi, discusses her transformative experience doing fieldwork amongst Brazilian Japanese migrants in Toyota City, Japan.
Wendy Sung, a professor of Critical Media Studies at UT Dallas and an alumna of the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, joined UCSB Film and Media studies to talk about how Black Mirror’s “White Bear” episode explores spectatorship in relation to how Americans view anti-Black violence on their technological devices.
Since going to remote learning. due to the pandemic, UCSB Linguistics has risen to the occasion and moved its peer tutoring labs online. Graduate student Jordan Douglas-Tavani recently sat down to discuss the process of moving their tutoring services online.
UC Santa Barbara’s Latin American & Iberian Studies program hosted “Social Movements, Identity, and Resistance in Contemporary Nicaragua.” A Tertulia – an informal discussion on politics and culture – that discussed how some Nicaraguans are using their grief to fuel their passion for social justice.
Environmental sustainability professor from the University of Michigan, Kyle Whyte, spoke to a virtual UCSB audience about climate justice and the importance of including of Indigenous peoples in the fight against climate change. This event was presented by the Walter H. Capps Center.
UCSB Professor of Arabic language and literature, Dwight Reynolds, previews his book, The Musical Heritage of Al-Andalus, in this audio interview.
UC Santa Barbara theater professor, William Davies King and NYU assistant professor, Rebecca Falkoff talk about the relationship that collecting and hoarding have with art and the mind.
HFA videographer Denise Shapiro checked in with Humanities and Fine Arts students during fall 2020, to see how they were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and to hear their perspectives on studying remotely. From writing commentaries to producing a mockumentary, UC Santa Barbara's students are keeping up with their education and keeping themselves entertained while social distancing.
For more information on how to protect yourself amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, check out UCSB’s Resource Index at www.ucsb.edu/COVID-19-information/resource-index.
Rose Hayden-Smith, digital media expert, discussed with UCSB students the importance of digital media platforms during a public humanities workshop That’s the Tweet: The Use of Social Media for Academic Practice, sponsored by the IHC’s Crossing Borderlands research focus group.
Focus on Faculty: A profile of Carlos Morton, a pioneering playwright for Latino Theater, who recently wrote a play called “Trumpus Caesar,” in which he critiques outgoing president Donald Trump. Morton uses his plays to share his experience as a Latino man in the United States.
Earlier this month, the Center for Black Studies Research held a panel titled “Anti-Blackness & Technology” featuring UCLA information studies professor Safiya Umoja Noble, along with African American studies professor Ruha Benjamin of Princeton University, André Brock a scholar of Black digital media at Georgia Tech, and Charlton Mcllwain a New York University media and communications professor. Hundreds attended the virtual event.
Last week, the Center for Middle East Studies hosted a conversation with Brooklyn-based clinical psychologist Hala Alyan about culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed therapy. The conversation was moderated by UCSB communication professor Walid Afifi.
The Capps Center at UC Santa Barbara recently held a two-part virtual event, where student panelists aired their thoughts on political issues that drive the electoral decisions of young voters. The session leading up to the election was titled “What Students Want?” and the one held a week after voting aptly asked “Where Do We Go From Here?”
