University of Washington humanities scholar Kathleen Woodward shared the literary connections she has made between both aging and the Anthropocene last week at a Key Passages talk held by UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center.
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UCSB English student and actor-turned-director Curran Seth made his directorial debut with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, collaborating with the UCSB Music Department and Shrunken Heads Production Company to bring the dark, character-driven story to life. Emphasizing emotional depth over technical precision, Seth guided his cast—many of whom were primarily singers—to tap into their characters' psychology, resulting in a raw and immersive production.
Five years after COVID-19’s initial outbreak across the U.S., Letty García, Nomi Morris and Nathan Roberts from the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts gathered to unpack its impacts on film, the performing arts, writing and academia for a UC Santa Barbara audience. While quarantine fostered artistic innovation and collective creativity, it also transformed university students in both positive and negative ways, according to the speakers.
Shane Book, a poet and filmmaker, spoke at An Evening of Film and Poetry with Shane Book last week. Co-sponsored by the College of Creative Studies, Film and Media Studies, and the Center for Black Studies Research, Book spoke about his poetry books, his two short films, and his time spent learning and living in a myriad of different cities.
Sociologist Claudio E. Benzecry explores the blurred boundaries between humans and objects, revealing how people project themselves onto their surroundings and, in turn, become shaped by them. Through studies on opera lovers, shoe models, and museum guards, he uncovers the ways in which passion and perception transform inanimate things into active participants in human experience.
Meena Ki Kahani (Stories of Meena), a beloved animated series created by UNICEF in 1993, has become a cultural phenomenon in South Asia, addressing critical issues like gender inequality, child labor, and trafficking. Speaking at a UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities event, Indian scholar Jawa Jha highlighted the series’ profound societal impact. Jha believes the series shows how media can inspire social change.
As the fall quarter comes to a close, UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center had a busy and successful quarter filled with lectures and events. Additionally, they have provided new announcements and opportunities for both faculty and graduate students at UCSB.
Cheri Steinkellner has had a successful career in television, film, and theater and is now writing a novel. She continues to be a legend in the storytelling world, sharing her expertise with UCSB film students and insider stories from the industry. In an HFA interview, Steinkellner discusses her experiences working on iconic projects like Cheers and her unique creative teaching methods.
The UCSB Chamber and Concert choirs held their fall concert earlier this month in downtown Santa Barbara, carrying themes of hope and light through their music in a concert titled, “Hope Finds Light.”
This fall, UC Santa Barbara's MultiCultural Center hosted Echoes of Empowerment, a student-led art exhibit showcasing creative work such as poems, collages, and paintings. The pieces in this collection convey resilience, hope, and the transformative power of art to mend and uplift the human spirit, a space for connection and inspiration for students of color and others who feel marginalized.
Movies and media shape children’s understanding of culture and morality, but the “Disneyfication” of literature often raises questions about what is gained or lost in the process. Martina Mattei, a Comparative Literature Ph.D. student at UC Santa Barbara, examined Disney’s adaptations of Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid. She noted how Disney simplified the dark moral complexity of Pinocchio into a more uplifting tale and highlighted the backlash against Halle Bailey’s casting in the 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid, reflecting nostalgia for Disney’s earlier portrayal. Mattei argues that simplified adaptations can risk erasing the cultural richness of the originals, shaping how future generations understand these tales.
Julia Lupton was hosted by UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center for her talk When Life is a Shipwreck: Key Passages in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and discussed Shakespearean themes of transition, exile, and crisis, along with the role of dual identity in regards to queerness and the gender spectrum.
Kaitlyn Ugoretz, a UCSB Ph.D. candidate, delves into the evolving practice of Shinto outside Japan, highlighting how sacred spaces are created through rituals rather than geography. Her research explores how Shinto is flourishing in the U.S. among non-Japanese practitioners, driven by global influences like anime and inclusive spiritual values.
Author Amanda J. Baugh talks about the link between environmentalism and Latinx Catholic faith, in her recent book Falling in Love with Nature: The Values of Latinx Catholic Environmentalism. Baugh investigates “la tierra environmentalism,” a widespread ethic of living on earth and protecting one’s environment just as one would their neighbor. She was recently hosted by UCSB’s Walter H. Capps Center.
At an HFA Speaks event “Post-Election Reflection,” three UCSB faculty panelists gathered to discuss the threats America faces in human rights, academic freedom, and democracy under a Trump administration.
UCSB English, Dance and Black Studies Professor Stephanie Batiste lead a post-screening Q&A with world-renowned movement duo Charles “Lil Buck” Riley and Jon Boogz in UCSB's Pollock Theater about their careers and Netflix documentary “Move.” The duo seeks to give a voice to the voiceless and use movement to heal painful emotions, offering their audiences a story within their dance.
As part of his senior directing concentration, UCSB student Alex Guaydacan tackled his biggest project yet: solo directing “The Incident Report” for the Fall One Acts. In an interview, he reflects on the directing process, from navigating friendships with cast members to building confidence as a director. Guaydacan speaks about the process of bringing his vision to life for UCSB’s annual theater showcase.
UC Davis professor Kathleen Cruz was hosted by UCSB Classice for a lecture on modern Latine writers who draw on classical mythology, particularly the story of Ariadne, to explore themes of ethnic identity, feminism, and social exclusion. In her lecture, Cruz highlighted works by Chicana poet Analicia Sotelo and Puerto Rican poet Etnairis Rivera, showing how these poets use Ariadne’s myth to reflect on experiences of “othering,” reclaiming identity, and the challenges of diasporic life.
Filmmaker and director Persis Karim visited UC Santa Barbara for a screening of her film The Dawn is Too Far, hosted by the Center for Middle East Studies. The film details how art serves as a cultural creative outlet for many Iranian immigrants who moved to America.
UC Santa Barbara’s Walter H. Capps Center hosted a virtual panel last week about the influence of religion in politics and the 2024 election. Panelists were University of Pennsylvania religious studies professor Anthea Butler, North Florida University professor Julie Ingersoll, and UC Santa Barbara professor Joseph Blankholm. The audience heard that Christian nationalists aim to establish a theocratic government, viewing a figure like Donald Trump as a vehicle for gaining political and religious power. Panelists warned of potential violence as these movements see themselves in a battle of good against evil.