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 A Journey into the Archives: Uncovering the History of Soviet Central Asia

A Journey into the Archives: Uncovering the History of Soviet Central Asia

UC Santa Barbara History graduate student Andrea Serna has been sponsored for her research by the American Councils for International Education’s Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program. Serna will use this fellowship to research her dissertation topic, exploring how new borders affected early Soviet republics. In this interview she explains what her plans are for the time that she will spend on the fellowship abroad.

World Premiere: 'Everybody’s Favorite Mothers'

World Premiere: 'Everybody’s Favorite Mothers'

UC Santa Barbara's Theater and Dance department recently put on a LAUNCHPAD Preview Production of Everybody's Favorite Mothers, a new play by James Still, directed by Risa Brainin, professor and chair of the department. The play explores LGBTQ activism in the early 70s through a mother and son relationship, based on real people Morty and Jeanne Manford, who made history when they walked together in what became the first Gay Pride Parade. 

Housing as a Human Right

Housing as a Human Right

Presented by UCSB’s College of Letters and Science and and co-hosted by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and UCSB Arts & Lectures, the 2024 Arthur N. Rupe Great Debate: Is Housing a Human Right? was held at Campbell Hall. Host of LAist’s Air Talk Larry Mantle moderated a discussion with four housing experts, Eric Tars, Rasheedah Phillips, David Garcia, and Andy Bales who shared insights on the current homelessness crisis.

Alumni All-Stars: Tips for a Tough Academic Job Market

Alumni All-Stars: Tips for a Tough Academic Job Market

Max Jack, a researcher and an alumnus of the Ethnomusicology Ph.D. program at UC Santa Barbara, recently spoke to students and faculty about his experience navigating the academic job market in the United States and abroad. Jack also gave advice on doing research and submitting to academic journals.

Amplifying Expression through Drag

Amplifying Expression through Drag

Students of Theatre and Dance and the UCSB Amplify Initiative presented the Amplify Drag Festival, the first undergraduate drag show UC Santa Barbara has seen in half a decade. The night of theatrical fantasy and radical self-expression sought to define how queer expression exists on this campus.

Beyond Tokenism: Celebrating Black History Month at UCSB

Beyond Tokenism: Celebrating Black History Month at UCSB

Humanities and Fine Arts Dean Daina Berry and Film lecturer Wendy Jackson joined student moderator Maya Johnson for a panel discussion celebrating Black life in America. They discussed a variety of topics surrounding Black life both personally and within academia, in honor of Black History Month this February.

Falling in Love with French

Falling in Love with French

UCSB French lecturer Marion Labatut sat down to discuss her efforts to build up enrollment in UCSB French courses after COVID-19 related drop. During a Q&A session, she described new ways the department in encouraging students to fall in love with French.

Open Ears, Open Minds: Fabio Rambelli and Japanese Culture at UCSB

Open Ears, Open Minds: Fabio Rambelli and Japanese Culture at UCSB

Professor Fabio Rambelli from UCSB’s Religious Studies and East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies departments, speaks about hosting “The Transcultural Exploratorium: Neuro Music and Japanese Culture” event and how he exposed the UCSB community to traditional Japanese sounds.

On Race and Reproductive Rights

On Race and Reproductive Rights

UC Santa Barbara’s Walter H. Capps Center welcomed UC Berkeley professor Khiara M. Bridges for a lecture titled “Race in the Roberts Court: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.“ Bridges discussed the history of restricting reproductive healthcare for Black women in the United States, and what this ruling means for future discourse on race in the Supreme Court.

Neuro Music: Turning the Auditory System into Art

Neuro Music: Turning the Auditory System into Art

Musician and composer Gene Coleman spoke to a UC Santa Barbara audience about his work in Neuro Music. With compositions inspired by the brain’s auditory pathways, Coleman studies music from a neuroaesthetic perspective for creative production.

Toward a Narrative Approach to Epidemics

Toward a Narrative Approach to Epidemics

UCSB’s Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies recently hosted Andreas Bernard, a visiting professor from Leuphana University Luneberg, for a talk on the history of epidemics. He said past theories regarding infections and diseases established successive origin stories that have affected epidemiological narratives today.

Rhythm Across the Globe: Women in Uzbek Music

Rhythm Across the Globe: Women in Uzbek Music

UC Santa Barbara graduate student Gulia Gurevich last week shared her research into Uzbek music history, in a joint lecture and recital. Gurevich presented Uzbek history as it influenced music, and discussed women’s role in music as a professional and educational field. After her lecture, she performed several different Uzbek works, including both solo and duo pieces.

Black, Brown, Beige—and White: Duke Ellington's Legacy

Black, Brown, Beige—and White: Duke Ellington's Legacy

The UC Santa Barbara Jazz Ensemble performed its Fall Concert with a tribute titled “The Identity of Ellington.” Ensemble director Jon Nathan spoke to HFA reporter Maya Johnson about what it meant for a predominantly white UCSB band to explore the history of race in jazz’s origins, and to give credit to artists and innovators who had been underpaid, discriminated against, and sidelined as jazz culture developed in the 20th century.

A Film Classic and Queer Cinema: "Paris is Burning"

A Film Classic and Queer Cinema: "Paris is Burning"

UC Santa Barbara's Carsey-Wolf Center hosted UC Irvine film professor Lucas Hilderbrand and UCSB Ph.D. student Graham Feyl to discuss the film classic, "Paris is Burning." The speakers said the film had a major impact on the LGBTQ community, on cinema, and on pop culture.

Stonebreakers: The Fight over Monuments and Memory

Stonebreakers: The Fight over Monuments and Memory

UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center hosted the filmmakers Valerio Ciriaci and Izaak Liptzin to discuss their film Stonebreakers. The speakers talked about the protests surrounding the Columbus monuments during the Black Lives Matter movement and finding new ways to memorialize history.

On Creativity and Censorship in Cuban Film

On Creativity and Censorship in Cuban Film

UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center hosted Cuban writer-director Miguel Coyula and actress Lynn Cruz to discuss their 2021 film Corazón Azul. The filmmakers spoke about the challenges they faced over the decade it took to produce the film, specifically, government censorship in Cuba.

The Writing Program launches new AI Guidelines

The Writing Program launches new AI Guidelines

The Writing Program at UC Santa Barbara has taken a proactive lead in the field of AI with its recent introduction of a new AI Writing Program Policy. Daniel Frank, a lecturer in the Writing Program and one of the writers of the new policy, explores how instructors and students can implement AI in the classroom.

A New Music Events Manager Revives Lehmann Hall

A New Music Events Manager Revives Lehmann Hall

Richard Croy, the new production and events manager for UCSB’s Music department, sat down for a Q&A to discuss his experience in theater and producing, as well as his plans to revitalize Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall.

The Art of Activism

The Art of Activism

UC Santa Barbara’s art department recently welcomed artist Rodrigo Valenzuela, a professor of photography at UCLA to speak to students as part of the Visiting Artist Speaker Series. Valenzuela shared his portfolio of work, emphasizing economic, political, and social issues in the United States and in Chile, where he is originally from. He encouraged students looking to pursue a career in art.

High Honors for the English Department

High Honors for the English Department

The English Department has reason to celebrate, as two of its professors won awards for early career achievements in their fields of study.