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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.
Jewish Israeli Rotem Levin and Palestinian Osama Iliwat discussed their transformative life experiences and the different realities they face in the same land, in a discussion hosted by UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. As violence escalates in the Middle East, leaving many devastated, the two activists are holding conversations around the world, to encouraging individuals to listen to one another and challenge presumptions. By doing so, they aim to foster a future of peace and freedom for all.
UC Riverside religious studies professor Melissa M. Wilcox spoke to a UC Santa Barbara audience last week about her research on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an international group of drag queens and queer activists. Wilcox was invited by UCSB's Walter H. Capps Center as part of its 60th-anniversary celebrations. Her book, Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody, explores how the Sisters blend drag, activism, and religious imagery to challenge societal norms around gender and morality.
UC Santa Barbara students recently took to the stage in an outdoor performance of Much Ado About Nothing through the Naked Shakes theater program. They brought their own interpretations to Shakespeare’s work under the direction of UCSB Theater professor Irwin Appel. The actors explored the impact of spoken word, delighting several audiences over the course of an October weekend.
In a lecture last week, English professor Sowon Park spoke about how human writing is born from creativity and a need to make sense of the world, whereas AI-based writing can only be formed from a prompt and cannot pull from real emotion. Park explored the notion of AI replacing human writing through her own experience as a judge in the UCSB Mellichamp Initiative’s AI and Human Writing Competition.
Cinema sound editor Javier Umpierrez joined UCSB Film and Media Studies professor Greg Siegel for a post-screening discussion on the 2021 fantasy mystery film Memoria, which was the inaugural feature of “Panic!,” a fall series presented by UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center. Umpierrez spoke about his role in Memoria’s sound design and the film’s portrayal of bodies and locations recording history.
In a milestone for the campus, UC Santa Barbara has received visionary commitments totaling $22 million — including a record gift of $13.5 million in support of the arts and humanities — from alumnus and UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustee John Arnhold ’75 and his wife Jody Arnhold, with their Arnhold Foundation.
Spring One-Acts, an annual UCSB student director-led event, featured three one-act plays individually directed by senior Theater students, who each took several months to create and direct their plays, providing a night of provocative entertainment for the audience.
