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.
