Ross Melnick, a UCSB Film and Media Studies professor, spoke at the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s second Humanities Decanted series event, to discuss his new book Hollywood Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World . Melnick also sat down with UCSB student Maxwell Wilkens to talk about his book and the role American cinema played in forging the US image abroad, in the second episode of HFA Speaks: The Podcast.
HFA student intern Maxwell Wilkens moderated a discussion on the painful associations the Thanksgiving holiday holds for Indigenous peoples, to mark Native American Heritage Month. He was joined by panelists Alesha Claveria, a UC Santa Barbara Theater alum who is now an assistant professor of American Indian Studies at Cal State Northridge, as well as UCSB professors of English Amrah Salomón J, and Candace Waid. During this 45-minute Zoom session, the three professors discussed counter-narratives of Thanksgiving that have yet to become prevalent in the US education system.
UC Santa Barbara Theater majors Sophia Papalia and Hannah Froman directed the one-act plays Dash Climbs a Rope and Reunion, both by renowned playwright and department friend James Still, under the mentorship of theater professor Risa Brainin for UCSB’s Fall One-Acts.
Legendary author and illustrator Maurice Sendak confronted his past in the dozens of books he both wrote and illustrated. As a Jewish child growing up in Brooklyn in the mid-20th century, Sendak was constantly sick and had an innate fear of surviving and dying in the world. His parents instilled in him anxiety and shame, which he captured in his books, said Tulane University professor of Jewish Studies Golan Moskowitz at UC Santa Barbara’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s talk last week.
Moskowitz went through Sendak’s life and experiences during an hour-long Zoom talk last week to kick off the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Global Childhood Ecology series.
During the pandemic, Stephanie Kraus left the Dance Department to pursue Sociology. After being confined to dancing in her isolated Isla Vista apartment, she began to feel unmotivated and doubtful of her decision to pursue dance. Although Kraus enjoyed her new classes, she missed being able to express herself without words, with only movement. The Kinetic Lab, the closing performance of the year for the dance department, gave Kraus the opportunity to reconnect with her passion for dance.
Fast fashion is a major contributor to climate change, to research taught in a class called “Climate Crisis 101,” taught by UC Santa Barbara English professor Ken Hiltner.
Olivia Candelaria is one of many UCSB students taking matters into their own hands by thrifting second-hand clothing instead of giving into fast fashion trends. Hiltner’s “Climate Crisis 101” course provides students with concrete, information about the current state of the climate crisis and what can be done to mitigate it, Calendaria writes.
Filmmaker and scholar Florence Ayisi gave a talk at UC Santa Barbara titled “Realities, Representations and Reflections” about documentary films on Africa. After moving to the United Kingdom from Cameroon and seeing how her country was being displayed, she became devoted to documenting its people, and culture, exploring in particular the women of Cameroon.
James Fishburne, art historian and director at the Forest Lawn Museum, spoke to a Santa Barbara audience at an evening lecture about the role that portrait medals and coins played in shaping 15th and 16th century papal narratives.
English scholar Brinda Bose recently visited UC Santa Barbara to analyze the works two of acclaimed avant-garde Indian poets. Her presentation, “Looking at the Sky with Bullet-Holes Eyes: A Frame for Indian Avant-garde Poetry,” was hosted by the UCSB English Department and attended by a wide array of faculty and students.
UC Santa Barbara’s Middle East Ensemble collaborated with two student organizations — the Persian Student Group and the Iranian Jewish Student Association — on a Persian music night last week. Students, community members and faculty came together to enjoy a night of cultural music, dancing and singing. Attendees were able to donate to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
UC Santa Barbara English professor emerita Shirley Geok-lin Lim shared her new poems from “In Praise of Limes,” her 11th poetry collection, at Writers & Wordsmiths of Santa Barbara II, an open mic poem reading event at the UCSB Library. Following Lim, UCSB English professors Stephanie Batiste and Swati Rana as well as Chryss Yost and George Yatchisin of the Gevirtz School of Education, and several members from the Santa Barbara community shared their poems.
