UCLA Art History

Professor Tiffany Barber's TEDxUCLA Talk is now up on YouTube!

Her talk entitled "The ethics of seeing in the age of AI" explores data consciousness and the ethics of seeing through the groundbreaking handmade data visualizations of Harlem Renaissance-era scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois.

Drawing connections between art, history, race, and AI, she reveals how Du Bois's work challenges the limits of data and offers a powerful framework for imagining more equitable technologies.

You can watch Prof. Barber's talk here:

The ethics of seeing in the age of AI | Tiffany Barber | TEDxUCLA Who gets seen and who gets left out in the age of artificial intell...

Professor Thiago Puglieri and his colleague Dayanny Peres de Souza have a new article published in Getty Magazine.

They describe in detail, a new innovative collaboration called the Tikuna Blue project, which centered on a uniquely beautiful plant-based dye.

The project was designed as a collaboration from the start, beginning with the colorant’s name itself, which was suggested by the Association of Ticuna Artisan Women (AMATÜ), the Association of Indigenous Ticuna Women (AMIT), and the Association of Indigenous Women of Porto Cordeirinho.

The Tikuna Blue project has evolved into much more than a scientific investigation. It has become a model for how technical art historians can adopt an approach called Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR).

You can read all about it on the Humanities website:

Science meets tradition in the Amazon rainforest - UCLA Humanities Art history professor Thiago Puglieri and his colleague Dayanny Peres de Souza wrote about their innovative collaboration for Getty Magazine.

Professor Lamia Balafrej will be presenting a talk at Rice University's symposium, Across Two Seas held Oct. 8-10, 2026.

Across Two Seas explores Black life, representation, and cultural imagination across the medieval and early modern Mediterranean, Islamic world, and Indian Ocean. Bringing together scholars, curators, artists, and public audiences, the symposium rethinks premodern histories of race, trade, and global connection beyond traditional Eurocentric frames.

For more information about this in-person conference, please see:

Across Two Seas A Symposium at Rice University

The UCLA Department of Art History is excited to announce that Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen was elevated by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in France last week from a Corresponding Member (since 2022) to a Foreign Associate.

This is the highest rank a non-French citizen can attain in this branch of the French Academy, devoted - since 1663 and the reign of Louis XIV - to the study of epigraphy, literature, and the civilizations of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Classical Period (as it is called in France), as well as non-European civilizations.

We congratulate Professor von Falkenhausen on this rare and well-deserved honor!

The Renaissance Society of America has announced their Renaissance Studies Article Prize Winners for 2026.

Art history alumnus David Bardeen has received the “First Honorable Mention” prize for his article “Giovanni Bellini’s Bleeding Trees: Animacy and Arboreal Thinking in the Italian Renaissance Stump” (I Tatti Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2025).

The research for this article was first presented at a 2024 conference, Making Green Worlds: Early Modern Art and Ecologies of Globalization, in a session co-organized by UCLA Art History Professor Bronwen Wilson.

You can check out the full list of RSA winners here: https://www.rsa.org/general/custom.asp?page=articleprizewinners

Congratulations David!

“No Place Like Home: 18th-Century London in an Age of Change,” exhibition at the Clark Library was featured in a new article on the UCLA Humanities Division website!

Check it out here: https://humanities.ucla.edu/news/student-curators-clark-library-ahmanson-seminar/

And congratulations to the students in Prof. Zirwat Chowdhury's Ahmanson Undergraduate Scholarship Seminar who curated this wonderful exhibit.

Ahmanson Scholarship Seminar students become curators for Clark Library exhibition - UCLA Humanities “No Place Like Home: 18th-Century London in an Age of Change” showcased letters and household objects drawn from the Clark’s collection.

Congratulations to the UCLA Department of Art History's Class of 2026!

The Humanities Division commencement ceremony was held on June 13th in Royce Hall with Classics chair David Blank as the keynote speaker.

We hope you'll stay in touch with us about your new professional milestones and exciting career adventures ahead!

Dr. Steven Nelson, UCLA Art History Professor Emeritus has been appointed Inaugural Executive Director of Sam Gilliam Foundation.

The Board of Directors' announcement today ushers in the next chapter for the organization in advancing its mission of advocating the values and vision of pioneering artist Sam Gilliam through exhibitions, scholarship, and programs that elevate emerging artists and inspire the civic activism that was central to his practice and teaching.

Read more about this prestigious appointment at the foundation's website:
https://samgilliamfoundation.org/news/dr-steven-nelson-appointed-inaugural-executive-director-of-sam-gilliam-foundation/

Congrats Prof. Nelson!

Congratulations to Benjamin Krut, who is the one and only student graduating this academic year, completing four academic majors!

All of Benjamin's majors are in the UCLA College Division of Humanities: art history, comparative literature, Near Eastern languages and cultures, and philosophy.

A feature article has been published about his journey at UCLA on the Humanities website: https://humanities.ucla.edu/news/benjamin-krut-four-majors-class-of-2026/ so check it out!

Congrats Benjamin on this rare and impressive achievement!

The Bruin who landed the quad - UCLA Humanities Meet Ben Krut, the only member of the UCLA Class of 2026 who can call himself a quadruple major.

What a phenomenal session! This week, students in Professor Thiago Puglieri's inaugural Technical Art History GE course (ART HIS 26) had the exclusive opportunity to connect directly with some of the most visionary leaders shaping the future of research and conservation.

In this conversation, they dived into the incredible, dynamic career trajectories, unique challenges, and possibilities that exist when you cross the academic aisle and work at the intersection of the Arts & Science.

A massive, heartfelt thank you to the incredibly generous guest panelists for sharing their time, insights, and wisdom:

- Dr. Tom Learner – Head of Science, Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)

- Dr. Andrew Perchuk – Interim Director, Getty Research Institute (GRI)

- Dr. Rachel Rivenc – Head of Conservation & Preservation, Getty Research Institute (GRI)