UC San Diego School of Arts & Humanities

We are excited to announce that the Mellon Foundation has awarded a joint $3M grant to support the PATH program, an initiative led by the School of Arts and Humanities and San Diego Community College District that prepares transfer students for careers in the arts and humanities—the third grant garnered since the program’s inception in 2016. Learn more: https://bit.ly/41cloYS

Prominent UC San Diego alumni composers Chaya Czernowin and Sarah Hennies are known for their highly experimental, avant-garde approach to music. Their new works, “Poetica” and “Motor Tapes” respectively, were recently performed by Professor of Music Steven Schick with percussion ensemble red fish blue fish—which he founded in the UC San Diego Music Department three decades ago.

The event drew Alex Ross, music critic from The New Yorker, who had traveled to the west coast to attend Schick’s planned Los Angeles performance prior to the wildfire disaster. “Sometimes I think that Czernowin is our greatest living composer,” said Ross in the article. “Certainly, her work routinely inspires astonishment, bewilderment, and awe—reliable indicators of greatness in action.”

Read the article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/02/03/monday-evening-concerts-music-review

Nancy Guy, an ethnomusicologist and professor of music, has dedicated her career to sharing the diverse ways music shapes culture and society in Taiwan. Now, Guy has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Chiu-Shan and Rufina Chen Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies in the School of Arts and Humanities in support of her research and teaching activities. Read more: go.ucsd.edu/4atvp6N.

You're invited! A series of three events will be held between Jan. 14-22 in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Reed Family Concert, including a film screening, a performance by percussion ensemble red fish blue fish and a signature event that merges the talents of faculty, students and alumni. Learn more: buff.ly/3DHKYeL.

We recently visited an Introduction to Theatre Design class to explore the 3D scale models of unique stage designs being created for the play “Eurydice.”

This undergraduate course (TDDE 1) provides an introduction to the visual arts of theatre, from play analysis and technical production to scale model making and costume design. This fall the course was taught by Professor Mark Guirguis.

UC San Diego Theatre and Dance

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Philosophy Eddy Keming Chen, who has been awarded a $325,000 grant by the John Templeton Foundation to explore the nature of quantum foundations. He will investigate big questions about the smallest parts of our universe, like whether atoms and particles can exist simultaneously in different states within the physical realm. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Zh7nH0

We welcome our new faculty member in History, Aniket De! A historian of modern South Asia and the Indian Ocean, De is UC San Diego’s inaugural faculty hire in South Asian history. He is excited to offer the first ever courses on South Asian history in the winter and the spring.

"The School of Arts and Humanities has invested a great deal of energy and enthusiasm in the study of modern India and South Asia," said De. "As the inaugural hire in South Asian history, I am excited to craft a curriculum in the field, especially in dialogue with historians of other regions of Asia and the Indian Ocean."

What’s your favorite scary story? This Halloween we caught up with Lillian Lu, assistant professor of literature, who told us about her love of vampires, what fascinates her about the gothic genre and some of her current research on how contemporary authors of the Asian diaspora are adapting novels from the 18th century.

Need a good recommendation for a good gothic horror story or film? Lu shares six of her favorites: https://bit.ly/3CajHB1.

Carrie Mae Weems, a celebrated American artist and UC San Diego visual arts alumna, was presented the National Medal of Arts by President Joe Biden at a White House ceremony on Oct. 21. Artist Mark Bradford, whose work is included in the university’s public art collection, the Stuart Collection, was also recognized.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/4fc8AGx

We make tens of thousands of decisions each day. Are these choices simply a reaction to what happened in the past? Or are we hardwired to choose what is least likely to endanger our social status?

Two UC San Diego philosophers in the School of Arts and Humanities are examining a centuries-old debate about the nature of free will from two angles.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/3AbPu3S

We welcome our new faculty member in Philosophy, Yuan Yuan! A philosopher who specializes in ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of law, Yuan is drawn to philosophy because it allows her to explore humanity's most profound questions.

Yuan’s favorite course to teach is an introduction to political philosophy. “Students bring their own lived experiences and deeply held convictions into the conversation,” she shared. “While they may still have profound disagreements by the end of the class, they often better appreciate others’ positions and are more reflective about their own beliefs, which gives me great gratification.”

Read more about Yuan: https://bit.ly/4h9R1YJ

We welcome our new faculty member in Literature, Nadia Villafuerte!

Nadia comes from a family where orality and music were vividly present in their everyday lives. This awakened an understanding of the profound importance of literature and other expressive practices, leading her to study music, literature and journalism in Mexico before pursuing master’s and doctoral studies in Spanish and Portuguese languages and literatures.

“People in southern Mexico, where I was born and grew up, tell stories constantly to keep kinship alive: storytelling continuously creates a bond. But these narratives also foster collective memory,” she said.

Learn more about Nadia: https://bit.ly/3BwTMmD

We welcome our new faculty member in Literature, Jorge Sánchez Cruz! A scholar of 19th to 21st century Latin American literature, culture and thought, Sánchez Cruz’s research shows how aesthetic creations by Indigenous, Q***r, trans* and undocumented subjects reflect and are grounded in the racial and gendered paradigms shaped by the afterlives of slavery and colonization.

Sánchez Cruz was drawn to the School of Arts and Humanities for its interdisciplinary opportunities. “I am excited to join the community as it is a center of transborder and hemispheric conversations regarding migration, ethnic studies, Indigenous studies, gender studies and literatures and cultures of the world.”

Read more about Jorge Sánchez Cruz: https://bit.ly/3TS6ouQ

📢 Join us on October 7 to hear from author Jay Hakes on his just-released book “The Presidents and the Planet: Climate Change Science and Politics from Eisenhower to Bush.” Hosted by UC San Diego School of Arts & Humanities and the Library.

📚 Hakes highlights the pioneering role of UC San Diego scientists, reveals previously unreported impacts on public policy, and outlines climate challenges that lie ahead. The UC San Diego Bookstore will offer copies of Hakes book for purchase, with signing by the author. A reception will follow with light refreshments.

🔗 This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, please register: https://bit.ly/3XGULtk

We welcome our new faculty member in the Academic Writing Program, William Given! A first-gen college student who attended UC San Diego, William earned a bachelor’s degree in literatures in English and a Ph.D. in theatre and drama.

Both have informed his research and practice. As a screenwriter, playwright and photographer, he has written for Netflix, premiered his play “An Evening with Will & The Witch” at the La Jolla Playhouse, and has published images in The New York Times.

William is currently passionate about sparking a culture shift in academia. “I am examining how we, as educators, can help our learners transition into the role of ‘scholars’ in order to empower their own unique voices so we can create a more inclusive classroom.”

Read more about William: https://bit.ly/4dnMI9a

It only happens every five years and has been dubbed the “Olympics for art in Southern California.” This fall UC San Diego is among 70 institutions taking part in a five-month-long regional exploration of the intersections between art and science, led by Getty, an LA-based arts organization committed to exhibiting, conserving and understanding the world’s artistic and cultural heritage. The sprawling art event—called “PST ART: Art & Science Collide”—extends from Los Angeles to San Diego and Palm Springs.

Two major exhibitions, developed over four years with support from Getty, will premiere at the university. These include "Embodied Pacific" and "Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work." Learn about the multiple galleries across campus hosting, with many exhibitions opening this week: https://bit.ly/3ZDctPK