The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz

10/15/2026

Join us for the return of the Festival of Monsters this Halloween season! 🎃

Starting today, October 14 through Sunday, October 18, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Monster Studies is bringing together more
than 80 scholars, artists, writers and makers for the fifth annual Festival of Monsters, the center’s largest conference yet.

The festival has a combination of academic programming and events that are open to the public. 👹

Image Description: An illustration of a fanged monster screeching in front of a burning city with the text “UC Santa Cruz Center for Monster Studies Presents Festival of Monsters.”

10/12/2026

Join us on Oct 21 at 7pm for a screening of Isaac Julien’s 1991 film, Young Soul Rebels, at the Quarry Amphitheater!

Recently restored to its original director’s cut, the film is a coming-of-age thriller set in London in 1977, the year of the S*x Pistols’ debut and Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. It follows two teenage best friends, Chris and Caz, who operate a pirate radio station, the Soul Patrol, and centers on the race conflicts and tensions among three popular youth movements at the time–skinheads, punks, and soulboys.

Julien’s first feature, the film won the Semaine de la Critique prize at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and has garnered international acclaim since its release. Its soundtrack includes music by Parliament, The O’Jays, War, and Roy Ayers, among others.

The upcoming event will begin with a brief presentation on the film’s context by Donna V. Jones (Assoc. Prof. of English, UC Berkeley) and will be followed by a Q&A with Julien and Jones. It is free and open to the public.

📷 Image Description:
1. Two young men facing each other, with one looking at the viewer, and the text “Young Soul Rebels” in bright colors, with the text “a film by Isaac Julien” listed with the date, time, and location of the event.

10/06/2026

Ja Bulsombut is a PhD Candidate in Sociology and was the Graduate Student Researcher for The Humanities Institute and the Center for Cultural Studies from 2024 to 2026. Ja’s dissertation, which is (currently) titled “Race, Gender, and the Politics of Victimhood in Conservative Asian America,” examines how race, gender, and class shape conservative and reactionary ideologies within Asian American communities.

As a GSR, Ja engaged with a wide range of academic discussions and methods with scholars across disciplines. Reflecting on her experiences, she shares, “I feel very grateful to have been a part of these incredible intellectual communities for the past two years...[My work at THI] allowed me to be in conversation with and thereby situate my own work within some of the critical questions and intellectual debates driving humanistic and social inquiry in the contemporary moment.”

📷 Image descriptions:
1. Photo of Ja Bulsombut with the text “PhD Candidate in Sociology” and “2024-2026 The Humanities Institute and the Center for Cultural Studies GSR.”
2. Photo of Ja tabling at a UC Santa Cruz Graduate Student event for The Humanities Institute with Ja’s quote.

10/03/2026

09/30/2026

Join us this First Friday, October 2, from 5:30-8pm at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) for a special pop-up from The Oaxacan Languages of the Transnational Central Coast project!

The pop-up presents a collage of the overlapping experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Mexican immigrants who sustain their communities in the U.S. and Mexico through their work, language, and culture. This is part of a community-engaged project that will be featured in a larger exhibition in Spring 2027.

First Friday is free and open to the public. The MAH will also host an interactive zine-making activity connected to the pop-up, inviting museum visitors to share personal stories or reflections on language, identity, and belonging.

We hope to see you there!

📸 Image description:
1. Image of black-and-white photos taped to a garden background with the text “Sustaining Language, Culture and Indigeneity: A Transnational Collage” and the time and date.

09/28/2026

Join us on October 6th at 7pm for a special Banned Books Week screening of The Librarians documentary in support of libraries at Santa Cruz City Schools!

The award-winning film takes audiences inside the fight to protect libraries and the freedom to read, following librarians and community members standing up for access to books and information.

Following the 90-minute screening, there will be a brief panel discussion with librarians and youth leaders. Come celebrate literary access and the librarians, booksellers, and community members who help kids discover new worlds, ideas, and perspectives through books — 100% of donations will go toward purchasing banned and challenged books for libraries and schools across Santa Cruz City Schools!

📷 Image description:
1. Graphic depicting three figures with folded arms beside text that says “The Librarians,” with fire encroaching on the visual. Below it reads “A Banned Books Week Benefit Film Screening.” This event is presented by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Santa Cruz County Office of Education, and the Colligan Theater.

09/24/2026

Make sure to get your tickets for this upcoming event! Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes Min Jin Lee, the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko, who returns with American Hagwon—a breathtaking contemporary epic, by turns sweeping and intimate, that reckons with ambition and moderation, lust and loyalty, personal dreams and familial duty. This event is cosponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

📅: Sunday, October 11th
⏰: 2:00pm
📍: The Rio Theatre

“With her gift for wonderfully empathetic storytelling, this is a profoundly generous and humane novel about duty, family, and the dream of a better life…. I was fully absorbed by the fates of the Koh family and, as the novel worked its cumulative magic, deeply moved by this masterful tale of sacrifice, familial devotion, and, ultimately, acceptance.” —Douglas Stuart, author of John of John and Shuggie Bain, winner of the Booker Prize.

09/02/2026

📚We’re excited for “Read a Book Day” this week! Though we’ll admit, we love reading on all days that end in “y” ;)

Join us on September 6th, and pick up a book—whether it’s nonfiction, a genre novel, or a comic—that draws you in.

At THI, we celebrate reading year-round with author talks and campus programs. Stay tuned for more book events in the weeks and months ahead!

Image descriptions:
1. Image collage of THI’s office bookshelf (background) and a picture of a hand holding a book with illustrations. THI’s logo is in the top left corner, and the text says “Celebrating Reading!”
2. Photo of THI student interns tabling at the 2026 Deep Read author event, holding up copies of Merlin Sheldrake’s book “Entangled Life” (top) and a photo of two students engaging with the 2024 Deep Read book “Trust” (bottom).
3. Photo of event attendees holding the 2025 Deep Read book “James” by Percival Everett (top) and a photo of a student reading a book (bottom).