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January 2012
Dear HArCS faculty,
Welcome back for the Winter Quarter. We return to a UC Davis that is changed because of the events of November 18. I want to continue to use this newsletter to recognize faculty and graduate student accomplishments and other news in the division and hope that you will send me announcements of awards and publications and performances. But I would also like to create a space for our response to the challenges we face as a university. I welcome your suggestions.
With best wishes,
Jessie Ann Owens
Dean, HArCS
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HArCS and UC Davis after Nov. 18 |
Lecture by Cristina Gonzales
As part of its series "Conversations in the Humanities," the UC Davis Humanities Institute is hosting a lecture by Professor Cristina Gonzales, "Universities Cannot Escape History, But Can They Make It?" In this reflection on Clark Kerr's The Uses of the University, Gonzales argues that universities must try to be an uplifting principle in this time of crisis. And since administrations now are focused almost exclusively on coping, it is up to faculties to lead. January 18, 2012, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Voorhies 126. For more information, see the announcement on the Humanities Institute website. |
Gathering of HArCS Faculty
Members of the Academic Senate and Academic Federation with appointments in HArCS will get together on January 20 from 8:30 am to 12 noon in the University Conference Center Ballroom to discuss the division's response to November 18 and to continue the unprecedented conversations that have taken place since then. This event is sponsored by the HArCS Faculty Advisory Committee and Dean's Office. |
Humanities Institute Blog Provides Opportunity for Dialogue
The "Point of View" (POV) blog on the DHI website has been re-opened for posting by faculty in the arts and humanities broadly defined: http://povatdhi.wordpress.com. We encourage you to share your thoughts, either as individuals or by posting departmental statements. All posts should be sent to DHI Associate Director Molly McCarthy (molmccarthy@ucdavis.edu). We encourage everyone to post all relevant events to the DHI calendar, so that as many people as possible can participate in these crucial campus conversations.
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New Biography Honors Professor Emeritus Malaquias Montoya
Malaquias Montoya's work is arresting. From screen prints to paintings, his powerful images bring a sense of humanity to the issues his works confront. A new biography honors the life and work of this dedicated artist and Professor Emeritus of Chicana/o Studies. Montoya retired in 2008 after twenty years at UC Davis. Penned by Terezita Romo, the biography emphasizes Montoya's seamless blend of art, activism, and education as well as his contributions to the Chicano art movement. As co-founder in 1968 of the Mexican-American Liberation Art Front, an influential artists' collective working out of Berkeley and as a professor of Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis, Montoya has inspired artists, activists, and students for over 40 years.
Read the rest of the article on the HArCS website. |
Professor Annabeth Rosen Receives Joan Mitchell Foundation Award
Art professor Annabeth Rosen is among 25 recipients of $25,000 awards in the 2011 Painters and Sculptors Grant Program, sponsored by the New York City-based Joan Mitchell Foundation. Rosen, who joined the art studio faculty in 1997, holds the Robert Arneson Chair in Ceramic Sculpture. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Art and Design at Alfred University, N.Y. in 1978, and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. in 1981. The Joan Mitchell Foundation is named after the abstract expressionist painter and strives to fulfill her ambitions - to assist the needs of contemporary artists, and to demonstrate that painting and sculpture are significant cultural necessities. The nominators and jurors for the Painters and Sculptors Award include prominent visual artists, curators, and arts educators from around the nation. |
Professor Chia-ning Chang Appointed to Head UC China Abroad Programs
Professor Chia-ning Chang of the UC Davis Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures has been appointed Director of the University of California Education Abroad Program's China Programs for 2012-2014. Professor Chang will reside in China for the duration of the two-year appointment and will oversee programs for students from throughout the UC system.
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Research and Creative Work
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Faculty Publications
D. Kern Holoman, Distinguished Professor of Music and conductor emeritus of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, has published Charles Munch, the first substantial biography of the twentieth-century French conductor. Holoman's extensive research sheds new light on the life of this pioneering figure in twentieth-century music and culture in the United States and Europe. Respected music critic Tim Page, writing in the Washington Post, called Holoman's book a "terrific recent biography." For more information, see the publisher's website.
Pam Houston, Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program, will launch her new novel Contents May Have Shifted on February 6, 2012. The novel traces the journeys of a "fearless narrator" who travels nearly as widely as Houston herself. The book has been praised as "unapologetic and empowering." Houston discussed the new book in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. Read the full interview here. For more information on the novel, see the publisher's website.
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News from the Dean's Office
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Changes to Academic Programs
There have been several recent changes to academic programs within HArCS:
Interdepartmental Program in Cinema and Technocultural Studies
Completed in July 2011, the merger of Film Studies and Technocultural Studies combines the expertise and specialties of two popular programs and their faculty into one now known as Cinema and Technocultural Studies (CaTS). The new program began to take shape through conversations among scholars from both programs. Faculty had a growing sense that the programs could be intellectually enriched by dialogue and by merging faculty, said Jaimey Fisher, director of CaTS and associate professor of German and CaTS. The merger was driven by a groundswell of people recognizing that they could benefit from working together and pooling resources. See the full story here.
Department of Design In December 2011 the Design Program completed the review process to become the Department of Design. Design has the second largest number of majors in HArCS and has recently moved to renovated space in Cruess Hall. For more information, see the department's website at http://design.ucdavis.edu/. Department of Spanish and Portuguese In December 2011, after a several-year process, Spanish officially became the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The UC Davis graduate program in Spanish was the top-ranked program nationally in the latest NRC rankings. The department has expanded its offerings to include Portuguese, thanks to the efforts of Professors Bernucci and Newcomb, and now offers a minor in Portuguese. More information may be found at the department's website. Interdepartmental Program in Classics
In December 2011, the Classics Program, which had officially been part of a department of Spanish and Classics, but which had operated for years as a free-standing unit, was approved as an interdepartmental program, governed by a program committee that will be approved annually by the L&S Executive Committee. Known for its outstanding commitment to undergraduates, many of whom receive awards in national translation competitions, and for its innovative (and revenue-producing) post-baccaulaureate program, Classics also serves as the administrative home for Arabic, Hebrew and Hindi/Urdu. The program's website may be found at http://classics.ucdavis.edu/.
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