The National Book Critics Circle announced that it will present its Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award to two scholars of women's literature: UC Davis English professor emeritus Sandra M. Gilbert and her frequent co-author and co-editor.

The critics circle board recognized Gilbert and English professor emeritus Susan Gubar of Indiana University "for their pioneering work in feminist thought, which revolutionized criticism."

The Washington Post concurred, labeling Gilbert and Gubar "giants of the feminist movement" whose books, particularly The Madwoman in the Attic and The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women, "changed the shape of literary criticism and influenced generations of students and scholars." [ More ] 

In her latest book, UC Davis alumna Mary Schoeser '72 shines the spotlight on the university's Design Collection. Now she is here, on campus, as co-curator of an exhibition of global ethnographic and contemporary textiles from that very collection.

The exhibition, Structures, Signifiers and Society: People and Textiles, opened Jan. 22 at the Design Museum.

Schoeser's new book, Textiles: The Art of Mankind, features more than 200 objects from the Design Collection, and more than 50 of these are in the exhibition... [ More ] 

On April 3 the university will unveil three competing designs for the new Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. This is the culmination of a design process that began in September with an open call for architect/contractor teams. After a series of campus and community conversations, three international teams were invited in December to participate in a formal design competition. Next month, the competition culminates with two important events when all are invited to share in imagining our new museum.

The three finalist teams will be on campus to present their designs on Wednesday, April 3, 5:30-7:30, at the UC Davis Conference Center.  This public lecture will feature each team's design approach and touch on critical issues such as sustainability goals. The public is invited to participate in a Q&A and a reception with the architects to follow.

From April 4 to May 19 detailed drawings and architectural models for each team's submissions will be exhibited at the Nelson Gallery. We invite everyone to come for an in-depth look at the museum plans and offer your feedback as part of the Design Deliberation exhibition.  

from Dateline UC Davis

Two UC Davis faculty members are finalists in a New York City competition to make the pay phone new again - and they did it with a slim, sustainable, digital installation that features billboard-like messages on an innovative LED display embedded in the sidewalk.

Smart Sidewalks, already judged the best in functionality, is up against five other designs for the Popular Choice Award - with votes due by midnight Thursday (March 14), via Facebook. 

Brett Snyder, assistant professor of design, and N. Claire Napawan, assistant professor of landscape architecture and environmental design, are among the designers, urban planners, architects and others who answered New York City's call to reinvent the pay phone "to make our city more accessible, safer, healthier, greener and better informed."

Alumnus Jamie Montiel, artist in residence at the university's Taller Arte del Amanacer, or Art Workshop of the New Dawn, is showing recent works at the Davis Community Clinic. Read more here.   

Art lecturer Bruce Vinokurov displays a body of work he calls "Foodies in Exile" at the Robert Mondavi winery in Oakville from March 8 to May 9. Read more here.