News
With 16 programs and one center operating within the Institute of Arts and Humanities, plus the activities of the UC San Diego School of Arts and Humanities—of which the Institute of Arts and Humanities is an integral part—there is always something happening!
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Digital Newsletter Archive
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News Archive
2023
February 16, 2023 | Using Ancient Texts to Foster Compassion and Empathy Today
The Revelle College Humanities Program and the Center for Hellenic Studies brought Theater of War Productions to campus, presenting a dramatic reading of Aeschylus’ ancient play “The Suppliants,” along with a post-performance discussion aimed at creating dialogue around war, migration and asylum seeking.
2022
July 6, 2022 | Explore Magazine: Celebrating Five Successful Years of UC San Diego’s Race and Oral History Project
Born from a collaborative partnership between the Institute of Arts and Humanities and the UC San Diego Library, the Race and Oral History Project was created in 2017 in an effort to document and share stories of understudied racial and ethnic communities in the Greater San Diego region. The project itself is anchored by a joint Department of History and Department of Ethnic Studies. “During my time in the course, I had the opportunity to interact with students from various backgrounds, majors and interests,” said Isabel Nguyen, a student minoring in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies program.
2021
February 4, 2021 | Local Arts Institutions Receive Getty Foundation Research Grants
Lisa Cartwright, faculty in the Science Studies Program and Professor of Visual Arts and Communication, is leading a grant awarded by The Getty Foundation. Oceanographic Art and Science: Navigating the Pacific brings together scientists and artists to explore the visual and sensory techniques used to see, measure, and imagine the oceans.
July 22, 2021 | Amelia Glaser Selected as Harvard Radcliffe Fellow
University of California San Diego associate professor Amelia Glaser has been named a 2021–2022 fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, where she will investigate contemporary literature and art in Ukraine to better understand how a collective identity can be publicly reimagined during, and immediately following, political upheaval.
April 8, 2021 | A Major Move: Campus Approves New Undergraduate Degree in Black Diaspora and African American Studies
“One of the overarching goals of the new degree is to help students understand the critical spaces Black people hold in society: culturally, politically, economically and socially,” said program director Thandeka Chapman. “It will also provide theoretical and conceptual tools for students to learn about the complexities of race and racism, capitalism, colonization and imperialism.”
2020
September 17, 2020 | Announcing the Launch of Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies Program
UC San Diego will have a new program in Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies starting in fall, a long-awaited move that many students, faculty, staff and alumni have been eager to see. History associate professor Simeon Man will lead the program as faculty director.
June 3, 2020 | A Message from the Institute of Arts and Humanities
The Institute of Arts and Humanities stands with UC San Diego and San Diego communities in mourning the deaths of Tony McDade, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black people by police. We condemn these murders and understand they are not exceptional acts of brutality but systemic to the function of police and white supremacy in the United States and beyond.
April 30, 2020 | UCSD Students Build Archive of Untold Stories, Impact of COVID-19 on Marginalized Communities
Students of UC San Diego's "Race and Oral History Project" course witness firsthand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on San Diego's ethnic communities. The course is taught by Associate Director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities Simeon Man (History), Professor Luis Alvarez (History), and Professor Yen Espiritu (Ethnic Studies).
2019
June 14, 2019 | Appointment of Nancy Kwak as Director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities
Nancy Kwak, associate professor in the Department of History, has been appointed as the new director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities. The appointment is effective July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021. Currently serving as associate director, Nancy is succeeding Luis Alvarez, who has successfully served as the inaugural director for three years.
April 23, 2019 | Announcing the launch of the Latinx/Chicanx Academic Excellence Initiative
At UC San Diego, we believe education should be accessible to all ambitious and talented students. Therefore, we are proud to announce the launch of the Latinx/Chicanx Academic Excellence Initiative, a campus-wide program designed to reflect and serve California’s fastest growing demographic. This means attracting and supporting a diverse faculty, staff and student community—making UC San Diego a place where generations rise.
February 28, 2019 | Building an Archive of San Diego History
Through the course Race and Oral History in San Diego, undergraduates collect the stories and experiences of people who work and live in the greater San Diego region, but who have been largely left out of how history is told. The course is taught by Director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities Luis Alvarez (History), Yen Espiritu (Ethnic Studies), and Simeon Man (History).
January 31, 2019 | Institute of Arts and Humanities Receives California Humanities Grant for Community Conversations
The Institute of Arts and Humanities received a two year, $10,000 Humanities for All Project Grant to support eight public forums that explore how the arts and humanities can inform discussion about important challenges facing citizens today.
2018
October 23, 2018 | Culture Report: What Arts Can Teach Scientists, and Vice-Versa
Dean Della Coletta discusses her vision for IAH to help UC San Diego educate the whole individual. Director Luis Alvarez discusses the Race and Oral History in San Diego project.
August 8, 2018 | Division of Arts and Humanities Receives $750,000 NEH Infrastructure Award
The UC San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities received a $750,000 matching grant that will support construction of a new home for the Institute of Arts and Humanities. This will be located on the entire sixth floor of a new building in the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood.
2017
July 17, 2017 | Institute of Arts and Humanities Director Luis Alvarez on C-SPAN
The Institute of Arts and Humanities Director Luis Alvarez gave a lecture on Zoots Suits and World War II during his Chicana/o History class. The lecture aired on C-SPAN in September 2017.
June 30, 2017 | Institute of Arts and Humanities Associate Director Mark Hanna in Time magazine
Mark Hanna's submission to Time magazine was featured in its "25 Moments That Changed America." Hanna discussed the importance of the U.S. Naval Fleet entering the First Barbary War. It was the first foreign conflict that brought together once disparate colonies into a united republic.
May 5, 2017 | Institute of Arts and Humanities Associate Director Mark Hanna Featured on This American Life
Associate Director Mark Hanna was featured on a recent This American Life broadcast with Elna Baker and Ira Glass. Hanna lends historical context to the story of Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner from Barbados who abandoned customary family life to become a pirate, ultimately battling Blackbeard.
March 20, 2017 | Institute of Arts and Humanities Director Luis Alvarez speaks at UC San Diego & You alumni event in Silicon Valley
Director Luis Alvarez spoke about his research at the recent UC San Diego & You alumni event in Silicon Valley, on Thursday, March 16, 2017. Alvarez presented on the history of race and social movements in California, as well as the successful launch of IAH in 2016-2017. UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla and Division of Arts and Humanities Dean Cristina Della Coletta also participated in the standing-room-only event.
2016
May 3, 2016 | UC San Diego Announces Inaugural Directors for the Institute of Arts and Humanities
The Division of Arts and Humanities has appointed the institute’s first new director and associate director—Luis Alvarez and Mark Hanna, respectively. Both are faculty members in the UC San Diego Department of History. They assume their new leadership posts July 1.
2015
December 21, 2015 | UC San Diego Launches Institute of Arts and Humanities
The Division of Arts and Humanities is growing to better address important global issues. One of its new enterprises is the Institute of Arts and Humanities (IAH), a centripetal hub established to unify several existing programs that have been operating independently within the division.
