Events

Dana Cuff to deliver Faculty Research Lecture: Can ‘urban humanism’ reverse the housing crisis?

When Elvis Presley first crooned the words to his 1962 hit “Home Is Where the Heart Is,” it marked the start of a decade in which the singer himself would call Los Angeles home. And while Los Angeles has captured the hearts of many who call it home, present-day residents also know their city is where the heart of a national housing crisis is. Luckily, the Southland is also home to Dana Cuff, a professor of architecture and urban design and director of UCLA’s cityLAB, a multidisciplinary research center where Cuff and others have focused their expertise for nearly 20 years…

‘Art of the Benshi’ tour will showcase century-old Japanese film tradition, April 5-26

A five-city tour co-presented by two UCLA entities will bring to life the mesmerizing artistry of Japanese benshi performance. Benshi performers — the term is derived from the phrase katsudō benshi, meaning “movie orator” — were the captivating narrators of Japan’s silent film era. The practice began in Japan in the 1890s; at its peak, in the 1910s and ’20s, more than 7,000 benshi not only introduced films but also provided live narration, portraying characters and articulating the on-screen action, filling theaters and enthralling audiences. The form also thrived in Japan’s colonies and in immigrant communities around the world, including at the Great Fuji Theatre in…

Oscar Wilde’s final hours: Joseph Bristow to correct the record in lecture at Clark Library

Oscar Wilde’s life has been examined in minute detail in numerous biographies and countless articles. But the details of his death have been widely misunderstood, according to UCLA’s Joseph Bristow. Bristow, a distinguished professor of English and leading scholar on Wilde, will help set the record straight in a free lecture at UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at 4 p.m. on Feb. 21. The Clark is a fitting venue for the talk: The library is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of Wildeiana. After Wilde died in 1900 at the age of 46, in a hotel room in…

Climate emergency and the future of democracy

The final Possible Worlds lecture — the sixth in the series — was delivered by Robyn Eckersley, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Melbourne and a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Eckersley joined the UCLA community on May 24 to present a lecture, “Climate Emergency and the Future of Democracy,” which attracted attendees both online and in person. “The Possible Worlds lectures bring big thinkers who are going to challenge us to think about the state of the world and the challenges we face in regards to climate change,” said…

Dean delivers 2023 Humanities Division commencement address

Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of humanities at the UCLA College, served as the commencement speaker for the 2023 humanities commencement ceremony.  Stern said she was honored to be the speaker for the ceremony. She added that she hoped her speech would uplift students and families and thank them for all their hard work.  “This has been quite a tumultuous time, especially since these graduates were by the pandemic, and their educational experience was disrupted,” Stern said. “I believe this generation has acquired an important skills for their future: How does one live with uncertainty? How does one recalibrate all the…