Faculty/Department

Professor Dominic Thomas honored as Officer in the Order of Academic Palms

Dominic Thomas, Madeleine Letessier Professor of French in the Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies, has been named an Officer in the Order of Academic Palms, or l’Ordre des Palmes académiques. The Academic Palms is the oldest civilian award given out and is second only in age to the Legion of Honor. They were created in 1808 by Napoléon Bonaparte to honor university professors. The French Minister of National Education recommends nominees for the honor to the French Prime Minister, who, if she or he is in agreement, issues an official decree naming recipients. Julie Duhaut-Bedos, Consul General of France…

Department of Asian Languages & Cultures receives $3.7 million in gift commitments

The UCLA Department of Asian Languages & Cultures has received $3.7 million in gift commitments from distinguished professor of Buddhist studies Robert E. Buswell Jr. and his wife, Christina Lee Buswell, a translator of Korean religious scriptures. The couple’s gift commitments created the Chinul Endowed Chair in Korean Buddhist Studies—the first permanent endowed chair in Korean Buddhism outside of Korea—and the Robert E. and Christina L. Buswell Fellowship in Buddhist Studies in support of graduate students in the department. The endowments will be funded as a blended gift with a portion paid over five years and the balance as a…

Professor Maite Zubiaurre selected to join Faculty Mentoring Honor Society

Professor Maite Zubiaurre has been selected to join the Faculty Mentoring Honor Society. The society recognizes UCLA faculty who have given much time and effort to the work of mentoring early and mid-career faculty, especially underrepresented faculty at UCLA. The work of mentoring is too often invisible and unrecognized, and such faculty contribute disproportionately to mentoring on campuses and deserve recognition. The society honors the mentorship of underrepresented faculty with respect to identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. For more information on Professor Zubiaurre’s accomplishments and featured work, please click here.

English department celebrates launch of Digital Media Lab

The UCLA Department of English will celebrate the launch of its new Digital Media Lab on Friday, May 6 at noon at its location in Kaplan Hall 211. The Digital Media Lab is the result of an initiative by a group of English faculty members whose students were increasingly interested in using multimedia resources in their scholarly work, according to department chair Ursula Heise, the Marcia H. Howard Professor of Literary Studies and director of UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies. “[The lab] is not only about the creation of digital works, or research on digital works,” Heise said. “We’re…

Exhibition places viewers in midst of WWII-era forced removal of Japanese Americans

Eighty years ago, during World War II, the U.S. government forcibly removed Japanese Americans from the West Coast, incarcerating 120,000 in concentration camps. This May, an exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum lets visitors step into those dark days of 1942 through an augmented reality re-creation at the very site where thousands of Japanese Americans living in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood were ordered to report before trains and buses took them to the camps. “BeHere / 1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration,” which opens May 7, is presented by the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities, a…

UCLA names Alex Stern dean of humanities

Alexandra Minna Stern, currently the associate dean for the humanities at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, will be the new dean of humanities at the UCLA College. Her appointment is effective Nov. 1. Stern is the Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor of American Culture at Michigan, where she also holds appointments in history, women’s and gender studies, and obstetrics and gynecology. Her research has focused on modern and contemporary histories of science, medicine and society in the U.S. and Latin America, and, most recently, on the cultures and ideologies of the far right and white…

English professor named distinguished alumna by UC Santa Cruz

Harryette Mullen, a professor of English at UCLA, was named the University of California Santa Cruz’s 2022 Humanities Division Distinguished Graduate Student Alumna. UC Santa Cruz’s five academic divisions annually select one graduate student alumnus to be their Distinguished Graduate Student honoree. Mullen received the distinction for the Humanities Division. Mullen has taught a wide range of courses in her time at UCLA including creative writing courses and classes focused on American and African American literature. “At UCLA, I am blessed with brilliant colleagues in a department that encourages interdisciplinary study and innovation,” Mullen said according to the UCSC Newscenter….

Professor David Kaplan wins 2022 Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy

David Kaplan, the Hans Reichenbach Professor of Scientific Philosophy, was awarded the 2022 Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy on 24th of March. The Rolf Schock Prize is awarded every other year to laureates from various areas including science, the visual arts, and music. The 2022 laureates include philosopher David Kaplan, mathematician Jonathan Pila, architect Rem Koolhaas, and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. The prize includes the four laureates sharing 2 million Swedish Kronor amongst them. The prize is named in honor of Rolf Schock, a notable individual who had an interest in logic and philosophy but also the visual arts…

New course helps students make educated decisions when entering workforce after graduation

Humanities students often face structural gaps when it comes to preparing for careers after graduation. A new class, Careers in Humanities (COMPLIT 191P/ENG M191P) aims to change that, offering students career advice; opportunities to build their personal portfolio, CV or resume; and help with general interviewing skills. It is a collaborative effort between the Department of Comparative Literature and the UCLA Career Center, with Professor David MacFadyen teaching the course and Senior Director of Alumni Career Engagement Gloria Ko arranging alumni speakers to bolster students’ understanding of the concepts and career pathways taught. “I just felt that there was a…

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures works with Howard University to offer pipeline to Ph.D. for Black students in Egyptology

To increase inclusivity within the field of Egyptology, the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department at UCLA is collaborating with Howard University to offer a pipeline program for Black students. “Summer Research Internship and Pathway to PhD’s in Ancient Egyptian, North African, and Western Asian Studies” is an eight-week course that will start this summer. In it, four to five students from historically Black colleges and universities will be brought to UCLA to learn about the field of study while also receiving mentorship and support from faculty which will extend beyond the program. Kara Cooney, a professor of Egyptian Art…