Faculty/Department

English professor Anahid Nersessian named poetry editor for Granta

“I like poetry that’s unexpected, that doesn’t conform to what’s going on in the mainstream but that’s nonetheless clearly part of an important conversation or movement,” says Anahid Nersessian. Now, the UCLA English professor has a new platform from which to highlight such work: On Feb. 13, Nersessian became the new poetry editor for Granta, the prestigious literary quarterly. “Anahid Nersessian has a wonderfully concentrated mind for poetry,” Granta editor Thomas Meaney told The Bookseller. “Her writing about contemporary poets has been one of the most thrilling literary developments in recent years. We are delighted she is joining us as…

In a world shaped by data, what happens to social justice?

Data drives life-changing decisions in every social sector. Statistics, algorithms and artificial intelligence have the potential to rectify inequalities, but also the ability to create or exacerbate them. For example, research has demonstrated that over-policing and disproportionate incarceration rates in communities of color are part of a cycle largely related to how the justice system uses data: Over generations, inflated crime rates and more severe sentencing patterns have fed large data sets that in turn have been unfairly used to justify increased police surveillance of these communities and harsher punishments for offenders. These are the kinds of problems examined in…

On the ‘Afterlife of Photography’: Q&A with art historian George Baker

When George Baker was asked to write an essay on photography for an exhibition in 2008, unbeknownst to him, he had begun the journey toward completing “Lateness and Longing: On the Afterlife of Photography.” In it, the UCLA art history professor sets out to investigate how a generation of women artists is invigorating photography in the age of digitization by returning to earlier, incomplete or unrealized moments in the field’s history. For the first installment of the UCLA College’s Bruin Bookshelf Spotlight, Baker shares a snapshot of the approach and inspirations for his latest work, how a resurgence in analog photographic…

Department of Spanish and Portuguese scholars collaborate on project to translate neuroscience research

Scientific research continuously expands our collective knowledge and pushes innovation forward. But what good is that innovation if it isn’t accessible to large swaths of the global population? English is the standard language for most scientific communication — nearly 98% of scientific research is published in English. While standardizing scientific publications into a single language can streamline discussion, it is incredibly limiting for populations that don’t speak English. A UCLA-led project aims to alleviate this issue. A collaboration among the UCLA Brain Research Institute, the UCLA Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the nonprofit organization Knowing Neurons is translating the informational content on Knowing Neurons’…

Uri McMillan receives Warhol Foundation grant for book on influential 1970s artists

Uri McMillan, a UCLA professor of English and African American studies, has received a $50,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation to support work on his forthcoming book. “The Seventies in Color” will focus on three trendsetting New York City artists of the 1970s — fashion designer Stephen Burrows, musician-actor-model Grace Jones and fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez — to demonstrate the influence of Black and Brown creative labor across multiple fields. McMillan said the book will advance an alternative view of the culture-defining New York arts scene of that era. “The standard narrative around New York in the 1970s is…

‘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…

In memoriam: David Kunzle, 87, a founder of comics scholarship with wide-ranging interests

David Kunzle, a UCLA professor emeritus who was widely recognized as one of the founders of contemporary comics scholarship, died Jan. 1 at the age of 87. The cause was amyloidosis. Kunzle’s scholarship was unusually wide-ranging, but perhaps his signature work was the multivolume “The History of the Comic Strip,” which first appeared in 1973 as “The Early Comic Strip,” published by the University of California Press. A second volume, focusing on the 19th century, was published in 1990. He was celebrated in particular for his study of 1800s European cartoonists, according to an obituary published by the Comics Journal….

UCLA-led project receives $1.3 million NSF grant to connect creativity and innovation

UCLA researchers from the humanities, arts and engineering aim to foster stronger ties between America’s vibrant creative sector and those involved in pioneering scientific research, technology innovation and workforce evolution. Funded by a $1.3 million award from the National Science Foundation, the yearlong project will include a series of activities exploring how to connect regional strengths in culture and technology, foster U.S. competitiveness in industries involved in the creative sector and strengthen workforce development at the nexus of creativity and technology in critical and emerging areas of innovation, such as artificial intelligence. UCLA has launched a project office supported by the NSF’s new…

In memoriam: Kirstie McClure, 72, brought interdisciplinary approach to study of political history

Kirstie McClure, a UCLA professor of political science, English and comparative literature, died Dec. 21, 2023, at the age of 72. Her research interests included modern and contemporary political theory, politics and literature, the history and historiography of political literature, and feminist theory. In a message on the UCLA political science website, Davide Panagia, the department chair, lauded McClure as “a formidable colleague and friend to many of us” who would be remembered for “her brilliance, her encyclopedic knowledge of the history of political thought and her refusal to leave a thought unfinished.” “Her contributions to political theory, the history…