In memoriam: Diego Loukota, 38, specialist in Indian and Central Asian Buddhism, ‘once-in-a-generation’ intellect
His colleague Seiji Lippit remembered Loukota for his “pioneering work, drawing connections … that had not been seen before.”
In Memoriam
In memoriam: Richard Lehan, 93, authority on American naturalism, former English department chair
A leading authority on American realism and naturalism, he wrote at least 10 books, including two that are recognized as among the most important works on those topics.
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….
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…