UCLA Humanities

Messenia to Mesopotamia: New Directions in the Art and Archaeology of the Second Millennium BCE Symposium
2025-12-06 09:00 - 16:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Messenia to Mesopotamia: New Directions in the Art and Archaeology of the Second Millennium BCE
Hosted by the
UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture
in collaboration with
The J. Paul Getty Museum
and held in conjunction with the exhibition
The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Mycenaean Greece
Saturday, December 6, 2025
9:00 A.M. – 4:15 P.M.
314 Royce Hall, UCLA Campus
Reception to follow
RSVP Here
Symposium Description: TBD
Bios:
Emily Catherine Egan is Assistant Professor of Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Art and Archaeology in the Department of Art History & Archaeology at the University of Maryland. She holds a dual B.A. in Classics and Old World Archaeology and Art from Brown University, an M.Phil. in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on artistic practice in the Bronze Age Aegean, and particularly on the production, consumption, and iconography of Mycenaean painted surface decoration. She has undertaken archaeological fieldwork in Italy, Turkey, Jordan, Armenia, Cyprus, and most recently in Greece, where she is engaged in the study of wall and floor paintings from the Palace of Nestor at Pylos, and Petsas House, Mycenae.
Joanne Murphy is a professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Archaeology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she has worked since 2008 and serves as Department Head. She is also the current Director of the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies, President of The American Friends of the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies (a 501c non-profit), and an Academic Trustee at the Archaeological Institute of America. She received her BA and first MA from University College Dublin, Ireland, and an MA and PhD from University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses primarily on religion and death and how they connect with identity, community, and political economies. As well as giving tens of lectures both nationally and internationally, she has published over 30 papers and five edited volumes on these and related topics and has one monograph in press and two other volumes underway. She has led two major research projects: one, a legacy study, on the tombs around Pylos in southwestern Greece and one, an archaeological survey on the Greek island of Kea. She has received awards for her research and for initiatives at UNCG and non-profits from various foundations including INSTAP, the Mellon Foundation, the Onassis Foundation, the NEH, and the Loeb Foundation. She has also been recognized for her teaching and was awarded the Archaeological Institute of America’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and UNCG College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award. She has a great love of sharing the past and has led tours in Greece, Ireland, France, England, Italy, and Turkey, as well as running an annual archaeological field school in Greece.
Efthymia Tsiolaki is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto. She is an archaeologist specializing in the Bronze Age Aegean, with a focus on the social and economic organization of the Greek mainland. Her current research project explores the long-term history of settlement and land use in Messenia from the bottom-up, integrating surface survey and excavation data with GIS-based analysis to highlight the dynamic character of peripheral communities before and during the rise of the Mycenaean palace at Pylos (ca. 3000 – 1100 BC). She also studies the technology and function of ground stone tools across several archaeological projects, examining their roles in domestic and craft activities.
This event is organized by Professor David Schneller (UCLA) and Dr. Claire Lyons (Getty) and is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Co-Sponsored by:
UCLA College Division of Humanities
Peter J. and Caroline B. Caloyeras Endowment for the Arts
George P. Kolovos Family Centennial Term Chair in Hellenic Studies
Gefyra
UCLA Global Antiquity
The Joan Palevsky Chair of Classics at UCLA
UCLA Department of Art History
UCLA Department of Classics
UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
UCLA David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design
Don’t miss our other upcoming programs in collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum here:
Saturday, November 22, 2025Pylos and Minoan Crete
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Messenia to Mesopotamia: New Directions in the Art and Archaeology of the Second Millennium BCE Symposium

Chamber Music at the Clark presents: Escher Quartet
2026-01-11 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
Within months of its inception in 2005, the Escher Quartet came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet-in-Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Program at Canada’s National Arts Centre, and the Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY.
The Escher Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The 2023–2024 season found the Escher Quartet embarking upon a major project: performances of the complete cycle of quartets by Bela Bartók, culminating in a single concert performance of all six at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The Escher Quartet takes its name from the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.
Further details and the full program are on our website.

Tickets for the Escher Quartet concert will go on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

Bilingual Lecture Series: Panel on Afghan Refugees in Iran
2026-01-12 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online Via Zoom
Panel on Afghan Refugees in Iran
January 12, 2026
11:00am Pacific Time
Online via Zoom
In Persian and English
Registration Required
Registration Link: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hcYEa8i_QB6EIvQRBb9YEw
Munazza Ebtikar
PANEL MODERATOR
Dr. Munazza Ebtikar recently completed her PhD (2025) in Politics, History, and Anthropology at the University of Oxford. She was a 2024-2025 Peace Fellow at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator of Stanford’s Sonic Resistance Archive, documenting Afghan cultural production. She holds an MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from Oxford and completed her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley with degrees in Peace and Conflict, Middle Eastern Politics, and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. Dr. Ebtikar is co-editing “Civil Resistance in Afghanistan” and brings multilingual research capabilities in Persian, Arabic, and Pashto to her work on Afghanistan’s contemporary political and cultural transformations.

Ashraf Haidari
Afghan Refugees in Iran: Precarious Protection, Forced Returns, and Pathways Forward
Ambassador Ashraf Haidari is a distinguished diplomat and humanitarian leader, serving as the Founder and President of Displaced International (DI). From 2018 to 2022, he was Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Director-General of the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), leading initiatives on regional security, economic cooperation, climate resilience, and sustainable development. At Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he held key roles, including Director-General of Policy and Strategy and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the Afghan Embassies in Delhi and Washington, D.C. His leadership is deeply shaped by his personal journey as a former refugee. He earned a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Wabash College, followed by a Master’s in Security Studies at Georgetown University and a graduate certificate in Refugees, Migration, and Humanitarian Emergencies.

Mejgan Massoumi
Lives in Transit: Afghan Cultural Producers Navigating Precarity and Policing in Iran
Mejgan Massoumi is an Assistant Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University. Her current book project examines the history of radio in Afghanistan, revealing how music and sound shaped politics, culture, and everyday life at the crossroads of Asia and the Middle East. Her research has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (AIAS), and her dissertation received the World History Association’s 2023–24 Best Dissertation Prize. Dr. Massoumi earned her PhD in History from Stanford University in 2021. She also holds degrees in Architecture (B.A.) and City Planning (M.C.P.) from the University of California, Berkeley, grounding her scholarship in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective.

Mitra Naseh
Increasingly Restrictive Migration Policies for Afghans in Iran
Mitra Naseh is a forced migration scholar, currently serving as an Assistant Professor and the Founding Director of the Forced Migration Initiative (FMI) at the Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on the multidimensional social and economic integration of forcibly displaced populations, shaped by her interdisciplinary academic training, lived experience as an immigrant, and extensive fieldwork with non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. She is the co-author of the widely recognized book Best Practices in Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants, published by Columbia University Press in 2019.

Zuzanna Olszewska
Beyond Dorr-e Dari: The Global Literary Ripples of a Pioneering Refugee Cultural Institution in Iran
Zuzanna Olszewska is Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of the Middle East at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford. She is an anthropologist with a particular interest in the literary and cultural production among the Afghan diaspora. She is author of award-winning monograph The Pearl of Dari: Poetry and Personhood among Young Afghans in Iran (Indiana University Press, 2015) and numerous articles. She is also a translator of Persian-language poetry from Afghanistan.

California Medieval Seminar (Winter 2026)
2026-01-31 09:30 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce 306
Participation in the Seminar consists of group discussion of pre-circulated papers, typically drafts of articles, book chapters, or dissertation chapters (with complete apparatus). Two of the papers are ordinarily by emerging scholars (including PhD students) and the other two are by established scholars. We allocate one hour per paper and presenters should anticipate substantial, and substantive, feedback. Calls for presenters are circulated via e-mail from the Center approximately two months prior to each meeting and papers are accepted on a first-come basis.
Register to attend in Royce 306
Register to attend via ZOOM
More information can be found here.

California Medieval Seminar (Winter 2026)
2026-01-31 09:30 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce 306
Participation in the Seminar consists of group discussion of pre-circulated papers, typically drafts of articles, book chapters, or dissertation chapters (with complete apparatus). Two of the papers are ordinarily by emerging scholars (including PhD students) and the other two are by established scholars. We allocate one hour per paper and presenters should anticipate substantial, and substantive, feedback. Calls for presenters are circulated via e-mail from the Center approximately two months prior to each meeting and papers are accepted on a first-come basis.
Faculty, postdocs, and grad students from across California are welcome to participate. Register to attend in person or on Zoom by January 20 to receive the papers.
Register to attend in Royce 306
Register to attend via ZOOM
Email Events Manager Thi Nguyen (tnguyen@humnet.ucla.edu) if you are registering after January 20.
The papers will be discussed at the seminar in the following order:

“When is a Document Lost? Interrogating Archival Silence in Early Medieval Italy,” Maya Maskarinec (University of Southern California)
“Homo legum: The Making and Classification of Legal Experts in Montpellier, 1200-1380,” Shahrouz Khalifian (Mount Saint Mary’s University)
“How Medieval Judaism Became a System: Dogma and Principles of Faith in Fifteenth-Century Sepharad,” Bénédicte Sère (Institut Universitaire de France / University of Paris-Nanterre / EHESS-Paris)
“The Politics of Failure in late medieval Iceland,” Basil Arnould Price (State University of New York, Oneonta)

More information can be found here.

2026 Distinguished Alumni Lecture
2026-02-05 16:00 UTC
Note: This event is RSVP only
Please join us in honoring the 2026 UCLA Spanish & Portuguese Distinguished Alumni Lecture Award recipient Dr. Claudia Mesa Higuera, Professor of Spanish at Moravian University.
The 2026 Distinguished Alumni Lecture topic is “Castillo Solórzano, Rubens, and a Theater on Brushstrokes.” Soon after the famous battle of Nördlingen (1634), the Spanish novelist Alonso de Castillo Solórzano published a panegyric play to commemorate the triumph of the imperial army led by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Spain and the King of Hungary over the Swedish and German armies commanded respectively by Gustav Horn and the duke of Saxe-Weimar. Around the same time, the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens completed a series of paintings and engravings on the topic of love and war that allows a comparison of the two artists. This lecture examines the characterization of historical and fictional characters involved in this decisive battle of the Thirty Years’ War to suggest that such characterization is informed by a figurative tradition that reveals a shared ethos between the Spanish playwright and the Flemish painter at a time in which artistic expression seeks to extol state ideology while simultaneously subverting it.
The UCLA Spanish & Portuguese Department will host the Distinguished Alumni lecture on Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM at the UCLA University Club. The lecture will be held in the Hacienda Room. RSVP Only.

A Conversation with Dr. Paula M. Krebs
2026-02-17 13:00 - 14:00 UTC | Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library, Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
Paula M. Krebs became executive director of the Modern Language Association in August 2017. She administers the programs, governance, and business affairs of the association and is general editor of the association’s publishing and research programs, as well as editor of two association publications. She serves as an ex officio member of all committees and commissions of the association, chairs the committee that oversees the planning of the association’s annual convention, works with the MLA’s trustees in evaluating and implementing investments of the MLA’s endowment funds, and chairs the staff Finance Committee.
Dr. Krebs earned a PhD in English from Indiana University, where she specialized in Victorian literature and culture, and a BA from La Salle College (now La Salle University).

El gesto y la razón: La teoría de los medios de Simón Rodríguez
2026-02-18 16:30 UTC | Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library, Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
El pensador sudamericano Simón Rodríguez (1769-1854), recordado como maestro de Simón Bolívar, desarrolló en su obra un proyecto pedagógico y político para fundar las nuevas repúblicas sudamericanas. Para presentarla, utilizó singulares composiciones tipográficas que configuran un modo alternativo de escritura. Esta charla explora la imbricación entre educación, republicanismo y experimentación escritural, y sus implicaciones teóricas. Se muestra que la obra de Rodríguez contiene una reflexión sobre cómo los objetos, los cuerpos, las exteriorizaciones técnicas y sus propiedades mediales le dan forma al sujeto y la comunidad política, revelando así la manera en que una compleja teoría de los medios sustenta su proyecto republicano.
Juan Pablo Lupi es Associate Professor en el Departamento de Español y Portugués de la Universidad de California Santa Barbara. Es autor de Reading Anew: José Lezama Lima’s Rhetorical Investigations, y coeditor de los volúmenes Asedios a lo increado: Nuevas perspectivas sobre Lezama Lima (junto a Marta Hernández Salván y Jorge Marturano), y La futuridad del naufragio: Orígenes, estelas y derivas (junto a César A. Salgado).

“Giannis in the Cities” Screening and Q&A with Director Eleni Alexandrakis
2026-02-22 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90024
Giannis in the Cities (2024) – Screening and Q&A with Director Eleni Alexandrakis
Presented by the UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture
and the UCLA Film & Television Archive
February 22, 2026
7:00 P.M.
Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum
ADMISSION IS FREE
In 2025, Giannis in the Cities, which was screened at Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles, won both the Best Feature Film (Orpheus Award) and the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF).
Ticketing Information: Admission is free. No advance reservations are required. Seats will be assigned when tickets are picked up at the box office and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.
During the Greek Civil War fought between 1946-1949, childhood itself became a frontline in the clash between government and rebel forces. Under the guise of offering protection and education, the Greek government enticed parents to surrender their children to a system of Childcare Cities that served as indoctrination mills that oftentimes alienated their wards from their own families. In her riveting, visually striking adaptation of the memoir of Greek writer Giannis Atzakas, writer-director Eleni Alexandrakis tells the searing story of Giannis and his experience growing up in these harsh institutions all the while unable to shake the memory of his rebel father and his longing for – and aversion to – a reunion.
DCP, b/w, in Greek with English subtitles, 90 min. Director: Eleni Alexandrakis. Screenwriters: Eleni Alexandrakis, Panagiotis Evangelidis. With: Filippos Milikas, Agni Stroubouli, Evi Saoulidou.
In the role of Giannis: Philippos Milikas, Marios-Konstantinos Gatetzas, Konstantinos Athanassakis, Aineias Tsamatis
With: Agni Stroumbouli, Evi Saoulidou, Katia Leclerc O’Wallis, Katia Goulioni, Themis Panou, Evdoxia Androulidaki
In person for the Q&A session: Filmmaker Eleni Alexandrakis and Laurie Hart, Chair of the UCLA Department of Anthropology & Co-Director of the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies.
This event is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Watch the trailer here:

Additional information is available on the UCLA Film & Television Archive webpage here: https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/giannis-cities-2026-02-22
Parking information can be found on the Billy Wilder Theater website here: https://cinema.ucla.edu/billy-wilder-theater/.

Neuroprotective Greek Herbs: Bridging Neuroscience and Cultural Heritage
2026-03-07 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Neuroprotective Greek Herbs: Bridging Neuroscience and Cultural Heritage
a seminar organized by
Anastasia Tsingotjidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
March 7, 2026
9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
314 Royce Hall, UCLA
RSVP Here
Click here to watch the program live via livestream
This seminar brings together researchers from neuroscience, pharmacology, biology, veterinary medicine, nutrition, and plant biodiversity to explore the neuroprotective potential of traditional Greek herbs. Through a combination of in-person and online presentations, the program highlights translational research, from animal models and isolated bioactive compounds to nutritional approaches and cultural heritage. The seminar concludes with a culinary demonstration using Cycladic herbs, emphasizing the connection between Greek history, daily life, and brain health.
View the full schedule here
Speakers:

Dr. Korina Atsopardi, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras
Dimitra Efthymiopoulou, Department of Nutrition & Dietetics and Department of Sports Nutrition, Harokopio University (Zoom)
Irene Giannakopoulos, CEO, Aegialis Hotel and Spa, author of the culinary book, My Amorgos!
Professor Marigoula Margariti, Department of Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras (Zoom)
Marita Papagianni, Plant Taxonomist & Biodiversity Research Associate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Zoom)
Professor Igor Spigelman, Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, Section of Biosystems and Function, School of Dentistry, UCLA
Professor Anastasia Tsingotjidou, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Associate Professor Konstantinos Xanthopoulos, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Zoom)

This seminar is hosted by the UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, with generous support from Lee and Lilian Polydor, The Polydor Foundation, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Parking Information:

Parking for Royce Hall is available in Parking Structure 4.
Parking Structure 4 is located at: 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Parking Structure 4 is accessible from Sunset Blvd. onto Westwood Plaza which leads directly to the underground parking structure. To view the walking map from Parking Structure 4 to Royce Hall, click here.
No parking attendants will be on-site at the parking structure, and Pay-By-Space/Visitor Parking is extremely limited in this lot, so we highly encourage you to purchase a parking permit in advance:
Advance parking is available for Parking Structure 4.

To save time, you may purchase your parking permit for Parking Structure 4 for $17 in advance using Bruin ePermit: https://bruinepermit.t2hosted.com/pnw2/selectevent.aspx. Select “UCLA Royce Hall,” then “Neuroprotective Greek Herbs” With the advanced parking permit, you can park anywhere in Parking Structure 4 EXCEPT in the Pay-by-Space section. For instructions on how to use this portal, please click here.
To purchase a permit when you arrive at Parking Structure 4, please park ONLY in the Pay-By-Space/Visitor Parking area, and proceed to the Self-Service Pay Station machine to pay by credit card.
Guest drop/Ride-share drop off is closest at the turnaround at the front of Royce Hall located at: 10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Accessible parking: For individuals with accessibility needs, parking lot 4 is ADA accessibility and has elevators on all floors. The elevators in Lot 4 provide access to Wilson Plaza, with sidewalk access available. Upon reaching Janss Steps, turn left towards the Anderson School of Business and Fowler Museum. Proceed past the Fowler Museum before you enter Anderson School of Business; take a right to access the elevator leading to Royce Hall. Please visit our Campus Accessibility Map to view related information.
To view the ADA map from Parking Structure 4 to Royce Hall, click here.

For inquiries, please contact hellenic@humnet.ucla.edu

Counter-Pedagogies of Forgetting Tour
2026-03-11 - 2026-03-12 | Bunche Hall 10383 and Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
Fostering public conversations about memory and justice, a reflection on Peru’s forced disappearances from 1980 to 2000.
Documentary Screening: Este fue nuestro castigo, by Luis Cintora
Wednesday March 11, 11:30 – 1:30 PM in Bunche Hall 10383
Guided Photo Exhibition: Percy Rojas (Ausencias Presentes)
Thursday March 12, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM in Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
Book Reading: Karina Pacheco’s Niños del pájaro azul, with Gisela Ortiz
Thursday March 12, 4:00 PM in Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library

West Coast Hellenic Book Club: The Jasmine Isle by Ioanna Karystiani
2026-03-14 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Book cover design by: Emanuele Ragnisco
West Coast Hellenic Book Club:
The Jasmine Isle by Ioanna Karystiani, trans. Michael Eleftheriou
(Europa Editions, 2006)
Discussion led by Professor Sharon Gerstel, Director, UCLA SNF Hellenic Center and Dr. Eirini Kotsovili, Senior Lecturer, Global Humanities at Simon Fraser University
Saturday, March 14, 2026
10 A.M. Los Angeles / 7 P.M. Greece
Via Zoom
RSVP Here
From the Publisher:
Set on the Greek island of Andros during the first half of the 20th century, Karystiani’s first novel to be translated into English centers on Orsa Saltaferou, a jovial teenager who falls in love with charming and sensual fisherman Spyros Maltambes. But when the time comes to settle down, her imperious mother, Mina, decides that Spyros is not the man for her daughter and arranges a marriage to the richer Nikos Vatokouzis, also a fisherman. Without a word of protest, Orsa resigns herself to her fate-until she returns from her honeymoon to find her younger sister, Mosca, married to Spyros. Further intensifying emotions, the sisters and their respective husbands must live with just a staircase between them. And because both men are sailors (as is the sisters’ father), they often travel for long stretches and leave the sisters-along with Mina and many other women on the island-to look after the homes, raise their children and chat, trying to gather news about their husbands and, when it comes, the war. With a talent for crafting graceful narration and poignant dialogue, Karystiani presents a praiseworthy novel of a life caught between love and loss.
About the Author:
Ioanna Karystiani was born on the island of Crete, Greece, in the town of Chania and now lives in Athens. Her literary debut came with the collection of short stories, I kyria Kataki (Ms. Kataki). She has since written three novels, all of which have been translated into several languages. She wrote the screenplay for The Brides, directed by Pandelis Vulgaris and produced by Martin Scorsese, and Estrella mi vida, directed by Costa Gavras. She received the Greek state prize for literature and the Athenian Academy prize for her first novel, and the Diavaso literature prize for her second.
This program is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Available to borrow digitally for free on the Internet Archive at the link below:
https://archive.org/details/jasmineisle0000kary/mode/2up
If you need help sourcing a copy of the book, please email hellenic@humnet.ucla.edu.

Chamber Music at the Clark presents: Benjamin Appl, Baritone & James Baillieu, Piano
2026-03-15 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
Baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated for a voice that “belongs to the last of the old great masters of song” with “an almost infinite range of colours” (Suddeutsche Zeitung), and for performances “delivered with wit, intelligence and sophistication” (Gramophone). Appl was awarded Gramophone Award Young Artist of the Year (2016), and has since begun a multi-album deal with Alpha Classics, releasing his first album Winterreise with James Baillieu in February 2021 to enormous critical acclaim. Some of Appl’s recent recital debuts include Carnegie Hall, New York’s Park Avenue Armory, Sydney Opera House, and Mozarteum Salzburg.
Described by The Daily Telegraph as ”in a class of his own,” James Baillieu is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation. He has given solo and chamber recitals throughout the world and collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists. Baillieu is a frequent guest at many of the world’s most distinguished music centers including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. His recording projects include Forbidden Fruit (Alpha Classics), Winterreise (Alpha Classics) and Heimat (Sony Classical) with Benjamin Appl.
Further details and the full program are on our website.

Tickets for the Benjamin Appl & James Baillieu concert will go on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday,
February 17, 2026.

Chamber Music at the Clark presents: Notos Quartett
2026-03-22 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
Praised for its virtuoso brilliance, passion, sensitivity, and mature interpretive powers, the Notos Quartett is one of the most celebrated young chamber ensembles to emerge in recent years. Founded in 2007, the Berlin-based piano quartet first drew attention by winning first prize in six major international competitions. Since then it has established itself worldwide, performing at renowned European concert halls such as the Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, and London’s Wigmore Hall. The quartet made their American debut in 2022 with three concerts for Chamber Music San Francisco and returned in October 2023 for their first North American tour.
The Notos Quartett’s repertoire spans from the great classical masterpieces to contemporary music. They have a strong commitment to new music, as shown by numerous commissions and collaborations with such composers as Bryce Dessner, Garth Knox, and Bernhard Gander. They also search for important lost or forgotten works to bring to new audiences.
Further details and the full program are on our website.

Tickets for the Notos Quartett concert will go on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.

The Fumes of Mars: Book discussion with artist and writer Katerina Angelopoulou
2026-03-28 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | by Zoom
The Fumes of Mars: Book discussion with artist and writer Katerina Angelopoulou
Saturday, March 28, 2026
10:00 A.M. Los Angeles / 7:00 P.M. Greece
Via Zoom
RSVP Here
This discussion will be moderated by Professor Sharon Gerstel, Director, UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture and Dr. Eirini Kotsovili, Senior Lecturer, Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University.
One of the deadliest wildfires ever recorded took place on July 23, 2018 in Mati, just 30 km from the historical center of Athens. Writer and artist Katerina Angelopoulou survived the fire, and her book, The Fumes of Mars, combines her photographs with personal testimonies from other survivors, timelines, maps, and reports. With these materials, Angelopoulou attempts to weave a collective narrative of the events to better understand the violent disconnect between her own experience and the “official” account of the disaster in which facts were concealed and victims held culpable.
The book opens with black and white photographs showing the aftermath of the fire alongside testimonies of the survivors. These are followed by Angelopoulou’s photographs, taken as the disaster unfolded,overlaid with her timeline of events. Collected evidence on the events follows, including aerial maps, topographical information, lists of the victims with location and cause of death, weather and aircraft reports, CCTV and news coverage images, information from the State Investigator report, and information on the ongoing trial. The final images of the book are of Angelopoulou’s personal artifacts after the fire, such as remnants of jewelry, books, and glasses. This assembled evidence is embedded with importance because after the fire, the truth of the victims and their families was questioned multiple times—in the public narrative, facts were concealed and re-produced with false arguments blaming residents and victims.
Katerina Angelopoulou is a writer and artist based in Athens. The Fumes of Mars won the Format Festival’s Reviewers’ Choice Award 2022, was selected for the COCA Project 2021, shortlisted for the Belfast Dummy Award and Photo Festival in 2022, and exhibited at LCC in London as part of the Common Ground Exhibition. Angelopoulou holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics & Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London, a B.A. in Design for Performance from Central Saint Martins, and an M.A. with Distinction in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography from London College of Communication.
View additional images and purchase the book here.
This program is made possible thanks to support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

California Medieval Seminar (Spring 2026)
2026-04-11 09:30 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce 306
Participation in the Seminar consists of group discussion of pre-circulated papers, typically drafts of articles, book chapters, or dissertation chapters (with complete apparatus). Two of the papers are ordinarily by emerging scholars (including PhD students) and the other two are by established scholars. We allocate one hour per paper and presenters should anticipate substantial, and substantive, feedback. Calls for presenters are circulated via e-mail from the Center approximately two months prior to each meeting and papers are accepted on a first-come basis.
Faculty, postdocs, and grad students from across California are welcome to participate.
The papers will be discussed at the seminar in the following order:

“Threats and Violence in Carolingian Disputing,” Amos Bronner (The Catholic University of America)
“Apostolic Legends and Visions of Christian Globality in the Twelfth Century: An Indian Cleric Visits Rome,” John Eldevik (Hamilton College)
“Were Married Clerics Tonsured?” Fiona Griffiths (Stanford)
“Narrative Sequences of the Apocalypse in Romanesque Italy: Location, Structure, Function, Meaning,” Alison Perchuk (California State University Channel Islands)

Register to attend in Royce 306
Register to attend via ZOOM
More information can be found here.

A corazón abierto: notas para una escritura quirúrgica
2026-04-17 15:00 UTC | Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library, Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
Lina Meruane (hija de un cardiólogo jubilado) aborda la aparición del “corazón abierto” en la novelística latinoamericana. Inspirada por El intruso (2006), relato de Jean Luc Nancy sobre su trasplante de corazón, Meruane examina trastornos reales (incluido su reciente episodio de arritmia) y comenta problemáticas éticas y estéticas en tres novelas quirúrgicas: Sutura (2025), de Sofía Balbuena, La novela del corazón (2022) de Roberto Castillo y Todo está bien, salvo mi corazón, (2022) de Héctor Abad Faciolince.
Lina Meruane es una escritora chilena y doctora en literatura (New York University, 2009). Su obra incluye dos colecciones de relatos y cinco novelas traducidas a doce lenguas, así como diez libros de ensayo sobre el cuerpo y la enfermedad, los feminismos y la cuestión palestina. Su obra ha sido reconocida con los premios José Donoso (Chile), Metrópolis Azul (Canadá), Cálamo (España), Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (México), Anna Seghers (Alemania), y las becas Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts y DAAD. Actualmente dirige el programa de escritura creativa en la Universidad de Nueva York, donde también es escritora distinguida.

First Epistle to the Amphibians: Reading and Conversation with Ricardo Domeneck, Chris Daniels, and Patrícia Lino
2026-05-07 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library, Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
Book Launch for FIRST EPISTLE TO THE AMPHIBIANS, a collection of poetry by Brazilian author Ricardo Domeneck, translated by Chris Daniels, published by World Poetry Books in April 2026. The event will consist of a reading and conversation with Ricardo Domeneck, Chris Daniels, and Patrícia Lino.
Ricardo Domeneck is a Brazilian writer based in Berlin. He has published ten collections of poems and two of short prose in Brazil and Portugal. He is the recipient of two of Brazil’s most prestigious literary awards, the Prêmio Jabuti and the Prêmio Alphonsus de Guimaraens, and selected volumes of his poems have appeared in German, Dutch and Spanish. Working with sound and performance, he has presented work in several museums and galleries. First Epistle to the Amphibians (World Poetry, 2026) is the first book of his poetry to appear in English translation.
Chris Daniels is a feral translator of global Lusophone poetry. He has published book-length translations of poetry by Fernando Pessoa, Josely Vianna Baptista, Adelaide Ivánova, Lubi Prates, and Orides Fontela. His selected volume of Ricardo Domeneck’s poems, First Epistle to the Amphibians, will be released by World Poetry Books in April 2026.
Patrícia Lino is a poet, an essayist, a performer, a translator and Associate Professor of poetry and visual arts at UCLA. Among her books, videopoems, translations, performances, talk-performances and sound experiences are, for instance, Todo poema é um kindergarten (2025), I Am a Poet, I Was a Starling (2025), Imperativa Ensaística Diabólica. Infraleituras da Poesia Expandida Brasileira (2024), O Kit de Sobrevivência do Descobridor Português no Mundo Anticolonial (2024), or A Ilha das Afeições (2023).

Screening Dispossession in Abya Yala: Collaborative Filmmaking and Environmental Justice in Mining Contexts
2026-05-18 16:00 UTC | Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library, Rolfe Hall 4302, Lydeen Library
In this talk, I examine how Indigenous peoples in Abya Yala (Latin America) mobilize collaborative filmmaking to resist mining dispossession, even as the technologies of film and video remain entangled in extractive systems. I argue that Indigenous cosmopolitics plays a central role in contemporary audiovisual narratives that contest hegemonic representations of mining, contributing to the decolonization of extractivist perspectives and to the defense of Indigenous territorial, visual, and cultural sovereignty in Abya Yala.
Drawing on selected films from Peru and Brazil and the work of Indigenous thinkers such as Ailton Krenak and Davi Kopenawa, I introduce the concept of “orphanization” to reframe dispossession beyond purely material or human-centered frameworks. This concept highlights how extractivism fractures relational worlds, disrupting connections between people, land, and more-than-human life. By bringing Indigenous thought into conversation with critical theory, this talk highlights how cultural production can reshape the way we understand environmental justice, dispossession, and resistance.
BARBARA GALINDO is a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Riverside.
She was previously an ACLS Emerging Voices Postdoctoral Fellow in Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity (2022–2024) at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Los Angeles.
An activist, researcher, and educator, Galindo’s work advances new critical approaches to understanding socio-environmental issues in Latin America. Her research focuses on twentieth-and twenty-first-century cultural production, with particular attention to the Andean and Amazonian regions. Her recent publications appear in the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies (JLACS), LACIS Review, and the Bulletin of Latin American Research (BLAR).
In this talk, Galindo invites students to consider cultural production as a site of epistemic and political resistance within socio-environmental struggles, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary training and multilingualism.
