EVENT POSTPONED: Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art – Sarah Phillips Casteel
2025-12-02 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
The event, Black Lives under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art with Sarah Phillips Casteel (Carleton University), has been postponed. A new date will be announced once it is finalized.
We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Please stay tuned for further updates.

In a little-known chapter of World War II, Black people living in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe were subjected to ostracization, forced sterilization, and incarceration in internment and concentration camps. In the absence of public commemoration, Black writers and visual artists have preserved the stories of these forgotten victims of the Third Reich. Their works of memoir, poetry, fiction, painting and photomontage illuminate both the relationship between creativity and wartime survival and the role of art in the formation of collective memory. Probing the boundaries of Holocaust memory and representation, this talk draws attention to a largely unrecognized artistic corpus that challenges the erasure of Black wartime history.
Sarah Phillips Casteel is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Professor of English at Carleton University. She has written and co-edited five books, the most recent of which is Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art (Columbia University Press, 2024). She has held visiting professorships at the Universities of Vienna and Potsdam and visiting fellowships at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Zentrum Jüdische Studien Berlin-Brandenburg. The recipient of a Canadian Jewish Literary Award and a Polanyi Prize, she is a member of the Academic Council of the Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University.

Black Lives Under Nazism: Making History Visible in Literature and Art
Sarah Phillips Casteel (Carleton University)
In conversation with Ben Ratskoff (Occidental College)
Introduction by/Moderated by Todd Presner (UCLA)
Michael and Irene Ross Program in Yiddish Studies

Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora – David Kraemer
2025-12-04 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Jewish people have always wandered. From the time of the Babylonian Exile in the early 6th century BCE, diaspora became the Jews’ normal condition, and though they may have hoped for a return to their “Promised Land” at the “End of Days,” they made sense of their many homes, defending diaspora as the realm where Jewish life could grow, and they could fulfil their obligations to God.
Embracing Exile analyzes biblical and rabbinic texts, philosophical treatises, works of Kabbalah, Hasidism, and a multiplicity of modern expressions, to show that diaspora Jews through the ages insisted that God joined them in their exiles, that “Zion” was found in Babylon, Ottoman Turkey, and Eastern Europe, and that, as citizens of the world, Jews could only live throughout the world. The result is an assertion that lament has not been the most common Jewish response to “exile” and that Zionism is not the natural outcome of either Jewish ideology or history.
David Kraemer is Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian at The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he has also served as Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics for many years. As Librarian, Prof. Kraemer is at the helm of the most extensive collection of Judaica—rare and contemporary—in the Western hemisphere. On account of the size and importance of the collection, Prof. Kraemer is instrumental in setting policy and establishing vision for projects of international importance.
Prof. Kraemer is a prolific author and commentator. His books include The Mind of the Talmud (1990), Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature (1995), The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism (2000), Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge, 2007, 2009), and A History of the Talmud (Cambridge U. Press, 2019), among others. His most recent book is Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora, (Oxford U. Press, 2025).

Thursday, December 4 2025 • 314 Royce Hall • 2 PM
Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora
David Kraemer (Jewish Theological Seminary)
Moderator: David N. Myers (UCLA)
Alan D. Leve Center Book Talk Series
RSVP

Strange Synchronicities and Familiar Parallels in Asia, 1600–1800: Joseph Fletcher’s Plane Ride Revisited Conference 1: Empires of Thought
2025-12-05 09:00 - 17:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
Conference organized by Choon Hwee Koh (History, UCLA), Meng Zhang (History, UCLA), Abhishek Kaicker (History, UC Berkeley)
Co-sponsored by the UCLA Program on Central Asia, Center for Near Eastern Studies, and Center for Chinese Studies
In this year’s Core Program, historians of the Ottoman, Qing, and Mughal empires revisit the problem of comparison by considering synchronicities and structural parallels across Asia.
This first conference, Empires of Thought, looks at imperial ideology, challenging and broadening the default understanding of empire as a large territorial state by focusing on how each empire upheld a normative universe within which particular kinds of political authority and legitimacy were articulated. How did early modern Eurasian empires conceive of and construct power and legitimacy? What were the bases of imperial ideologies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and who were their audiences? More fundamentally, what do we mean when we talk about Eurasian “empires”? Rather than assuming a commonality in the aims of historical empires, we seek to understand how varying traditions of thought about power patterned the practices of rule. Papers addressing these questions will be presented in four thematically organized panels: “Rulers and Plebeians,” “Testing Sovereignty,” “Temporal and Genealogical Order,” and “Scholars and Bureaucrats.”
The list of speakers, the conference schedule, and the registration form, is available on our website.

This event is free to attend with advance registration and will be held in person at the Clark Library.
Registration will close on Monday, December 1 at 5:00 p.m.
Capacity is limited at the Clark Library; walk-in registrants are welcome as space permits.

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

Unpacking my Father’s Book Store – Laurence Roth
2025-12-09 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
During its nearly thirty years in business, J. Roth / Bookseller of Fine & Scholarly Judaica was a microcosm of the Los Angeles Jewish community and one of the premier Jewish bookstores in the United States. It thrived in the glow of the Jewish ethnic pride movements of the sixties and seventies but was unable to market its uniquely broad definition and collection of Jewish literature after the resurgence of Orthodox Judaism and the assimilation of Jewish writing into the corporate book superstores during the late eighties and early nineties. Through a combination of memoir and critical analysis, and by connecting both to larger forces that helped shape Jewish and American book retailing in the twentieth-century, Laurence Roth not only illustrates the importance of one American Jewish bookstore to its customers and to the family that helped run it. He explores, too, the role of Jewish bookstores in the assembly and transformation of Jewish cultures and how independent bookstores like J. Roth Bookseller, which mostly disappear from history, often had outsized effects on their communities. Breaking with conventional modes of scholarship, Roth tells a unique and troubled story that rarely gets told, one that is both personal and analytical, theoretical but rooted in the everyday.
Laurence Roth is the Charles B. Degenstein Professor of English and director of the Jewish & Israel Studies Program and The Build Collaborative (a project-based center for liberal arts, business, and creativity) at Susquehanna University, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Inspecting Jews: American Jewish Detective Stories; coeditor, with Nadia Valman, of The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Jewish Cultures; and editor of Modern Language Studies, the scholarly journal of the Northeast Modern Language Association.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025 • 314 Royce Hall • 2 PM
Unpacking my Father’s Book Store: The Life and Times of J. Roth Bookseller in Los Angeles, 1966-1994
Laurence Roth (Susquehanna University)
Moderator: David N. Myers (UCLA)
Arnold Band Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies
RSVP

FLOW: Philosophy and Jiu-Jitsu Workshop
2025-12-11 - 2025-12-13 | John Wooden Center (Blue Room) & Dodd Hall
December 11-13, 2025
John Wooden Center (Blue Room) & Dodd Hall 399
RSVP HERE

Please join us December 11-13, 2025 for FLOW: Philosophy Workshop.

FLOW is a pre-read workshop in which leading philosophers working in a range of areas in philosophy will present work in progress and receive comments from other leading philosophers in their respective fields. In addition to the usual academic discussions, FLOW will have a distinctive community-building component– the workshop will include sessions at the Blue Room in the John Wooden Center in which workshop participants will be able to participate in sport jiu-jitsu together. We will be offering seminars by Dominyka Obelenyte, Michael Schweiger, and Christian Barry, as well as open-mat sessions. These sessions will take place in the mornings of Dec 11-13.

In the afternoons, we will shift over to the philosophy position of the workshop. The format here is pre-read. Talks will be made available either as a paper or a recorded video. If you need access to view the papers, please reach out to Ashna Madni at ashnamadni@humnet.ucla.edu.

Seminars
Dominyka Obelenyte, Frogtown Jiu-Jitsu
Christian Barry, Australian National University
Michael Schweiger, Alliance Lucas Lepri

Pre-Read Talks

Christian Barry, ANU / Comments by Josh Armstrong, UCLA
Daniel Greco, Yale / Comments by Rush Stewart, Rochester
Caroline Wall, Boston University / Comments by Thomas Lambert, Pitzer
Adam Elga, Princeton / Comments by Isaiah Lin, Providence Christian College

Workshop Program

***Update on 12/10/25 at 2:30 PM PST***: Adam Elga’s session has moved to Friday and Daniel Greco’s session has moved to Saturday. Isaiah Lin, Providence Christian College, will comment on Adam Elga’s paper.

Thursday, December 11
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Gi Seminar with Michael Schweiger and Open Mat (Wooden Center Blue Room)
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM – Welcome and introductions (Dodd Hall 399)
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Talk by Dominyka Obelenyte on Philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu (Dodd Hall 399)
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM – Pre-Read Talk: Christian Barry, “Regulated Responsibilities.” Comments by Josh Armstrong (Dodd Hall 399)

Friday, December 12
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Open Mat (Wooden Center Blue Room)
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM – Lunch provided for participants
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Pre-Read Talk: Adam Elga, “A money pump argument against imprecise credences.” Comments by Isaiah Lin (Dodd Hall 399)
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Gi Seminar with Dominyka Obelenyte (Wooden Center Blue Room)

Saturday, December 13
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM – No-Gi Seminar with Christian Barry (Wooden Center Blue Room)
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM – Lunch provided for participants
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Pre-Read Talk: Caroline Wall, “No Scars Left Behind: A Hegelian Account of Apologies and Forgiveness.” Comments by Thomas Lambert (Dodd Hall 399)
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM – Pre-Read Talk: Daniel Greco, “Can the Fragmentationist Accept a Formal Account of Irrationality?” Comments by Rush Stewart (Dodd Hall 399)

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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.

Screening of award-winning short documentary “Dukakis: Recipe for Democracy” directed by Erin Trahan and Jeff Schmidt
2026-01-13 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Screening of award-winning short documentary
Dukakis: Recipe for Democracy
directed by Erin Trahan and Jeff Schmidt
Panel discussion to follow with:
Rusty Bailey (former Mayor of Riverside, California); Daniel J.B. Mitchell (Professor Emeritus, UCLA Anderson School of Management and Luskin School of Public Affairs); Erin Trahan (Co-Director); and Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks (President & CEO of ECOS)
Presented by the UCLA SNF Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture
and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Sponsored by the Aris Anagnos Family Chair in Hellenic Studies
January 13, 2026
4:00 P.M.
314 Royce Hall, UCLA Campus
Reception immediately after the panel
[Film length is 28 minutes]
We are at capacity. Click here to join the waitlist and be notified when space becomes available.
Upon accepting the Democratic nomination for president in 1988, Michael Dukakis tells his fellow citizens that when they see an image of the White House, he wants them to feel pride. He pledges to serve in a White House that “sets high standards not just for the American people, but high standards for itself.” “Dukakis” catches up with the unflappable three-term Massachusetts governor three decades later. On a snowy afternoon, in the same Brookline, Massachusetts duplex he bought with his wife Kitty more than 50 years ago, he pulls a frozen turkey carcass from the freezer and starts chopping onions.
While soup broth simmers, “Dukakis” takes viewers on a journey along his long arc of leadership, reflecting on his formative years as the son of Greek immigrants up to the present. At age 85, he mentors budding public servants as a college professor. He also chairs a commission to connect Boston’s North and South rail stations – a project he has backed since the 1970s. Meanwhile a crop of new leaders – including Northeastern University undergraduate Juan Gallego, also a son of immigrants – carries Dukakis’ legacy forward all the way to the governor’s office.
“Democracy is a work in progress,” says Dukakis as he fills a bowl with steaming soup. “A precious gift that needs constant nurturing.” Amidst unprecedented uncertainty in American politics, “Dukakis” offers a reason to pause, take stock in the past, and look forward with renewed faith in what’s possible when people believe in democracy, and each other.
VIEW FILM WEBSITE
PLAY TRAILER
Parking for Royce Hall is available in Parking Structure 5 located at: 302 Charles E Young Dr N, Westwood, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Parking Structure 5 is accessible from Royce Drive, south of Sunset Boulevard, and west of Hilgard Ave. (in the northeast section of the campus).
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:

To save time, you may purchase your parking permit for $17 in advance using Bruin ePermit: https://bruinepermit.t2hosted.com/pnw2/selectevent.aspx. Select “UCLA Royce Hall,” then “Dukakis Film Screening” With the advanced parking permit, you can park anywhere in Parking Structure 5 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 5, please park ONLY in the Pay-By-Space/Visitor Parking area on the rooftop of this structure, and proceed to the Self-Service Pay Station machine to pay by credit card (the parking on this level is very limited).
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: If you have accessibility needs, you may park in the Pay-By-Space/Visitor Parking area on the rooftop (level 6) of this structure, and proceed to the Self-Service Pay Station machine to pay by credit card. Please visit our Campus Accessibility Map to view related information.

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

West Coast Hellenic Book Club: Hecuba by Euripides
2026-01-17 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | by Zoom
John Gibson, RAUlysses Forcing Polyxena from Hecuba to be SacrificedPhoto courtesy of the Royal Academy of Arts, London
West Coast Hellenic Book Club:
Hecuba by Euripides
Discussion led by Professor Kathryn Morgan, Joan Palevsky Professor of Classics at UCLA, Professor Sharon Gerstel, Director, UCLA SNF Hellenic Center and Dr. Eirini Kotsovili, Senior Lecturer, Global Humanities at Simon Fraser University
Saturday, January 17, 2026
10:00 A.M. Los Angeles / 8:00 P.M. Greece
Via Zoom
RSVP Here
Hecuba takes place after the Trojan War and centers on the former queen of Troy, Hecuba, who is a prisoner. First, Hecuba is devastated by the sacrifice of her daughter Polyxena to honor Achilles. Then she learns that her son Polydoros has been murdered by King Polymestor, who was supposed to protect him. In response, Hecuba takes matters into her own hands, blinding Polymestor and killing his sons. The play is a powerful look at grief, revenge, and how war strips people of their humanity.
This program is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Links to purchase book:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hecuba-euripides/1136993799
https://www.vitalsource.com/products/hecuba-euripides-v9781585104345?duration=perpetual&srsltid=AfmBOoo17vpDTJoW5rheNJ_VvzWMFQ1K5Q8-F792_HdNeZQRnQnPtQuuNR4&gQT=1
Find out more about the West Coast Consortium of Hellenic Studies Programs

World Languages Day 2026
2026-01-21 10:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Wilson Plaza
World Languages Day, a cherished UCLA tradition, returns to spotlight the university’s diverse language programs.
Open to all UCLA students, World Languages Day offers opportunities to explore UCLA’s language offerings, engage with faculty and peers and learn about the academic and professional benefits of multilingualism.
Whether you’re curious about studying a new language or deepening your existing knowledge, World Languages Day invites you to discover the many ways languages shape our understanding of the world.
Join us on January 21 to enjoy interactive activities, cultural experiences, performances and opportunities to win prizes!

A Tattered Leaf Covers the Torn: Class Dynamics of Buddhist Charity in Vietnam
2026-01-21 16:00 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce 243
Professor Sara Ann Swenson (Dartmouth College) presents new research on how global trends in humanitarianism are enacted at the local level through the everyday ethics and informal practices of low-income and middle-class Buddhist volunteers in Vietnam.
Studies of humanitarianism tend to focus on the large-scale. They analyze disaster relief, international diplomacy, development politics, and privatized welfare. These studies highlight trends and policies that suggest generosity is becoming homogenized into “industrialized philanthropy.” Yet when global trends actualize in local communities, diverse ethics and interpretations of care reemerge. Differences flourish and conflicts arise over how to best care for others.
Sara Ann Swenson’s research examines the point at which national trends toward philanthropy are enacted on the ground by focusing on the role of low-income and middle-class Buddhist volunteers in Vietnam. Informal giving and “random acts of kindness” are difficult to quantify, meaning they are often overlooked among large-scale studies of humanitarianism. Yet these everyday ethics of care are also a major way that citizens—particularly low-income earners and middle-class workers—transform ethics of care into civic engagement and moral citizenship. Moreover, as volunteers draw on Buddhist teachings and practices to explain care in Vietnam, their religious ethics permeate secular and public institutions such as hospitals, universities, and social service programs. Close qualitative research shows how—even as processes of giving are increasingly globalized—the motivations, experiences, and relationships that arise from giving can vary greatly by context, depending on intersectional dynamics between donors and recipients. Researchers must always attend to questions of who is giving to whom and why for a comprehensive understanding of how social service needs are being met amid high-speed development and privatization in late socialist countries like Vietnam.
Register here.
Sara Ann Swenson is an Assistant Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. She researches contemporary Buddhism in Vietnam. She holds a PhD and MPhil in Religion from Syracuse University, an MA in Comparative Religion from Iliff School of Theology, and a BA in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her book Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
Sponsor(s): Center for Buddhist Studies, Center for the Study of Religion, Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Bilingual Lecture Series: Ali Gheissari
2026-01-25 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Ct, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Hasan Pirnia and Constitutional Experience: Articulation of Public Law and the Prospects of Modern State in Iran, 1905-1925
Ali Gheissari
University of San Diego
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Lecture in Persian
Royce Hall 314, 4:00pm
Zoom link for hybrid online viewing both days: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92182697630
The topic of this presentation will be an assessment of the role of Hasan Pirnia (Moshir al-Dowleh) in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and his contribution to articulating a theory of public law and the institutional requisites of the modern state in Iran. Given the limitations of time—and setting aside biographical details and the extensive accounts of the political events of the period—we shall focus specifically on two interrelated topics concerning the theoretical aspects of Pirnia’s political thought that also reflect the experience of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran. First, the question of public law; and second, the institutions necessary for the creation of a modern state. The Constitutional Revolution in Iran was not merely a political event but a transformation in the political mindset of Iranian society. A society that had lived for centuries under the notion of autocratic monarchy was, at the beginning of the twentieth century, attempting to experience the idea of a state governed by law and accountable to the nation. In this process, there were a few statesmen—such as Hasan Pirnia—who, under Iran’s circumstances at the time, sought to open a challenging path between traditional structures and the creation of a modern state in Iran.

Ali Gheissari studied law and political science at Tehran University and history at Oxford and later taught at the University of San Diego. He has held visiting appointments at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, Brown University, and the University of California, Irvine, and has written extensively in Persian and English on the intellectual history and politics of modern Iran and on modern philosophy and social theory. More recent publications include Iranian Studies: Selected Writings (Brill, 2026); “Lost and found in translation: Kant in Persian Philosophical Prose” (Sophia Perennis, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, 2025); “Fruits of the Gardens: Ethics, Metaphysics, and Textual Pleasures in late Qajar Iran” (Journal of Persianate Studies, 2024); and “Unequal Treaties and the Question of Sovereignty in Qajar and early Pahlavi Iran” (Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture, 2023). Professor Gheissari has been the Editor-in-Chief of Iranian Studies; is on the Editorial Board of Iran Studies book series (published by Brill); and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Persian Heritage Foundation. His current research is on aspects of legal and constitutional history of modern Iran.

Bilingual Lecture Series: Ali Gheissari
2026-01-26 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 10383 Bunche Hall, 11282 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Hasan Pirnia and Constitutional Experience: Articulation of Public Law and the Prospects of Modern State in Iran, 1905-1925
Ali Gheissari
University of San Diego
Monday, January 26, 2026
Lecture in English
Bunche Hall 10383, 11:00am
Zoom link for hybrid online viewing both days: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92182697630
The topic of this presentation will be an assessment of the role of Hasan Pirnia (Moshir al-Dowleh) in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and his contribution to articulating a theory of public law and the institutional requisites of the modern state in Iran. Given the limitations of time—and setting aside biographical details and the extensive accounts of the political events of the period—we shall focus specifically on two interrelated topics concerning the theoretical aspects of Pirnia’s political thought that also reflect the experience of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran. First, the question of public law; and second, the institutions necessary for the creation of a modern state. The Constitutional Revolution in Iran was not merely a political event but a transformation in the political mindset of Iranian society. A society that had lived for centuries under the notion of autocratic monarchy was, at the beginning of the twentieth century, attempting to experience the idea of a state governed by law and accountable to the nation. In this process, there were a few statesmen—such as Hasan Pirnia—who, under Iran’s circumstances at the time, sought to open a challenging path between traditional structures and the creation of a modern state in Iran.

Ali Gheissari studied law and political science at Tehran University and history at Oxford and later taught at the University of San Diego. He has held visiting appointments at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, Brown University, and the University of California, Irvine, and has written extensively in Persian and English on the intellectual history and politics of modern Iran and on modern philosophy and social theory. More recent publications include Iranian Studies: Selected Writings (Brill, 2026); “Lost and found in translation: Kant in Persian Philosophical Prose” (Sophia Perennis, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, 2025); “Fruits of the Gardens: Ethics, Metaphysics, and Textual Pleasures in late Qajar Iran” (Journal of Persianate Studies, 2024); and “Unequal Treaties and the Question of Sovereignty in Qajar and early Pahlavi Iran” (Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture, 2023). Professor Gheissari has been the Editor-in-Chief of Iranian Studies; is on the Editorial Board of Iran Studies book series (published by Brill); and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Persian Heritage Foundation. His current research is on aspects of legal and constitutional history of modern Iran.

Prelude to the Holocaust: The Anti-Jewish Pogroms of Summer 1941 – Jeffrey Kopstein
2026-01-27 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
This lecture examines a particularly brutal wave a violence that occurred across hundreds of predominantly Polish and Ukrainian communities in the aftermath of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The dominant explanations for pogrom violence center around three most frequently cited causes: endemic antisemitism in Eastern European societies, a desire for revenge for alleged Jewish involvement in Soviet crimes during the occupation of 1939–1941, and opportunistic appropriation of Jewish property. But a difficult question needs to be posed: why did pogroms occur in some places and not in others? Situating pogroms within the long history of local intercommunal relations sheds light on the sources of mass ethnic violence and the ways in which such gruesome acts might be avoided.
Jeffrey Kopstein is Dean’s Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. In his research, Professor Kopstein focuses on interethnic violence, voting patterns of minority groups, antisemitism, and anti-liberal tendencies in civil society. These interests are central topics in his latest books, Intimate Violence: Anti-Jewish Pogroms on the Eve of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2018), Politics, Memory, Violence: The New Social Science of the Holocaust (Cornell University Press, 2023), and The Assault on the State: How the Global Attack on Modern Government Endangers our Future (Polity, 2024). Professor Kopstein’s writings also appear in outlets like The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and The Washington Post.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • 314 Royce Hall • 2 PM
Prelude to the Holocaust: The Anti-Jewish Pogroms of Summer 1941
Jeffrey Kopstein (UCI)
Moderator: Jared McBride (UCLA)
The 1939 Society Program in Holocaust Studies
RSVP

Satellite Ministries: The Rise of Christian Television in the Middle East
2026-01-27 14:30 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bunche Hall 10383
In this book talk, Febe Armanios (Middlebury College) will present on her recently-published monograph Satellite Ministries, which explores how modern expressions of faith, technology, and political power intersected and clashed across the Global South and beyond through the analysis of sixteen Christian television channels in the Middle East. In 1981, a satellite television station called Star of Hope began broadcasting from Israeli-occupied South Lebanon. Later renamed Middle East Television (METV), its programming included American soap operas, sports, and evangelical content alongside innovative Arabic Christian televangelism. METV spurred the growth of competing Christian broadcasters and reshaped the Middle East’s media and religious landscape over the next four decades. Through extensive fieldwork and archival research, Febe Armanios explores how Western evangelicals and indigenous Christians harnessed terrestrial and satellite technologies to promote Christian television in the Middle East.
This is a hybrid event
In- person RSVP – click here.
Register here to attend online.
Co-sponsor: Center for Near Eastern Studies

After the Catastrophe: Ezra-Nehemiah and the Rebuilding of Community and Identity – Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
2026-01-29 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 306, 306 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, 90095, United States
The deaths and deportations that accompanied the destruction of the Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BCE mark the turning point in the arc of biblical narrative. The book of Ezra-Nehemiah describes the reconstruction of life in Judah in the aftermath that catastrophe. It is the only book in the Hebrew Bible to depict this period. For over a century, scholars neglected Ezra-Nehemiah and the period it describes. But the pendulum swung at last, and in recent decades the book became a focal point for several reasons; among them is the growing consensus that the Pentateuch received its decisive shape during this period. Additionally, as a story about a return from exile to an ancient homeland, Ezra-Nehemiah has been embroiled in current political discourse linked with the return to Israel in the 20th century. Detractors and admirers alike concur that its messages had an enduring significance in the past and important messages for the present. This session will explore the book’s contribution to its own time as well as its relevance to today’s challenges.
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, Ph.D. is the Effie Wise Ochs Professor Emerita of Biblical Literature and History at Hebrew Union College. She is an award-winning scholar who specializes in writings from the Persian Period (538-333 BCE), with special focus on Ezra-Nehemiah. Her book, In an age of Prose: A Literary Approach to Ezra-Nehemiah (1988) set the study of Ezra-Nehemiah on a new foundation. See also her recent Ezra: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible Series (2023). Prof. Eskenazi is the first woman professor appointed to the Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College and a major contributor to Women’s Studies. Her publications include, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, a 1400 page volume (2007) which won “The Book of the Year Award” granted by The Jewish Book Council, and her JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth (2012, authored with the late Tikva Frymer-Kensky) which won the award for Women’s Studies.
Moderator: Catherine Bonesho (UCLA)
RSVP

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.

From Pitch to Publish in the Public Humanities
2026-02-02 - 2026-02-03 | 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join award-winning writers and journalists Lauren Markham and Chris Feliciano Arnold for two days of panels and workshops.

When: February 2–3, 2026 Location: Royce 314 Free and open to the public.

Click here to RSVP.

Today, it is vital that scholars’ work is made widely available and accessible to the public. Is your research part of the public discourse? Do you have stories the public at large would benefit from knowing? Do you want to reach a broader audience, an audience beyond the peer-reviewed academic outlets? Do you want to learn how to pitch your specific story and research to non-academic publications? We have invited two writers and journalists, Lauren Markham and Chris Feliciano Arnold, to offer insights on the public humanities writing, pitching, and publication process in a series of panels, workshops, and individual feedback sessions.

Public Events

Monday, February 2, 10:30AM–12:00 PM (Royce 314) Workshop: “Enliven Your Prose with Research Details: Public Workshop with Chris Feliciano Arnold and Lauren Markham.”

Discover how vivid storytelling and well-chosen details can transform scholarly work into engaging, resonant prose. This hands-on workshop explores how to integrate research into narrative writing—making complex ideas accessible without sacrificing depth or rigor. Through interactive exercises, close reading, and discussion, participants will learn strategies for bringing their data, fieldwork, and analysis to life on the page.

Monday, February 2, 4:00–5:00 PM (Royce 314) Conversation: “Pitching and Working with Opinion Editors with Chris Feliciano Arnold and New York Times Opinion Staff Editor Isvett Verde.”

Explore strategies and best practices for effectively pitching and collaborating with newspaper editors on op-eds and opinion pieces. Gain insight into the editorial process, from crafting compelling and concise pitches that capture an editor’s attention to understanding the nuances of tone, timing, and topic relevance. This session will cover how to balance academic rigor with public accessibility, navigate editorial feedback, and establish long-term relationships with editors to amplify scholarly perspectives in the media.

Tuesday February 3, 4:00–6:00 PM (Royce 314) Panel: “Writing for the Public in Times of Peril, a panel with Chris Feliciano Arnold, Lauren Markham, The Atlantic Senior Editor Honor Jones and VQR Editor Paul Reyes.”

This panel of authors and editors will address the crucial role of academics in bridging the gap between scholarly research and public discourse during times of crisis, uncertainty, and societal upheaval, including the ethical, intellectual, and practical challenges that scholars face when translating complex ideas into accessible language for broader audiences. Refreshments will be provided.

Panelist & Writer Bios

Chris Feliciano Arnold is the author of The Third Bank of the River: Power and Survival in the Twenty-First-Century Amazon (Picador 2018). He directs the MFA in Creative Writing program at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Lauren Markham is an award-winning writer and journalist based in California whose work regularly appears in outlets such as Harper’s, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine and VQR, where she is a contributing editor. She is the author of the award-winning The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life, the California Book Award shortlisted A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging (2024) and the recently-released Immemorial.

Isvett Verde is a staff editor in the Opinion section of The New York Times, where she helps shape conversations on immigration, culture and identity. She is also an adjunct professor of Latinx Media studies at The City College of New York. She earned a B.A. in French from Florida International University, and an M.A. in Spanish-language Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Her writing has been featured in the anthology titled, “Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness.”

Honor Jones is a senior editor at The Atlantic, and previously at The New York Times Opinion section, where she edited cover stories and special issues for the Sunday Review. She is also the author of a novel, Sleep.

Paul Reyes is the editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, where he develops a variety of content, including investigative reporting, essays, photography portfolios, poetry, criticism, and fiction. Before joining VQR, he was a senior editor with The Oxford American. His work as an editor has led to two National Magazine Awards (as well as several nominations), the Overseas Press Club Award, inclusion in the Pushcart Prize anthology along with regular appearances in the Best American anthologies. His book, Exiles in Eden, an investigative narrative of the 2008 housing crisis, was praised as “a wrenching chronicle of our new hard times” (Publishers Weekly) and “an engrossing memoir of American dreaming and financial devastation” (Mother Jones). His essays and reporting have appeared in VQR, The Oxford American, Harper’s, The New York Times, Literary Hub, Mother Jones, and elsewhere. His writing has earned him a Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction from the National Endowment for the Arts, a nomination for the Harry Chapin Media Award, and a nomination for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing.

Cosponsored by:

Center for the Study of Women|Streisand Center, Division of Social Sciences, Division of Humanities, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities, School of Music, School of Arts and Architecture, and School of Theater, Film, and Television.

Beyond Translation: Careers for Language Majors
2026-02-04 16:00 - 17:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom
Wondering where a degree in language can take you? Spoiler alert: way beyond teaching and translation. Join us for a dynamic panel event featuring UCLA alumni and professionals who studied languages and built meaningful, successful careers—both within and beyond language-related fields. Our panelists will share how their studies helped shape their careers through:

Multilingual communication skills
Cross-cultural awareness
Research, writing, and critical thinking
Adaptability and storytelling

Hear real stories, ask your questions, and get inspired by the possibilities that come from a humanities degree.
Whether you’re just starting to explore your career options or unsure how to leverage your language major, this event will help you see your degree in a whole new light.
To register, go to: Careers for Language Majors
Meet our panelists:
Michelle Li

Michelle Li (she/her) graduated UCLA in 2018 with a Bachelor’s in Japanese as well as a Bachelor’s in Linguistics and Asian Languages & Culture. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from University of Washington, where she previously worked as a Research and Learning Services Specialist. She also worked as a First Year Engagement Librarian at Emerson College in Boston. She is currently serving as a Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian at UCLA, and can be found teaching library research skills all across campus or at her home office in YRL.

Soseul Park

Soseul Park is an educator and researcher whose work focuses on multilingual education, diaspora communities, and culturally responsive curriculum development. She is the founder of Korean Mérida, a nonprofit community organization established in 2013 with over 1,900 members, which provides Korean language instruction and cultural programming in transnational contexts.
With over a decade of teaching experience across K-16 and community-based settings in South Korea, Mexico, and the United States, Soseul has taught Korean, Spanish, and English and led the development of the inaugural Korean language curriculum for heritage and diverse learners in Tennessee and Yucatán. She has also served as an interpreter in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, a guest lecturer at ENES UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) in Mérida, and currently serves as an advisor to Líderes Jóvenes Descendientes Coreanos en Yucatán.
Soseul is currently a Ph.D. student in Education at UCLA, where her research examines transnational and multiple identities, language revitalization and education, and educational access for Indigenous communities.

Diana Rodriguez

Diana Rodriguez earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French and Francophone Studies from UCLA. Diana’s experience encompasses project management, marketing, customer service, and public administration.
She worked as the Administrative Assistant for the Alliance Française de Los Angeles, overseeing organizational functions, programming, and event planning. She also oversaw marketing efforts including campaign development and execution. Diana currently works as the Administrative Assistant for a PIO and on the weekends, teaches a toddler class at the Alliance Française de Los Angeles.

Samantha Matamoros

First generation, daughter of Honduran immigrants, Samantha serves as the Chief People Officer for Green Dot Public Schools. Green Dot operates 18 schools in Los Angeles county, intentionally serving historically underresourced communities. In her role, Samantha Matamoros oversees the Human Capital Team and has taken on the role of building and managing Green Dot’s Human Resources department.
Samantha joined Green Dot in 2005, serving as a Spanish teacher at Ánimo Venice Charter High School, and continued her work within that community for 10 years as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, before taking on the role of Director of Human Capital in 2015. Samantha began her career in education as a teacher in the city of Lawndale at Environmental Charter High School. Samantha proudly earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in Spanish literature and public policy and her master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University

Ben Fisher-Rodriguez

Ben Fisher-Rodriguez (’12) is a high school German and Spanish teacher located in Seattle, WA. He has presented at national, regional, and local conferences on lesson planning, high-leverage teaching strategies, and issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion in language learning. Ben is a 2022 German Embassy Teacher of Excellence, the WAFLT Teacher of the Year for 2022, the PNCFL Teacher of the Year for 2023, and a 2024 NEA Foundation Teacher of Excellence. He is a co-host of the language teaching podcast “SLAyyy: Second Language Acquisition for Everyone.”

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.

Between Discordant Shores: Dante’s Francis, the Book of Islam and the Orient
2026-02-05 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Kaufman Hall Room 101
(Image: Coppo di Marcovaldo, St. Francis before the Sultan,” Sultan Malek al-Kāmil and his philosophers, Bardi Altarpiece, c. 1260s, Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence.)
Marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death in 2026, this talk draws on Morosini’s recent study Dante, Moses and the Book of Islam (2024) to explore Dante’s Francis and their shared conception of the Book of Islam and of the Orient. At its center is the Book’s role within the Commedia and in Dante’s representation of Francis, offering a new perspective on the Orient as a geographic space of dialogue rather than dehumanizing alterity.
This perspective, as emerged in Dante, Moses and the Book of Islam, calls for a reevaluation of Dante’s “discordant shores” of Paradiso IX, 85. In Dante’s vision, the Book becomes a bridge between cultures and faiths, a medium of transmission and encounter that links distant shores within a Mediterranean network of knowledge.
RSVP here to attend in person.
Prior to joining UCLA’s Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies in July 2024, Professor Morosini was Professor of Italian at the Università L’Orientale di Napoli since 2022 and the 2024 Chair of Italian Culture at UC Berkeley.

Antisemitism, an American Tradition – Pamela Nadell
2026-02-05 16:00 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 314, 314 Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
In Antisemitism, an American Tradition Pamela S. Nadell, the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender history at American University, recounts the powerful story of antisemitism in America and how it has shaped the lives of Jews for almost four centuries.
Indeed, Jews have met antisemitism since first landing in New Amsterdam in 1654 when Peter Stuyvesant tried to expel them. The founding of the US changed little, as negative European stereotypes rooted into American soil. They faced restrictions on holding office, admission to schools, and employment in industry, while their synagogues and cemeteries were vandalized. Recently, white nationalists chanted “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville, Virgina, and a gunman killed eleven members at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue building. Antisemitic incidents have increased each year.
Professor Pamela Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History at American University. Her book America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award’s Everett Family Foundation “Book of the Year” and was translated into Hebrew. Her new book Antisemitism, an American Tradition, was published by W.W. Norton in October. A past president of the Association for Jewish Studies, she consults to the museum planned for the rebuild of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life and has testified before Congress three times.
Moderated by Dov Waxman (UCLA)
RSVP

Early Modern Skies
2026-02-06 09:15 - 17:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
Organized by Professors Lyle Massey (University of California, Irvine), Vin Nardizzi (The University of British Columbia), Tiffany Jo Werth (University of California, Davis), and Bronwen Wilson (University of California, Los Angeles)
Co-sponsored by the UCLA Edward W. Carter Chair in European Art
Conference organizers are grateful to the Hannah & Edward Carter Endowment for 17th-Century Art History for generous programming support.
Critiquing the environmental humanities’ narrowly earth-centric focus, Carl Phelphstead asks us to look heavenward, to think “cosmocritically” and expand our awareness for how attitudes towards the heaven shape those on earth. What is sky? Both a border for land and sea, and a blank canvas for portents and celestial events, sky reflects fears and hopes for stasis in a changing and unpredictable environment.
This conference will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore early modern concepts of sky from a variety of environmentally consequential perspectives, from the history of science and art, to poetics and literature.
The list of speakers, the conference schedule, and the registration form are available on our website.

This event is free to attend with advance registration and will be held in person at the Clark Library.
Registration will close on Monday, February 2 at 5:00 p.m.
Capacity is limited at the Clark Library; walk-in registrants are welcome as space permits.

A Talk with Shazia Jagot: Chaucer’s “Ioveris maladye / Of Hereos,” Avicenna’s Treatise on Love, and an Arabic-Islamic Metaphysics of Love
2026-02-11 16:30 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Kaplan Hall 348, 415 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Wednesday, February 23, 2026
4:30-6:30pm
Kaplan Hall Room #348 (third floor)

The CMRS Center for Early Global Studies, the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department, and the Comparative Literature department are pleased to present a talk with Shazia Jagot (York University) titled Chaucer’s “Ioveris maladye / Of Hereos,” Avicenna’s Treatise on Love, and an Arabic-Islamic Metaphysics of Love.

The talk will take place on Wednesday, February 11, 2026 from 4:30-6:30pm in Kaplan 348.
Please register to attend here.

Printing the Gothic: Horace Walpole and the Reimagining of English Aesthetic Tradition
2026-02-13 15:30 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90018, United States
The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library is pleased to present the exhibition Printing the Gothic: Horace Walpole and the Reimagining of English Aesthetic Tradition, curated by Edward Hyunsoo Yang, Loren and Frances Rothschild Endowed Graduate Research Fellow.
The Gothic has long carried a reputation of being little more than cheap entertainment: a genre thought to possess limited literary or cultural value. This exhibit challenges that view by tracing the Gothic’s connection to a collective cultural effort to establish, and promote, an identifiably English art. At the center of this exhibit is Horace Walpole—antiquarian, collector, and author of the first Gothic novel—whose Castle of Otranto makes striking use of the preface to address readers directly, and fundamentally reimagines how readers might engage with material texts. This gesture, which becomes a hallmark of later Gothic works, exemplifies how paratextual spaces invited interaction between writer and reader. By examining Gothic fiction alongside eighteenth-century art historiography, this exhibit highlights a shared practice of using the material book—its prefaces, framing texts, and editorial choices—not only to inspire readers, but also to contribute to a national cultural project.

3:30 PM – Doors Open
4:00 PM – Welcome remarks by Head Librarian Derek Christian Quezada Meneses
4:05 PM – Introduction and overview presentation by Curator Edward Hyunsoo Yang
4:30-6:00 PM – Reception and exhibition viewing

The exhibition will be on view through April 13, 2026 and will be open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please contact clarktours@humnet.ucla.edu.

To register for Friday, February 13 opening, please visit the website.
The event is free to attend and will be held in-person at the Clark Library.
Seating is limited at the Clark Library; walk-in registrants are welcome as space permits.

Global Antiquity Distinguished Speaker Series- Myth, Time and Cosmology in the Ancient Maya Murals of San Bartolo with David Stuart
2026-02-13 16:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall 306, 10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles, California, 90095
Myth, Time and Cosmology in the Ancient Maya Murals of San Bartolo
David Stuart (Art & Art History, University of Texas at Austin)
Friday, February 13, 4:00 pm | Royce Hall 306
Register Here
Watch Live on Zoom
This talk will present new interpretations of one of the most important artworks from ancient Maya civilization — the wall paintings of San Bartolo, Guatemala. Discovered in a buried room in 2001, the paintings are among the earliest examples of mural painting in the Maya tradition, dating to the so-called Preclassic period. Their complex narrative focuses on varied origin myths, including the emergence of maize, the animate sun, and the establishment of the four world quarters. The murals also include some of the earliest known examples of Maya hieroglyphic writing. Two inscribed dates are integrated into the design and provide a possible clue to the precise dating of the paintings to the year 26 CE. Taken together, the new readings and interpretations shed light on one of the oldest religious narratives from the ancient Americas.
About the Speaker
David Stuart is the David and Linda Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary research focuses are the archaeology and epigraphy of ancient Maya civilization and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing. Currently, he oversees Casa Herrera, UT’s academic research center in Antigua, Guatemala, and is the director of The Mesoamerica Center at the University of Texas at Austin. His most recent book, The Order of Days (Random House), is a popular account of ancient Maya calendars and cosmology, and a new, forthcoming book, titled The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient Maya, will appear with Princeton University Press in March.

Learn Through Play Cantonese Opera Workshop
2026-02-13 16:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Kaplan Hall A51
All are welcome to attend a Cantonese Opera workshop – in conjunction with Professor King-Kok Cheung’s English 19.1 Fiat Lux seminar – on Friday, February 13, from 4 to 9 p.m. in Kaplan A51. This event is scheduled to coincide with the visit of Professor Selina Lai-Henderson and MFA Seth Henderson from Duke Kunshan University.
Questions about the event? Email King-Kok Cheung: cheung@humnet.ucla.edu
Sponsored by the AASSC Cantonese Arts and Culture Fund, an endowment established through the generosity of May Chong. Cosponsored by the UCLA Department of English and the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.

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).
