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…
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….
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 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.
Yuliana Ortiz Ruano is an Afro-Ecuadorian writer, poet, and teacher, as well as a DJ of Afro-Caribbean music. She has published several books of poetry and prose, including the multi award-winning Fiebre de carnaval (Carnaval Fever), which was chosen as one of the 50 best books of 2022 by El País. She is also the author of the poetry books Sovoz, Canciones del fin del mundo, y Cuaderno del imposible retorno a Pangea, and the book of short stories Litorales. She was selected by the International Writers in Residence program in Granada, Spain in 2023, and was chosen for the…
Barcelona, 1927. Only a few hours remain before Margarita Xirgu is set to premiere “Mariana Pineda” written by then-unknown Federico Garcia Lorca. The authorities threaten her with prison or exile if she dares to stage this libertarian play. Yet nothing seems to shake her determination, Until her friend and mentor, Valle-Inclán, also turns against her.
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…
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…
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…
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…
