Frances Tanzer will discuss her new book, Vanishing Vienna: Modernism, Philosemitism, and Jews in a Postwar City (University of Pennsylvania Press), which traces the reconstruction of Viennese culture from the 1938 German Anschluss through the early 1960s. The book reveals continuity in Vienna’s cultural history across this period: a framework for interpreting Viennese culture that has relied on antisemitism, philosemitism, and a related discourse of Jewish presence and absence. As she shows, antisemitism and philosemitism were not contradictory forces in post-Nazi Austrian culture. They were deeply interconnected aspirations in a city where nostalgia for the past dominated cultural reconstruction efforts…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran Pamela Karimi (Cornell University) Monday March 16, 2026, at 2:00pm Online via Zoom Registration Required https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mvqHL0u4QFGuYqFdFbiikg Download the event flyer here This talk, based on Pamela Karimi’s 2024 book Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran, traces the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising catalyzed by the tragic death of Jina Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the “morality police.” Beyond its feminist core and the extraordinary courage of young protesters, Karimi emphasizes that what truly distinguishes this movement is the scale and diversity of its art. Rather…
Sanctions, Economic Mismanagements, and Reforms of the Iranian Economy Hashem Pesaran University of Southern California and Cambridge University Sunday, February 22, 2026 Royce Hall 314 Alternate Live Stream: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/95091548778 (no registration required for Zoom access) Download event flyer here This talk will start with an overview of the Iranian economy since the 1979 Revolution and discusses how a combination of sanctions with varying degrees of severity and economic mismanagements have resulted in low economic growth, high unemployment, and rising inflation. There are clear links between sanctions, the need to circumvent their effects, and economic mismanagements. If these…
(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,…
