Arts & Humanities

The Next Generation of Internet Sustainability—and the URAP Students Making it Happen

March 8, 2024
Stella Kotik
Berkeley Professor Nicole Starosielski is leading the way in subsea cable network sustainability while also empowering the next generation to take the lead.

While many people may think satellites are responsible for telecommunications as we know it, the global subsea cable network actually carries more than 99% of the internet traffic between continents. Because of their marginal carbon footprint, subsea cables have often been excluded from internet sustainability studies, yet they have the most potential for providing sustainable communications infrastructure.

Professor...

https://artshumanities.berkeley.edu/news/next-generation-internet-sustainability…

Graduate Student Sylvie Thode on “Why do we do what we do in criticism, and how do we do it?”

February 27, 2024
Lucille Lorenz, Arts & Humanities writer-in-residence

Woman with brown hair sits at a desk with one hand holding a book downSylvie Thode is a graduate student for the English department, whose work focuses on gender and sexuality studies, textual criticism, and drama. After having Sylvie as my graduate student instructor for a course on Shakespeare and talking with her about her research, I realized she would be an amazing addition to our column, as her work centers literary...

https://artshumanities.berkeley.edu/news/graduate-student-sylvie-thode-%E2%80%9C…

Generous gift will improve Bancroft Dance Studio

February 26, 2024
by Alexander Rony

UC Berkeley will refurbish the Bancroft Dance Studio thanks to a generous gift by Daniel Hitchcock ’69, a mathematics and physics alum. Hitchcock provided the crucial funding to make the studio space safer and more accessible. The enhancements will include re-sanded floors, repaired windows, and a new water filtration system.

“Upkeep of the Bancroft Dance Studio is one of the department's greatest needs and a top...

Tristan Soto Moreno: "I know that my future clients will be global and the more languages that I can speak...the better I can serve"

February 6, 2024
Tell me about yourself and what languages you speak.

I am a third-year Political Science major, and I speak Spanish and English. Spanish is my first language, and I started speaking English once I started grade school. I also just completed my first year of Italian here at Berkeley.

What made you decide to study a language at Berkeley?

I had always opted to study a variety of languages in High School, though they were limited. It’s always been an interest of mine. When I got to Berkeley, I found that taking a language introduced me to people who...

https://artshumanities.berkeley.edu/news/tristan-soto-moreno-i-know-my-future-cl…

Atreyee Gupta: "Art history, as a discipline, has constantly exploded and expanded what art is, what it can do, and what counts as art."

February 6, 2024
Lucille Lorenz

Person with short dark hair wearing glasses and a taupe blouseFor our next interview, I will be speaking with Professor Atreyee Gupta of the History of Art Department. Professor Gupta’s area of focus is on Global Modernism, and Modern and Contemporary South and Southeast Asian art. She is also affiliated with the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, and the Center for Race and Gender, and has been a...

https://artshumanities.berkeley.edu/news/atreyee-gupta-art-history-discipline-ha…

As a kid, he learned men don't cry. As an art practice student, he's challenging that.

February 14, 2024
Anne Brice

Dark haired main wearing glasses is looking outside a window framed with geometric iron bars and a turquoise shutterPhotographer Brandon Sánchez Mejia, whose cohort is part of UC Berkeley's Department of Art Practice's 100th year, showcased his senior thesis project, "A Masculine Vulnerability," in the campus's Worth Ryder Art Gallery last semester.

Brandon Sánchez Mejia stood at a giant wall in UC Berkeley’s Worth...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/02/06/profile-art-practice-student-brandon-sanche…

Sebastian Cahill, class of '23, "Archival research was the highlight of my undergraduate career at UC Berkeley."

January 16, 2024
Sebastian Cahill

Graduate dressed in black with lime green sneakers waves commencement regalia while sitting in front of University LibrarySebastian Cahill, class of '23, is a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where he received a B.A. in English and Comparative Literature. Currently, he works as a news reporter for Business Insider. He hopes to return to graduate school in the coming years to do a Ph.D. program combining his studies...

https://english.berkeley.edu/news/sebastian-cahill-class-23-archival-research-wa…

Filling the AI gap: languages and the humanities are central to the future of AI — this Berkeley group is broadening that conversation

January 18, 2024
Sarah Fullerton

15pm. Location TBDOn February 28, the Berkeley Language Center and the Language and AI working group at the Townsend Center for the Humanities will be hosting a half-day conference Language and AI: Generating Interdisciplinary Connections and Possibilities(link is external)...

https://artshumanities.berkeley.edu/news/filling-ai-gap-languages-and-humanities…

Prof Jeroen Dewulf's book, Afro-Atlantic Catholics: America's First Black Christians, awarded 2023 John Gilmary Shea Prize

December 29, 2023
America's First Black Christians. Jeroen Dewulf.Afro-Atlantic Catholics: America’s First Black Christians by Jeroen Dewulf, Queen Beatrix Professor in Dutch Studies and director of Berkeley's Institute of European Studies, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 John Gilmary Shea Prize by The American Catholic...

For the Dutch, Santa is tall and skinny. What happened to him in America?

December 21, 2023
Ivan Natividad

Man with blond/brown hair wearing a collared white button down shirt with a dark jacket on top, smiling while standing outsideWhy do we leave Santa a cookie to eat the night before Christmas? UC Berkeley professor Jeroen Dewulf says we can thank the Dutch for that.

In fact, the Santa Claus Americans know and love today — plump, riding in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, cookie-loving — is a direct descendant of Sinterklaas,...

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/12/21/for-the-dutch-santa-is-tall-and-skinny-what…