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It’s hard to believe that Commencement is less than three weeks away. In the span of eight months, our faculty, staff, students and alumni in the School of Arts and Humanities have achieved significant successes—from garnering national awards to demonstrating exceptional ingenuity in student advising and producing bold performances and exhibitions.

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After becoming a new parent during the pandemic, Associate Professor Brandon Som (Literature) began contemplating how to be both caregiver and artmaker. This inspired his next book of poetry, now supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship.

AI systems are getting smarter. Will this technology eventually undermine our sense of who we are as humans? Professor of Philosophy David Danks is examining the ethical, social and psychological issues in these advancements.

A new digital guide has been launched by the University of California. The Bloomberg Connects app offers engaging photo, audio and video features to make exhibits and experiences accessible, including ones at Mandeville Art Gallery.

Associate Professor of History Claire Edington, Assistant Professor of History Bright Gyamfi and Assistant Professor of Literature Silpa Mukherjee were recently recognized with NEH fellowships for their research after a rigorous peer review.

Playwright and alumna Keiko Green (Theatre and Dance) embraces the bizarre, from a time-traveling teen saving the world with flavor enhancer MSG to a daughter driving her father’s taxi—and its supernatural passengers—in Japan.

Will the 21st century yield a musical composer capable of stirring human emotions without being human itself? Professor of Music Shlomo Dubnov is leading a collaborative team to quantify what constitutes good music.

We congratulate Professor of Literature Sara E. Johnson, whose book “Encyclopédie noire” has been recognized with five awards, including the Frederick Douglass Book Prize, J. Russell Major Prize, Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize, P. Sterling Stuckey Prize and Mary Alice and Philip Boucher Book Prize.

We applaud Music alumna Yvette Janine Jackson, who has received the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, an unrestricted prize of $75,000 given annually to risk-taking mid-career artists. Jackson is a composer of electroacoustic, chamber, and orchestral music for concert, theatre and installation. 

We commend alumnus Danny Burstein (Theatre and Dance) on his Tony Award nomination for his role as Herbie in the revival of “Gypsy” on Broadway. Burstein, who has been nominated eight times, is now tied for most nominated male actor in history. He won the award in 2020 for his role in "Moulin Rouge!"

Congratulations to our two School of Arts and Humanities staff members who were recently recognized at the annual UC San Diego Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards.

• Kumi Obayashi-Ward (Japanese Studies, Institute of Arts and Humanities) received the Keystone of Advising Award, which honors exceptional advisors who “act as unsung heroes for students.”

• Cami Koepke (Philosophy) received the Innovation in Advising Award for exceptional creativity and ingenuity in developing strategies that enhance student success. 

Join us in celebrating the presentation of the Rita L. Atkinson Endowed Chair in German Studies to Professor of History Frank Biess. The event will include a lecture by Biess on “The Weimar Republic and the First Crisis of Globalization,” followed by a reception.

The Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts and Triton Television invite all to a special event that will include a screening of the seven award-winning short films from the 2025 UC San Diego Film Festival. The event will also include two panels with the student filmmakers.

Join an all-star cast of experts as they play a scholarly version of two-truths-and-a-lie. Faculty contestants, including Professor Craig Callender (Philosophy), will try to spot lies provided by additional experts, with a discussion on how best to combat disinformation following.

“New Directions” features the work of student choreographers in the Department of Theatre and Dance. The program engages dancers and choreographers from across campus and supports the next generation of embodied storytellers and movement makers.

Debut of 'The Arcades'

Over 300 undergraduate students performed at the inaugural Arcades music festival, which spanned 28 genres of music over seven hours. The ambitious event was organized entirely by students.

Celebrating Emerging Filmmakers

More than 30 undergraduates in Visual Arts submitted original films for the 15th annual Adam D. Kamil Media Awards, which ranged from dreamy reflections to suspenseful thrillers. 

HISTORY | LITERATURE | MUSIC | PHILOSOPHY | THEATRE AND DANCE | VISUAL ARTS

ANALYTICAL WRITING PROGRAM | CENTER FOR TAIWAN STUDIES | INSTITUTE FOR PRACTICAL ETHICS

INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES | SURAJ ISRANI CENTER FOR CINEMATIC ARTS