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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Humanities Institute
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250519T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250519T170000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250313T215327Z
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SUMMARY:Nick Kawa and Alisa Keesey – Microbes at Work: The Vital Role of Bacteria and other Microbial Life in Sanitation Systems in the US and Uganda
DESCRIPTION:Wastewater treatment operators in the American Midwest wryly describe their job as “bacteria farming\,” but they also insist that microbes are the ones who “do all the work” at treatment plants. Meanwhile\, slum activists in Uganda suggest that they “work with microbes” to provide essential sanitation services where the state has failed to provide safe toilets. In this talk\, we delve deeper into these observations about microbial laboring and human laboring with microbes in these two distinct contexts. First\, we examine insights from wastewater treatment workers and soil scientists in Columbus\, Ohio\, to explore how microbes serve as key mediators that not only metabolize urban residents’ bodily excesses in wastewater treatment processing but also constitute the bulk of wastewater solids\, which are increasingly used as a soil amendment applied on agricultural lands. Second\, we turn attention to slum activists\, waste scientists\, and entrepreneurs in Kampala\, Uganda\, who are working to capture “anal resources” and advance container-based sanitation and community-scale composting. The diversion of human waste away from Lake Victoria is especially urgent as nutrients-out-of-place are driving eutrophication and the extinction of indigenous fish species. Through these two case studies\, we show how the disruption of socio-ecological systems brought on by industrial capitalism—known in some scholarly circles as the “metabolic rift”—is not strictly characterized by a break in the cycling of nutrients back to the land but also a derangement of social relations with microbial life that requires remediation. \nNick Kawa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Ohio State University. His research relies primarily on qualitative approaches to understanding human cultural relationships to soils\, plants\, and bodily waste. He is the author of the forthcoming book After the Flush: Rethinking the Future of Human Waste (University of California Press)\, based on nearly a decade of research on the modern sanitation system in the U.S. as well as the growing call for alternative models that can enact more sustainable futures. \nAlisa Keesey is a PhD candidate in the Dept. of Anthropology at UCSC. Her research explores the global sanitation crisis\, the water pollution crisis impacting Lake Victoria’s fishing communities\, “nutrients-out-of-place\,” and soil politics. As the director of GiveLove\, a WASH sector (water\, sanitation and hygiene) non-profit\, she has worked in eight countries with a wide range of diverse stakeholders and environmental activists to promote composting\, sustainable land use\, food security\, and local resiliency in the context of climate change. Alisa also worked for over a decade with women farming groups to lead on-farm biodiversity initiatives in Uganda aimed at protecting shea trees and establishing the first fair trade shea cooperative. Alisa holds a B.A. in International Relations from San Francisco State University\, a M.S. in International Agricultural Development from University of California\, Davis\, and a M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from UCSC. \nThis event is presented by the THI More-Than-Human(ities) Laboratory Research Cluster.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/nick-kawa-and-alisa-keesey-microbes-at-work/
LOCATION:Humanities 1\, Room 210\, 1156 high st\, Santa cruz\, CA\, 95060\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250520T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250520T120000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250326T190813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250506T203312Z
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SUMMARY:CANCELLED - When Human-Centered AI Encountered Digital Humanities: A Dialogue between Magy Seif El-Nasr and Minghui Hu
DESCRIPTION:The Humanities Institute Research cluster\, Humanities in the Age of AI\, presents “When Human-Centered AI Encountered Digital Humanities: A Dialogue between Magy Seif El-Nasr and Minghui Hu.” \nWhat happens when the ethical and interpretive frameworks of the humanities meet the algorithmic and interactive architectures of artificial intelligence? This dialogue brings together two leading voices from distinct yet converging fields: Magy Seif El-Nasr\, a pioneer in human-centered AI\, game analytics\, and interactive narrative design\, and Minghui Hu\, a historian and digital humanist\, explores the cultural\, religious\, and intellectual history of China through computational and interpretive lenses. \nTogether\, they will explore shared concerns—from narrative design and agency to ethical modeling and epistemological boundaries—charting new possibilities at the intersection of technology and the humanities. This conversation is not only a meeting of disciplines\, but a reimagining of the collaborative future of AI and humanistic inquiry.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/when-human-centered-ai-encountered-digital-humanities/
LOCATION:Humanities 1\, Room 210\, 1156 high st\, Santa cruz\, CA\, 95060\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250521T121500
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250521T133000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250313T212438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T212753Z
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SUMMARY:Soraya Murray – Technothriller: Film and the American Imagination
DESCRIPTION:Soraya Murray’s forthcoming Technothriller: Film and the American Imagination (MIT\, 2026) is the first dedicated examination of popular movies classified as “thrillers” that channel societal anxiety or dread about advanced technologies like supercomputers\, robotics\, AI\, biotech\, military weaponry\, and digital surveillance. Technothriller is about the changing imagination of technology within an American context and its role in engineering some of the most profound ideologies of modern life. Murray considers beloved but often underrated films from the 1970s to the present\, like The Andromeda Strain (1971)\, Westworld (1973)\, Rollerball (1975)\, Demon Seed (1977)\, WarGames (1983)\, The Hunt for Red October (1990)\, Jurassic Park (1993)\, Clear and Present Danger (1994)\, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)\, the Mission:Impossible franchise (1996- )\, Ex Machina (2014)\, Tenet (2020)\, M3GAN (2022)\, and The Creator (2023) to think through deeply embedded popular beliefs about technology\, innovation\, and their imaginaries—in other words\, the mechanics of power within our technological lives. In short\, Technothriller is about the troubled\, sometimes catastrophic relationships between humans and their innovations. \nSoraya Murray (PhD Cornell) studies contemporary visual culture\, especially film and video games. She is an Associate Professor in the Film + Digital Media Department at the University of California\, Santa Cruz. Murray’s first book\, On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race\, Gender and Space (I.B. Tauris\, 2018\, paperback Bloomsbury 2021)\, considers video games from a visual culture perspective and how they both mirror and are constitutive of larger societal fears\, dreams\, hopes and even complex struggles for recognition. Murray is currently co-editing an anthology with media and games scholar TreaAndrea Russworm on antiracist futures in games and play\, and will soon publish her second single-author book\, Technothriller. \n\n \nSpring 2025 COLLOQUIUM SERIES \nTHE CENTER FOR CULTURAL STUDIES hosts a weekly Wednesday colloquium featuring work-in-progress by faculty & visitors. We are pleased to announce our Spring 2025 Series. Sessions begin promptly at 12:15 PM and end at 1:30 PM (PST) in Humanities Building 1\, Room 210. \nStaff assistance is provided by The Humanities Institute.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/soraya-murray-technothriller/
LOCATION:Humanities 1\, Room 210\, 1156 high st\, Santa cruz\, CA\, 95060\, United States
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250522T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250522T180000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250506T214345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250507T183539Z
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SUMMARY:Chris Jadallah - What Could Be More Innocent Than Planting Trees? Land-Based Pedagogies as a Site of Contestation
DESCRIPTION:The Center for Racial Justice is proud to present What Could Be More Innocent Than Planting Trees? Land-Based Pedagogies as a Site of Contestation with Chris Jadallah\, Assistant Professor of Environmental Justice and Education at UC Los Angeles. \nLand education\, as both theory and pedagogy\, works to unsettle the colonial dynamics that often remain quietly buried within land relations and learning environments. In this talk\, Chris Jadallah will think with the geographies of Palestine to engage in a critical reading of two landscapes – pine forests and olive groves – to confront the ways in which settler colonial inheritances manifest across ecologies. From this reading\, he will discuss how pedagogical experiences and curricular designs rooted in land\, for example\, tree planting activities that are pervasive environmental education\, can serve to either reinscribe colonial dynamics or\, alternatively\, can be designed in ways that build transnational solidarities and prefigure decolonial futures. \nCo-sponsored by Feminist Studies\, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES)\, Students for Justice in Palestine\, Faculty for Justice in Palestine\, Center for Cultural Studies\, Center for South Asian Studies (CSAS)\, Anthropology Department\, Sociology Department\, Institute for Social Transformation\, and People’s University. \nPart of the year-long speaker series\, Possibilities of Palestinian Refusal: Against Disciplining Knowledge and Movement. For more information\, visit the CRJ website: https://crjucsc.com/.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/chris-jadallah-what-could-be-more-innocent-than-planting-trees/
LOCATION:Cervantes & Velasquez Room\, Baytree Conference Center\, Bay Tree Conference Center\, UC Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250522T172000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250522T185500
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250402T174343Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250402T174433Z
UID:10007649-1747934400-1747940100@thi.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Living Writers with Angel Dominguez
DESCRIPTION:Living Writers Series – Spring 2025 \nInsight\, Writings: Third World and Other Imaginaries \nAngel Dominguez is a Latiné poet of Yucatec Maya descent born in Hollywood and raised in Van Nuys\, CA\, by their immigrant family. They now live amongst the redwoods of Bonny Doon\, CA. They’re the author of several books of poetry and prose\, including Desgraciado (Nightboat Books\, 2022) and\, most recently\, the 10-year anniversary edition of their debut work\, Black Lavender Milk (Noemi Press\, 2024). They were the 2023 Poet in Residence at the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center in Tucson and the 2021 Mazza writer in residence for San Francisco State University. They currently serve as managing editor for Lilac Press. You can find Angel’s work online and in print in various publications\, including BOMB Magazine\, The Berkeley Poetry Review\, FENCE\, SFMOMA Open Space\, and elsewhere. You can find Angel in the redwoods or ocean. \nAbout the Living Writers Series\nThe Living Writers Series (LWS) is a live reading series organized especially for the Creative Writing Program community at UCSC. There is a new series each quarter\, and each series features writers with unique voices. The LWS is open to all creative writing students and the public. \n\nSponsored by the Porter Hitchcock Poetry Fund\, the Laurie Sain Endowment\, the Humanities Institute\, The Literature Department\, Creative Writing Program\, and the Center for Racial Justice.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/living-writers-with-angel-dominguez/
LOCATION:Humanities Lecture Hall\, Room 206\, UCSC Humanities Lecture Hall\, 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T132000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T150000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250520T193428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T193428Z
UID:10007697-1748006400-1748012400@thi.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Linguistics Colloquia: Elena Anagnostopoulou - Rethinking Clitics: A View From Greek
DESCRIPTION:The Department of Linguistics is pleased to present Elena Anagnostopoulou (University of Crete and IMS-FORTH)\, speaking on Rethinking Clitics: A View From Greek. \nThis is an in-person event. You can also join virtually via Zoom. \nIn this talk\, Elena Anagnostopoulou will revisit the relationship between clitic doubling and object agreement in connection to the syntax of clitics\, via an assessment of three recent proposals on Greek clitic doubling. She will offer novel evidence based on co-ordination resolution supporting the view that clitic doubling involves a dependency between a clitic with iφ and a DP with iφ. Finally\, she will highlight arguments that\, in her view\, are crucial to decide between different versions of movement analyses. \nOver the course of each year\, the Linguistics department hosts colloquia by distinguished faculty from around the world. For more information: https://linguistics.ucsc.edu/news-events/colloquia/index.html
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/linguistics-colloquia-elena-anagnostopoulou-rethinking-clitics-a-view-from-greek/
LOCATION:Humanities 1\, Room 202
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T180000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250515T195123Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T205017Z
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SUMMARY:Raï Concert: Fella Oudane
DESCRIPTION:Please join the Center for the Middle East and North Africa (CMENA) for a Raï concert at Woodhouse Brewery on Friday\, May 23rd at 6pm. Raï is a popular genre of music that achieved global prominence with artists like Khaled and Cheb Mami\, and it has come to embody Algeria’s rebellious spirit. CMENA Faculty Director Muriam Haleh Davis has put together this Spotify playlist if you would like to learn more! \nFella Oudane\, an LA-based vocalist and percussionist\, will be performing alongside the North African band\, Terga. The concert is free and open to all ages.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/rai-concert-fella-oudane/
LOCATION:Woodhouse Brewery\, 119 Madrone St.\, Santa Cruz\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://thi.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fella-Oudane-banner-1.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250523T190000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250322T195735Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250516T181228Z
UID:10007641-1748026800-1748026800@thi.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:CANCELLED - The Center for the Middle East and North Africa & Kuumbwa Jazz Present: Cheb Nasro
DESCRIPTION:The Cheb Nasro concert scheduled for Friday\, May 23 has been CANCELLED due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. \n  \nNasreddine Souidi\, known as Cheb Nasro\, is a singer\, composer\, and songwriter who is best known for his Romantic Rai music. He is one of the most famous Romantic Rai singers in the Arabic speaking world. He has released more than 130 albums with popular hits such as “Libini W Binha” and “Ndirak Amour.” \nCheb Nasro was born on November 30\, 1969\, in the city of Ain Temouchent\, Algeria. When he was eleven months old he and his family moved to the city of Oran where he grew up. Cheb Nasro began singing at a young age and in 1987 at age eighteen released his first album\, which sold millions of copies. Cheb Nasro works with a number of music labels in Algeria including Disco Maghreb\, Santana\, Redson\, and Sunhouse\, as well as Mondo Melodia in the USA. \n\nPresented by the Center for the Middle East and North Africa at UC Santa Cruz and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/kuumbwa-jazz-cheb-nasro/
LOCATION:Kuumbwa Jazz Center
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://thi.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Cheb_Nasro_banner-v2.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250524T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250524T100000
DTSTAMP:20260510T234752
CREATED:20250409T181025Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T181109Z
UID:10007661-1748080800-1748080800@thi.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Saturday Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream
DESCRIPTION:Saturday Shakespeare in Santa Cruz Presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream\, featuring a series of readings and conversations held Saturday mornings from April 26 to May 24\, 2025. The 1st hour will be spent in conversation with a guest speaker\, and during the 2nd hour volunteers will read aloud part of the play. During the final session\, on May 24th\, a film will be presented. Meetings will take place in the Aptos Library Community Room (in person) and over Zoom (virtual). \nFor more information\, Zoom link\, or to be a reader\, contact: saturdayshakespeare@gmail.com \nThe final session on May 17 features a film presentation. Directed by Michael Hoffman & starring Christian Bale\, Rupert Everett\, Calista Flockhart\, Kevin Kline\, Michelle Pfeiffer & Stanley Tucci (120 minutes). \nAll Scheduled Meetings \n\nApril 26: Michael Warren\nMay 3: Julia Lupton\nMay 10: Charles Pasternak\nMay 17: Sean Keilen\nMay 24 (Film Screening)
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/saturday-shakespeare-a-midsummer-nights-dream-5/
LOCATION:Aptos Library\, 7695 Soquel Dr\, Aptos\, 95003\, United States
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