UCSC Night at the Museum
This annual event features scholars in conversation in a museum setting. The juxtaposition of thematic discussion with the objects and exhibitions of the museum invite the public into the work of The Humanities Institute and spark deeper engagement.
Event Archive
June 5, 2024: From the Archives: Conversations on Filipino America
Featuring Watsonville is in the Heart and highlighting Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley, a community-driven exhibition that uplifts stories of Filipino American migration and labor in Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley of the Central Coast. The exhibition brings together oral history, archival materials, and contemporary works of art. Several of the most prominent thinkers in Filipino American history: Catherine Ceniza Choy, Richard “Rick” Baldoz, and Rudy Guevarra, Jr participated in the event and presented their academic insights.
March 1, 2023: Resettlement: Chicago Story – Film Screening and Conversation
On March 1, The Humanities Institute presented the 2023 Night at the Museum, featuring the California premiere of Resettlement: Chicago Story, a new short fictional film and educational website, which explores how people of Japanese ancestry remade their lives in the Midwest after their wrongful incarceration during World War II.
The event took place a the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and was co-sponsored by the Watsonville-Santa Cruz Japanese American Citizens League and served as this year’s Day of Remembrance. The evening commenced with a special performance by the Watsonville Taiko Group, was followed by a screening of the film, a preview of the larger web experience, and a Q&A discussion with some of the project’s core creators. Marcia Hashimoto attended and spoke of the enduring legacy of her late and much beloved husband, Mas Hashimoto. The event’s panel featured key members of the project, including the film’s director and executive producer, website creators, and UC Santa Cruz’s Dean of Humanities, Jasmine Alinder, who led the research team.
May 9, 2019: Anti-Semitism and the Internet: Old Hatred and New
On May 9, The Humanities Institute and Center for Jewish History event, Anti-Semitism and the Internet, drew over 100 people to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. At the event, Nathaniel Deutsch and Rachel Deblinger, co-directors of the Digital Jewish Studies Initiative at UC Santa Cruz, traced how older forms of antisemitism have been reimagined in the internet age. The event explored the role of internet technologies to facilitate the rapid spread of bigotry and hatred and considered how scholars of antisemitism can work closely with members of the tech community to fight against this and related forms of hatred toward others.
The conversation resonated around Silicon Valley and beyond. Read more about the event >
May 16, 2018: Global 1968 – Race and Revolution Around the World
Our speakers challenged the centrality of 1968 in the world’s collective memory of revolutionary change. Instead, they offered “the long sixties” as a decade of violence and upheaval. From student movements in Mexico City, to the transmission of Maoist narratives across borders, and the never realized futures of post-colonial Africa, we learned about the forces that fought for a new world and shaped our present in so many ways. Featuring: Jean Allman (Washington University in St. Louis), Jaime Pensado (University of Notre Dame), Emily Honig (UC Santa Cruz). Moderated by: Marc Matera (UC Santa Cruz).
May 24, 2017: Radical Jewish Politics: From Marx to Bernie
As we mark the centennial of the Russian Revolution and the stunning electoral success of Bernie Sanders, the revival of interest in socialism inspires this discussion of the history of radical Jewish Politics. Featuring: Tony Michels Professor of American Jewish History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Alma Rachel Heckman Assistant Professor of History and Jewish Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
May 18, 2016: The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection: “The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America”
Spanning 400 years of history, the Kinsey Collection reflects a rich cultural heritage. Includes work by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, and Richard Mayhew alongside archival material related to Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, and Malcolm X. Featuring: Ethan Michaeli, author of The Defender, and David Anthony, Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz.