Laurence R. Horn On the Contrary: Pragmatic Strengthening and Disjunctive Syllogism   The dictum that “The essence of formal negation is to invest the contrary with the character of the contradictory” (Bosanquet 1888) describes the tendency for contradictory (apparent wide-scope) negation to be semantically or pragmatically strengthened to contrary readings whenever possible. This tendency is […]

Feminist Studies presents Long Bui, UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow Ms. Little Saigon: Through the Looking Glass of Art, Politics and Community This presentation examines the historical legacy of the Vietnam War as it continues to shape political conflicts and ideological differences within the Vietnamese diasporic community. Recognizing the power of cultural media and production to […]

Deanna Shemek Professor Shemek studies intersections of elite and popular culture in early modern Italy, especially among women. Her current research focuses on early modern letter writing. She is completing an edition of Isabella d’Este’s letters and a book on the broader significance of early modern women's letters. The talk addresses plans to digitize the […]

In this inaugural conference for the Sikh and Punjabi Studies program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, leading and emerging scholars will take stock of the state of the field and its future direction, in the areas of their expertise. Sessions will cover history, philosophy, language and literature, political economy, musicology and contemporary society. […]

Cary Howie Professor Howie thinks about how contemporary American poets re-imagine early Christianity, using transfiguration to talk about the persistence of figures as they become transformed, and how poetic and theological concerns speak to gender and sexuality. His books include Claustrophilia: The Erotics of Enclosure in Medieval Literature (Palgrave, 2007) and the co-authored Sanctity and […]

Hagit Borer The paper is a detailed study of the properties of Argument-Structure derived -ing nominals versus those of -ing synthetic compounds. In particular, I show that while -ing Argument Structure nominals are compositional and have event structure, -ing synthetic compounds do not. I further argues that these contrasts may only be accounted for by a syntactic approach to the derivation of complex […]

Benjamin Cawthra, associate professor of history at Benjamin Cawthra California State University, Fullerton and author of Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz (Chicago, 2011), discusses the tradition of jazz photography and its relationship to mid-twentieth century racial politics. Cawthra will discuss the connections among the photographers, art directors, editors, and record producers […]

Steve McKay Professor McKay examines the performance of masculinities among a group of men often considered exemplars of masculinity—merchant sailors. The talk explores their gender projects across liminal space (ocean-going ships) and in productive and reproductive spheres. Professor McKay is co-editor of the forthcoming New Routes for Diaspora Studies (Indiana) and working on Born to […]

Mary Flanagan Propositions from a Critical Play Perspective If games always hold within them cultural beliefs, norms, and human values, how are designers to tackle the vexing responsibility of designing digital games? In this talk, Flanagan examines the topics of games and values, games and art, the history of technology and games, and motivation. How […]