B E T W E E N
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L I N E S
A Publication of UC Irvine School of Humanities • Fall 2010
“Flyover America” In an Age of Digital Transition By Victoria Johnson
M
uch of my research examines the persistence and use of the concept of “flyover America” in contemporary television and the broader communications industry as a short-hand for a “mass” market perceived as inherently “mainstream” but also as less “desirable.” I consider how this concept historically relates to the “common sense” ways in which popular, everyday images of “Heartland” America effectively reproduce and encourage selective institutional and market imperatives within the United States. These are the central concerns of my first book, Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity (NYU Press, 2008). More recently, I have examined discussions anticipating and following the June 2009 transition to digital over-air television to analyze how
“Forgotten TV” image by Autowitch at Flickr.
problems with the transition were, largely, portrayed to be problems of rural or urban-poor and elderly or immigrant recalcitrance in the face of “new” technology. A key question in this work is: at what
point is it acceptable to disconnect any percentage of the U.S. population from local, daily access to news and information as well as from the affective and ritual bonds of sport and entertainment outlets? While broadcasting was conceived and developed in the United States as a “universal” public service, guided by collaboration and oversight of corporations and government regulators, following the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it is an increasingly minor element of the “multi-platform” communication industries within which public service is equated with increased deregulation, consumer choice and market governance. This is a transformation that encourages interpretation of
local service and over-the-air broadcast reception to be part of an analog past, as an increasingly “obsolete” mode of cultural engagement. And, fundamentally, it is a transformation that encourages and rewards “digital red-lining” or, the geographically and economically-based excision of significant portions of the U.S. population from the economic, cultural, and political sphere. As studies by Sharon Strover and Nick Muntean note as late as December of 2009, “only 54% of U.S. urban households have broadband access, with only 39% of rural households wired.” In analog TV reception there is a phenomenon known as “graceful degradation.” This term describes the fact that while some station’s reception might be ghostly or fade in
These were households, it was argued, that were literally stuck in the 1950s, relying on the same rooftop antennas that successfully provided entertainment during the era of “I Love Lucy.”
one in five homes received only broadcast signals and that over twenty-percent of homes there were unprepared for the DTV transition. While Philadelphia was routinely hailed as one of the top-10 “most-prepared” cities, prior to the transition, it was estimated that half of its overair-viewers would no longer receive each of the channels they got prior to the switch. “Transmission Towers” image by Killerturnip at Flickr.
and out, there is still an image. With broadcast digital TV, however, there is, instead, a “digital cliff.” A weak analog signal means a low-quality, fuzzy image, while a weak digital signal means no image at all. Prior to the transition, estimates varied widely regarding the number of viewers who might fall off this digital cliff. In El Paso, Texas, for example, it was estimated that up to
Writers in most national-venue journals implied that those still receiving over-the-air signals were obsolete and so, any transition flap was either unworthy of discussion. These were households, it was argued, literally stuck in the 1950s, relying on the same rooftop antennas that successfully provided entertainment during the era of I Love Lucy. Further, according to former UPN executive, Dean Valentine, “‘There’s no reason in the digital era for traditional media like
over-the-air broadcast television.’” But, of course, there are key caveats to such judgments and industrial pronouncements: First, the amount and complexity of gear required for B-DTV Professor of German Anke Biendarra clearly rivals that for analog viewing. Victoria Johnson Further, the FCC’s own transmission maps relied upon 1950s expectations for transmission standards, not on current population density statistics or on analysis of existing, competing wireless technology interferences. And, crucially, there is the larger issue of who is allowed to be “obsolete,” considering that the transition unevenly affected service to low-income, non-white, rural, urban-poor, immigrant and elderly populations. Thus, journalists such as Mimi Pickering, for the Center for Rural Strategies, placed the B-DTV transition to broader disinvestment in rural markets, noting, in the same moment that urban newspapers decrease rural coverage and delivery, and just as many radio stations have opted for national programming feeds to cut expensive local reporting, rural communities are also the most likely areas to be without internet access. Especially in this context, losing television access due to cost or reception issues during the B-DTV transition is not the loss of a “luxury” but, rather, “signifies the loss of access to basic information, news, cultural ties, and the opportunity to participate fully in the national and global conversation about our future” I would add to this, however, an argument for the continued importance of “luxury entertainment” to these same viewers—for the affective, day-to-day significance of the ritual, intimate, “sentimental” engagement with TV, beyond its news/information/ emergency value. Indeed, in the aftermath of the
B-DTV transition, those who did drop off the digital cliff consistently expressed feelings of betrayal, of having been led astray; of being forced to switch to a technology they did not ask for; and of having gone from a free system to, ultimately, having to pay— whether for the converter box and a new antenna or, after disgust with service loss, being pushed into subscription cable or satellite service. I thus question what places and people “count” in a “new” media landscape. Within the U.S., rural Americans have been uniformly characterized as a bad market risk, representing both uneven individual demand and dispersed service areas. Thus, while the stimulus package of 2009 mandates the development of a national broadband plan intended to deliver ubiquitous broadband to rural and under-served areas, Americans will continue to “encounter a series of digital divides, between analog and digital, and among different kinds of digital.” The B-DTV transition allows us a fresh opportunity to explore the ongoing historic reality of selective rather than universal market cultivation and the unevenness structured in to communication technology in the United States. Indeed, in the current economic crisis of entities “too big to fail,” we might be betterserved to consider the long-term power of those historically imagined to be too small, too few, or too analog and obsolete to count. Victoria E. Johnson is chair of the Department of Film and Media Studies at UCI. Her book , Heartland TV, won the Society for Cinema and Media Studies’ Katherine Singer Kovacs field book prize. Her next book project is a cultural history of U.S. television through the lens of sport.
Exhibitions mounted at UCI, LACMA, and the Pasadena Museum of Art in the mid 1960s secured the centrality of ceramics to the formation of a contemporary art scene in southern California.
C L AY R E V O L U T I O N IN THE 1960S By Cecile Whiting In 1966, an exhibition entitled “Abstract Expressionist Ceramics” opened at the new art gallery located on the University of California, Irvine campus. The show featured ceramics by both northern and southern California artists: Billy Al Bengston, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Malcolm McClain, James Melchert, Ron Nagle, Manuel Neri, Kenneth Price, Henry Takemoto, and Peter Voulkos. Voulkos, the inspirational leader of the group, had taught a number of these ceramicists at the Los Angeles County Art Institute (today known as the Otis Art Institute) where he was hired to establish a ceramics program in 1954. In the late 1950s, Voulkos began to experiment with the established norms of ceramic production by throwing and Peter Voulkos in his studio, c. 1956. manipulating slabs, spheres, and cylinders of clay, and stacking elements into sculptural columns. To the extent that Voulkos exploited the crack, incised the slash, and splashed color onto the surface in energetic performances worthy of a painting session by Jackson
Pollock, his pottery decidedly repudiated the qualities of craft associated with studio pottery. Famously, a number of young male artists attracted to Voulkos’s brash machismo and freestyle teaching style as he worked alongside his students and did not lecture or offer formal crits. They congregated around him at the Los Angeles County Art Institute and transformed ceramics into a form of modernist sculpture. As a consequence, the large pots with their seemingly misshapen and painterly surfaces exhibited at UCI were a far cry from the carefully designed, expertly glazed, functional vessels typically produced by studio potters working under the influence of European and Asian aesthetic philosophy. In the pages of the catalog accompanying the exhibition at UCI and subsequently reprinted in the pages of Artforum, one of the most important magazines on contemporary art of the day, John Coplans, the director of the UCI art gallery, argued that these California ceramicists had done more than elevate ceramics from craft to art; they had also defined a regional version of Abstract Expressionism (the most important art movement in New York after World War II). Voulkos, in particular, achieved the status of Abstract-Expressionist sculptor through the impressive scale of his pieces as much as through his working method and roughly hewn surfaces. Together with his students Voulkos launched what was dubbed at the time as “the clay revolution” in ceramics. Precisely because the clay revolution seemed to avoid the taint of the decorative (fending off the common assumption that ceramics served merely as small craft ornaments to be integrated into the home), the works created by members of the Voulkos group were embraced by the art world.
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A Glimpse of Sylvia Reines
DEAN’S MESSAGE
By Alisa Reines Cowden - September 2007
Compassion, Curiosity, and Creativity are the 3Cs distinguishing our School of Humanities. We explore the humanities as intellectual inquiry and daily practice. Whether discussing Aristotle or anime, our students come to find their place in the world through history, language, literature, philosophy, the visual arts as well as gender and ethnic studies. Whether tutoring young people in Orange or dancing with them in Ghana, these UCI students are engaged and well educated global citizens. Although nationally humanities majors have declined, our numbers have held steady at approximately 2,200 majors across sixteen departments and programs with English as the most popular followed by Film and Media Studies and History. After a hard hiring freeze, I am proud to announce that the School is back in business--recruiting topflight faculty to join our School for the following senior positions: Teller Chair in Jewish History, Endowed Chair in Rhetoric and Communication, and a tenured professor in African American Studies. In addition, we are recruiting for the best junior colleagues in media history, slavery in the Americas, and modern Latin American literature. These recruitments reflect significant steps in meeting student enrollments and in easing some of the enormous pressures on current faculty. As a School, we are indebted to our Friends of Humanities who have helped sustain us through this fiscal crisis, and during a year in which philanthropy declined 11 percent nationally, our individual donors responded with close to one million dollars in support for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and innovative programs. With the MacArthur Foundation providing the largest gift to the UC Humanities Research Institute, the School’s fundraising totals since July 1, 2009 have reached almost
3 million dollars! Congratulations to David Goldberg, head of UCHRI. Not only is he a visionary administrator, but also an internationally recognized scholar who calls home our top-ranked Department of Comparative Literature. Carolyn Canning-White has done a spectacular job as the lead development officer for the School and given her success, we must now share her talents with our colleagues in the Arts, Education, Social Ecology, and Social Sciences. Please join me in congratulating Carolyn as she begins her new position as Interim Executive Director of Development in charge of fundraising across these four schools and one department. Fortunately, Jennifer Smith will step up as Interim Director of Development and Kristie Williams Interim Associate Director of Development. According to a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article: “the 21st century will be the century of the creative campus. ” UCI’s School of Humanities is ready to lead the way.
Vicki L. Ruiz, Dean
Visit the School of Humanities online at www.humanities.uci.edu for up to the minute news on events, faculty, students, and general happenings in the school.
BOOKSHELF Kind of Blue is the first novel from literary journalism professor Miles Corwin. Blue tells the story of Ash Levine, a former Los Angeles detective, who is lured back to the police force to investigate the murder of an ex-cop. Ash also finds himself quietly working a homicide case from his past involving the murder of a witness. Unable to let either case go until he finds answers, Ash’s obsessive nature might prove fatal. The first novel from Brando Skyhorse (‘97, Programs in Writing, fiction), The Madonnas of Echo Park follows the intersecting lives of eight residents of Echo Park, a Mexican neighborhood in East Los Angeles, in the aftermath of a tragic drive-by shooting. Skyhorse tells the story of the men and women who cook the meals and clean the homes and struggle with the question of what it means to be Mexican in America.
In Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms, African American studies and drama professor, Frank Wilderson, III, turns a critical eye to films such as Monster’s Ball and Antwone Fisher. Offering an unflinching account of race and representation, Wilderson asks whether such films accurately represent the structure of U.S. racial antagonisms.
Clay Revolution continued... Indeed, when Maurice Tuchman, the curator of art at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art (which had just opened its new building in 1965 on Wilshire Boulevard), inaugurated a series of sculpture exhibitions on the Simon Sculpture Plaza, he began with an exhibit of ten monumental objects by Voulkos. Exhibitions mounted at UCI, LACMA, and the Pasadena Museum of Art in the mid 1960s secured the centrality of ceramics to the formation of a contemporary art scene in southern California. Both curators and critics on the west coast championed a significant regional version of Abstract Expressionism. The explosion of a contemporary art scene in Los Angeles not only brought attention to the city itself as the center of a thriving art scene, but also put the clay revolution on the national map. During that time the art gallery at UCI played a significant role in exhibiting the clay revolution and other works of contemporary art by a number of important local artists, such as Vija Celmins, Tony DeLap, Robert Irwin, and Craig Kauffman, all of who taught at one time in UCI’s Department of Studio Art. Close ties among artists, curators, critics, and scholars knit together the various art institutions in southern California, giving Cecile Whiting rise to many key exhibits highlighting contemporary art practice locally, nationally, and internationally. Cecile Whiting is chair of the Department of Art History at UCI. She is currently working on an essay that will appear in a catalog on California ceramics to accompany the show, Common Ground: Ceramics in Southern California, 1945–1975, at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona. The exhibit is one of thirty funded by a Getty Foundation initiative called Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945–1980, which will document and celebrate the rich history of the art produced in Los Angeles during the mid twentieth century.
FACULTY NOTES
philosophers.
Philosophy Professor Joins the Humanities Faculty
Outside of teaching, Perin examined Pyrrhonian Skepticism, or Pyrrhonism, which refers to a school of skepticism named for the Ancient Greek Philosopher Pyrrho. Perin’s The Demands of Reason: An Essay on Pyrrhonian Scepticism (Oxford University Press, 2010) addresses ongoing scholarly debates about the use of reason by Pyrrhonian Sceptics, arguing that their dismissal of reason is done to satisfy the demands of reason itself. For his next few projects, Perin is working on papers on Plato and ancient scepticism, as well as mapping a book project on Aristotle’s moral psychology, all of course while continuing to ponder those major philosophical questions.
By C. Millie Lein (‘10 Literary Journalism)
Hailing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Casey Perin joins the Department of Philosophy this fall. Though new to Irvine, Perin earned his doctorate at UC Berkeley and is excited to be back at a UC school, where he recognizes a commitment Laura Swendson/Humanities to both high quality Casey Perin education and access. “Those two things don’t always match up,” he notes. An expert in ancient philosophy, Perin gets animated answering questions about his field. Though many undergraduates are exposed to texts by Plato and Aristotle in their humanities courses, Perin suggests that philosophy can be understood in relation to the sciences and math as well. To do philosophy, he explains, requires using language precisely, almost scientifically. On the other hand, philosophy does not experience “progress” in the same way physics does. While ancient philosophy is concerned with the period in western philosophy that runs from the early sixth century BCE to the fourth century AD, it remains important to contemporary philosophy because the major philosophical questions never really go away. To Perin, being a philosopher means being gripped by philosophical questions that never leave you, and being comfortable with disagreements. To teach such concepts to undergraduates in the “Introduction to Philosophy” course, Perin immediately raises the major philosophical questions, “Is there a God? Do we have free will? Is it good to be mortal?” These gripping questions come before Perin teaches the nuts and bolts of the methods of argument used by
Five Questions for Barry Siegel
Siegel, professor of English & director of the literary journalism program, in conversation with Humanities staff 1) Your 2008 book Claim of Privilege explored the legal battle arising from a lawsuit filed by the widows of three U.S. Air Force engineers whose plane crashed after takeoff in 1948. The case eventually made it to the Supreme Court and led to a landmark decision which forever changed the government’s ability to conceal information in the name of national security. What can we expect from your next book? Siegel: I happen to be working on two book projects right now. One involves a narrative about the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles—the bidding for the Games, the staging and the consequences—all set against the context of America in 1932 and the international situation between the world wars. My other project looks at a long-ago murder prosecution in Arizona that sent a man to prison for life—even though someone else had confessed to the crime multiple times, to his lawyers and a psychiatrist. Attorney-client privilege kept those lawyers from testifying, so jurors never heard about the
confession. I hope to use this case as a prism through which to explore the nature—and vagaries—of the criminal justice system. Given current publisher interest, it will be my next book. 2) The 1932 Olympic Games and a murder case in Arizona, two subjects seemingly worlds apart. How do you decide what you’re going to write about? Siegel: I never start with a general topic or concept. I’m always just scanning the horizon, looking for a compelling story to tell. What draws my attention is something that has happened: a specific event or circumstance, rather than an abstract notion or theme. I want a story with a narrative arc, a beginning-middle-end; a story with characters, conflict, tension; a story where there is something at stake; a story where people have taken risks or pursued a quest or been forced to make choices. Most important, it must be a story with multiple levels of meaning—a particular tale that resonates, that can be placed against a larger context. 3) When you do find a story that resonates with you, such as the murder case in Arizona, what kind of research do you do to prepare? Siegel: I usually start by trying to find out what already has been written about the topic or event, and for that I use Google, Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, Access World News, and a range of other specialized databases. From what I read, I make lists of key people I need to contact, and documents I need to collect. I’m looking always for the particular person or group that will most likely welcome me to the story, providing me access and guidance. I’m looking also for that treasure trove of documents— archival research can often be more useful than direct interviews. Reporting out a story is an incremental process—you just keep going, with one discovery leading to another. 4) In addition to writing “narrative nonfiction,” you’re also the author of three novels. Do you foresee your return to fiction writing anytime soon?
Siegel: I think about and keep files on possible ideas for novels, and I’m sure I’ll return to fiction writing at some point in the future. But right now, my interests mainly involve narrative nonfiction, partly because that’s what I teach at UC Irvine, and partly because I see so many compelling true stories to tell. Also, I enjoy pushing beyond my known world, which is what you do in researching these tales. And then there’s the practical matter that publishers, in a foundering book industry, still seem to have an interest in bringing out strong narrative nonfiction. 5) Speaking of your teaching at UC Irvine, the literary journalism program is entering its eighth year and continues to grow in popularity with Barry Siegel students. How does your role as teacher to aspiring writers differ from your role as author? Siegel: As a writer, I spend most of my time alone inside my own mind, inside my room. Sometimes that room feels like a sanctuary, sometimes like a prison cell, but either way, such isolation is what’s needed to get the words on paper. Teaching at UC Irvine allows me to leave my room, to escape the isolation and meet a lot of wonderful people. That’s certainly healthy—even if it does sometimes slow down my writing. I greatly appreciate working with—and learning from—the aspiring writers in our literary journalism program.
For more information on the Literary Journalism Program, visit www.humanities.uci.edu/litjourn.
S T U D E N T A WA R D S We are proud to acknowledge the recipients of this year’s named scholarships in the School of Humanities
Award Recipient
Student
Graduate Arlene Cheng Fellowship in Creative Writing Dorothy and Donald Strauss Dissertation Fellowship Elaine and Martin Weinberg Creative Writing Fellowship in Fiction Gerard Award in Creative Writing Gerard Award in Visual Studies Howard Babb Memorial Fellowship Irvine Museum Fellowship in Visual Studies Israelsky Graduate Award in English Lynn Garnier Memorial Award MacDonald Harris Prize for Fiction Machette Foundation Award in Philosophy Murray Krieger Fellowship in Literary Theory Nora Folkenflik Prize Nora Folkenflik TA Award Peggy and Alex Maradudin Fellowship in History Robin Shikiya Memorial Award in Visual Studies Schaeffer Fellowship Theodore Brunner and Luci Berkowitz Award in Classics Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Fellowship
Gray Hilmerson, Laura Hogan, Tara Scalzo, & James Zwerneman Jennifer Beagin, Michelle Neely Yates Ryan Hume Rachel Hinton Diana Anselmo Matthew Schilleman Christina Spiker Jeffrey Clapp Leah Kaminski James Zwerneman Chad Kidd Rebecca Balon, Jamie Tyo Adam Kaiserman Leo Hoar William Maher, Kristina Shull Christina Spiker Vanessa Garcia Jesse Weiner Emma Hill
Undergraduate Arthur Marder Essay Prize Bret Baldwin Prize in Poetry Dorothy and Donald Strauss Endowed Scholarship Hannah J. Caldwell Student Award Hester A. Laddey Memorial Award Howard Babb Memorial Essay Prize Howard B. Lawson Memorial Scholarship Humanities Associates Endowed Scholarship Jao Foundation Award in Asian Studies Marjorie G. Reday Scholarship in Art History Nira Kozak Roston, Daniel Ethan and Elena Suzanne Film Studies Award Nora Folkenflik Essay Prize Nora Folkenflik Essay Prize in Humanities Core Orange County Italian Cultural Association Award Samuel and Sara Ellen McCulloch Award in History Theodore Brunner and Luci Berkowitz Scholarship in Classics
Rachel Cheng, Deepa Gandhi Warren Fong Brian Chow Natalie Badalof Victoria Kim Amy Cooper Habiba Toorawa, Helen Yoshida Alberto Ventura Teri Wang Mariam Gheissari Alberto Ventura, Sharon Gonzalez Erin Hughes Eric Young Anna Garac Erik Kelly Shaina Eser
HONOR ROLL OF DONORS We proudly recognize those individuals and companies who have generously supported the School of Humanities this past fiscal year (July ‘09 - June ‘10) * New Donor
$100,000 and above American Council of Learned Societies John & Catherine MacArthur Foundation Dr. Fariborz Maseeh and The Massiah Foundation $10,000-$99,999 Tony Bandiera, Jr. John Randolph & Dora Haynes Foundation Intel Corporation* Ali Jahangiri ‘98* Reza M. Jahangiri ‘00* Korea Foundation Eva and Sia Nemat-Nasser* Dennis L. Nguyen ‘94 San Manuel Band of Mission Indians* LaVonne S. ‘94 and Ewart B. Smith Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in LA $2,500-$9,999 American Armenian International College* Charles Barsam* Luci Berkowitz Yasuko T. and John B. Bush, Jr. Community Foundation of Jewish Federation of Orange County Coventry University* Robert W. DeSpain* The Endangered Language Fund* Paricher and Bijan Farhad* Laila K. ‘69 and Dudley Frank Goldman Sachs Gives* Steven L. Guise* Hensel Phelps Construction Company* Iranian American Heritage Foundation of Southern California The Irvine Museum Virginia H. Laddey
Elisabeth F. and Paul Merage* Sophie and Manouchehr Moshayedi* Munger, Tolles & Olson Foundation* David Nazarian* Neudesic, LLC* Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani* Ali C. Razi* Parsa J. Rohani* Nira Kozak Roston James I. Swinden Sylvie G. and Garo M. Tertzakian Elizabeth C. and Thomas T. Tierney University of Minnesota* Captain Te Pei Wong $250-$2,499 Jere B. Allan ‘84 Armenian Festival, Inc. Armenian Natl Committee O.C. Gloria Baldwin Bankers Network Corporation* Terez and Aram Bassenian Peggy Benson ‘68 and Alex Maradudin Nathan D. Blake ‘04 Anne and Alan D. Block Majid Bonakdarpour* Vicki L. and J. Paul Bowinkel California Zoroastrian Center* Houchang E. Chehabi* The Coca-Cola Foundation* Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst* Kirsten Dial ‘91 Jeanne M. Doig ‘83 Fariborz Ehsani* Haleh Emrani Jay S. Feldman* Ryuko A. and David R. Flores ‘76* The Franklin J. Matchette Foundation Ruth and James B. Given
$250-$2,499 continued Global Estate Funding, Inc.* Elizabeth S. Gregory Lydia and Alishan Halebian Seda Yaghoubian and Vahag Hambarsumian Danelle Y. Hand ‘10* Ann B. Heiney IBM International Foundation David B. Israelsky ‘03 Lorinda J. ‘87 and Michael R. Jackson Ali Javan* Nancy T. and Dwight Johnson* Soroosh Kamyab* Ann R. Karagozian and Theodore A. Sarafian* Zovak and Garbis Karamardian* Heather G. ‘88 and Stuart A. Katz* Nancy L. Kidder* Kathleen E. LaFetra ‘70 Mehrdad Mahdad* Vehan and Krikor Mahdessian* Sara E. and Samuel C. McCulloch Donald R. McLaurin ‘95 Armine and Vahe Meghrouni* Arpi and Viken Melkonian Kendra S. ‘88 and N. J. Mirasol Vladimir Moghaddasi* Hasmik L. and George T. Mooradian Nick Nikka* Margot C. Norris Stephanie S. and Mark W. Okey ‘79 Boghos Petrossian* Elham G. and Alex Razmjoo ‘85* Dean Vicki L. Ruiz and Victor Becerra Keyvan M. Safdari* Abigail M. Sarafian ‘13* Heidi and Nick Shahrestany ‘83* Ali M. Shakeri* Siamack Shariat* Leatrice M. and Wayson T. Shikiya Shirin and Soroosh Sorooshian* Polly and Eric J. Stanbridge Sally A. Stein Hanriette and Arek Tatevossian* Martha and Steven C. Topik Universal Business Corporation
Ali R. Vatankhah* Vending Plus* Anne Walthall Westcoast Rotor, Inc. Elfrida and George I. Yessaie ‘80* Fay L. and Lotfi A. Zadeh* Kamran and Shirin Zahedi* Virginia O. and Antranik O. Zorayan* Up to $250 Michele ‘78 and Richard Africano Nancy F. Anderson ‘67 Patricia B. August ‘71 Brian J. Bautista III ‘07* Carolyn P. Boyd and Frank D. Bean Evelyn ‘79 and Michael L. Bell ‘76 Ernestina C. and Charles V. Benson* Kristine I. Brenner ‘86* Catherine J. ‘81 and Reginald Bruhn Patricia F. ‘87 and Carl J. Busch* Herminia G. Cadenas ‘87* Canterbury Irvine* Chemers Gallery, Inc.* Rita Chemers* Constance J. Chen ‘92 Yong Chen Citrix* Janet R. and Walter H. Conser, Jr. ‘71 Covidien* Joslyn E. Davis ‘05 Designworks* Cheryl L. Doty ‘92* Anne E. and Albert A. Encinias ‘72* Joanna L. ‘91 and Jeffrey L. Ennis EWHA Women’s University* Siamak and Sepideh Farah* Benjamin E. Folk ‘07* Mary J. Fox ‘68 Judi and Richard C. Glass ‘01* Marie J. Ritzo and Norman M. Gleichman ‘76 Claudia H. Gosselin ‘77 Evlyn Gould ‘75 and Henry Ponedel Aletha A. ‘74 and Robert D. Green* Qitao Guo Lori K. ‘77 and John M. Harch
Up to $250 continued Catherine Henley-Erickson ‘81 and Joseph A. Erickson Carole and Mark A. Hodnick ‘72* Mary A. Humphreys ‘68 David B. Igler Diane E. Berley ‘74 Bahman Jalali* Fereydoon and Nahid Jamzadeh* Susan Jarratt* Colleen S. ‘73 and Jeffery L. Johnson ‘72 Peg G. Jordan* Leslie M. Kaplan ‘85 and Travis R. Wall Eden M. Kennedy-Hoffmann ‘05* Richard EstherKroll, Y. ‘80Professor and MyunofC.English, Kim passed away February 5th at the age of 56. A major figure Korea University* in Korean restoration and Academy 18-centuryofliterary studies, Science KAIST* his books, The Material Word and The Circle of Angeline H. Kuh ‘10* Commerce, reshaped the field, challenging accepted Alyson R. Kuhn ‘73 paradigms and opening literary works to rhetorical, Kyonggiand University* economic political analysis. In addition to his Rodrigo Lazo two single-authored books, he edited four others, Linda L. Ledford-Miller ‘78 Philosophy, and JamesScience, L. Miller* including the groundbreaking and Religion Kroll directed the Erika inJ. England, Lee Deru1640-1700. ‘92 English department’s highly successful Jennifer A. ‘89 and Jonathan M. Lee summer M.A. Ji H.program Lee ‘07*and in 1999 students named him Outstanding Professor Jennifer E. Levinson ‘88 in the Humanities, recognizing his dedication and excellence as a Marcy L. Lewkiw ‘92* teacher. Gloria M. Lewyn ‘79 Helen M. Leyden ‘08* Sallie A. and Francis P. Licata ‘73 Michael J. Mageean ‘96 Kathleen T. and James R. Mahoney ‘75* Ann U. and Earl W. Maki ‘69 Lynn M. Mally and Robert G. Moeller Nancy C. ‘72 and Richard L. Martin Persis G. McCarley ‘71* Joan C. and John E. McCue ‘68 Sandra L. and Stephen A. McHolm ‘72 Connie Melom ‘69 Christine C. Mende ‘70 Jacqueline A. and John R. Miles Cindy M. ‘82 and Timothy J. Minor* Laura J. Mitchell Thomas G. Moore ‘78 Lyall N. Morell II ‘05* Jane Nani ‘83*
Laura M. ‘79 and John M. Neary ‘76 Nader Nemati* Dianne V. Nguyen ‘99 Rachel S. O’Toole ILona and Lorne H. Parker ‘68 Karin S. Paul ‘74 Gina D. Pauley ‘93 and Nick J. Hasan* Gregory E. Perry ‘80* Scott T. Pollard ‘83 Kenneth L. Pomeranz Ann C. Posthill ‘80* Quest Diagnostics Incorporated* Lois ‘71 and Keith S. Raffel Sally Hopkins and Paul H. Reed ‘69 Janis K. ‘89 and Robert Rizzuto Dodie Robbins* Ann B. Rosen ‘10* Emily S. Rosenberg Molly A. Rothenberg ‘85 Ali Sadighian* Ann and Gerasimos X. Santas John D. Schwetman ‘99 Pamela J. Sheldon ‘72 Kimberly A. ‘78 and Christopher W. Shettler Quisteen S. Shum ‘91 Selma and Philip G. Silverman* Julie L. Smith ‘76 and Paul M. St. John Linda W. ‘77 and Gregory J. Souza Aisha H. Syed ‘06* Heidi E. Tinsman The University of Suwon* Cecilia Villaruz* Phuong Vo April A. Wada ‘93* Catherine G. and Keith L. Watson ‘92 Linda M. ‘83 and Irving N. Weinberg ‘81 Charles J. Wheeler Jonathan M. Wiener Kristie S. Williams ‘05 Karen S. ‘78 and Robert E. Wissmann Elizabeth M. Wood ‘75 Karen and Steven W. Wylie ‘74 Stephanie S. and Mark D. Zalin* Joanne J. Zitelli ‘80
EVENTS Dates, times and locations subject to change. Please visit www.humanities.uci.edu for up-to-date information about Humanities events. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.
NOVEMBER “China and the Global Environmental Challenges Ahead” Jonathan Watts in Conversation with Professor Kenneth Pomeranz Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 1 p.m Humanities Instructional Building 135, UC Irvine Jonathan Watts is the Asia environment correspondent for the Guardian and author of When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save the World--Or Destroy It (Scribner, 2010). Presented by the UCI Humanities Collective. Email hctr@uci.edu for more information. Reading and Book Signing with Amy Bender & Glen David Gold Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - 5:00 p.m. UCI Bookstore, UC Irvine Bender & Gold, both alums of the Programs in Writing, will read from their respective novels The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and Sunnyside. Part of the UCI Bookstore Author Series. Call (949) 824-2665 for more information. Reading and Book Signing with James Ellroy Tuesday, November 16, 2010 – TBA Location UC Irvine, TBD Novelist James Ellroy is the author of Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential. Presented by the literary journalism program. Please visit www.humanities.uci.edu/litjourn for more information. DECEMBER KIOSK Launch & Reading Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 5:00 p.m. UCI Bookstore, UC Irvine Launch of the 2010-2011 issue of KIOSK: A Magazine of Literary Journalism. Presented by the literary journalism program. Please visit www.humanities.uci.edu/litjourn for more information.
Memorial Conference in Honor of Nelson Pike Saturday, December 11, 2010 – 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Humanities Gateway 1030, UC Irvine Conference in honor of UCI Professor Emeritus Nelson Pike. More details to come. Presented by the Department of Philosophy. Email philos@uci.edu for more information.
Humanities Alums Back on Campus Kicking off UC Irvine’s Welcome Week festivities this fall quarter, the Humanities hosted its inaugural Alumni Career Panel for all incoming freshman and current Humanities students, and any non-majors who perhaps needed a little convincing about how much the Humanities has to offer. Panelists included Randall Baumberger, ’88 film and media studies alum and president of Paramount Studio Group; Mark Okey, ’79 history alum and senior corporate counsel at Ingram Micro; and David Baker, ’75 English alum and former mayor of Irvine as well as former commissioner of the Arena Football League; and moderating the panel was Diane Sagey, ’83 English alum and director of marketing and communications for the Paul Merage School of Business at UCI. David Baker, who played basketball at UCI as an undergraduate, recounted how he was forced to pick a serious major after realizing that his skills on the basketball court weren’t going to carry him into the world of professional basketball. He asked a counselor what the hardest major on campus was and after Baker vetoed biology, the counselor recommended English. Baker can recount the influence of his English degree on every major event in his life, from proposing to his wife with a poem to naming his son after poet Ben Jonson. Summing
up his experience in the Humanities he said, “all of those other guys are about information, we’re about passion.” “Passion” was a term echoed by all of the panelists, including Randall Baumberger who responded to student questions about what he looks for when hiring employees at Paramount, saying “I look for critical thinkers, people who are intellectually voracious.” Qualities students indisputably perfect while studying in the Humanities. Laura Swendson/Humanities
Mark Okey explained how he chose the From L to R: Diane Sagey, Randall Baumberger, Mark Okey, Humanities without knowing exactly what the & Dave Baker. major was all about, “but after a day of the Humanities Core Course,” he admitted, “I knew it was going to be hard.” To perhaps quiet the fears he’d just arisen in the hearts of the freshman in the room, Okey went on to credit his career success to the communication skills he learned in the Humanities, noting that a “Humanities major combines content with communication.” After sharing their stories with students, all three panelists and moderator Diane Sagey stayed for an hour afterwards to speak with undergraduates one on one and to offer up advice - and their email addresses - to eager freshmen. We’re guessing there were more than a few future Humanities success stories in the room. We hope they have marked their calendars for September 2035 and the 25th annual Humanities Alumni Career Panel.
Between the Lines is published quarterly by the UC Irvine School of Humanities Office of Development and Alumni Relations Humanities Gateway Building, Irvine, CA 92697-3376 Contact Kristie Williams at 949.824.1342 or kwilliam@uci.edu to be added to the mailing list or to update your e-mail address.