OUR FACULTY Funding Spotlight
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Books published '16-'17 school year
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The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies granted the school $300,000 to support a new faculty position in Buddhist studies to be housed in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures in cooperation with the Program in Religious Studies.
Innovation Spotlight
News features '16-'17 school year
Jonathan Alexander (English), Jim Herbert (Art History) and Julia Lupton (English) designed a 3-day Communications Bootcamp in the summer for UCI students. 23 students underwent the project-based MBA model on how design and communications strategies can spark action.
AWARD SPOTLIGHTS Aglaya Glebova, assistant professor of art history, visual studies and film and media studies, received a highly competitive BERLIN PRIZE from the American Academy in Berlin. The Berlin Prize is awarded annually to scholars, writers, composers, and artists from America who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields.
Jane O. Newman, professor of comparative literature, was elected to the NATIONAL HUMANITIES CENTER’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES. The National Humanities Center is the world’s only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Distinguished Professor of comparative literature and English, received an honorary degree from YALE UNIVERSITY. Bestowed by Yale President Peter Salovey, the honorary degree celebrates those with distinction in their respective fields. Ngugi was one of eight recipients, including Marin Alsop, Jessie Little Doe Baird, Cornelia Bargmann, Irwin Jacobs, John Kerry, John R. Lewis, and Stevie Wonder.
2016-2017 HIGHLIGHTS In 2017, the ENGLISH INSTITUTE held its 76th meeting at UCI, which was its first time at a public institution and on the west coast. Since its founding, the English Institute has been a major resource for developments in criticism, theory, and interdisciplinary scholarship. The Irvine meeting, on the topic of “Scale,” with 200 attendees from across the country ranging from undergraduates to senior professors, featured seven wide-ranging talks by noted scholars and lively, engaged discussion. Luis Avilés, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, received the SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES TEACHING AWARD, an annual award given to exceptional School of Humanities faculty. As part of the campus-wide 2017 Celebration of Teaching Awards, Emily Baum (pictured left), assistant professor of history, received the DEAN’S HONOREE FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING award and Maryse Mijalski, lecturer in the Department of European Languages and Studies, was one of two lecturers across campus to receive LECTURER OF THE YEAR. John H. Smith, professor of German, received a NATIONAL HUMANITIES CENTER FELLOWSHIP to complete his book, How Infinity Came to Be at Home in the World: Metaphors and Paradoxes of Mathematics in Modern German Thought, 1675-1830. 11