By Minyi Jiang
UC Santa Barbara’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (IHC) is closing out an active year of lectures, panels, fellowships, research and graduate programs.
This year, IHC welcomed seven new graduate fellows into its Public Humanities program. Each of them will start a unique career of a humanist, engaging with the society beyond the academy. The new fellows are: Kristy Ali (Linguistics), Ana Cárdenas Gasca (Media Arts and Technology), Tanner Cassidy (Music), Katya Lopatko (Comparative Literature), Claudia Mendoza Chavez (Anthropology), Wolfe Randall (Philosophy) and Cypris Roalsvig (Classics).
In June, the Center cheerfully congratulated seven fellows for completing their programs. They are now heading to new paths, and we wish them the best. They are: Heath Pennington (Theater and Dance), MariaCarolina Sintura (English), Lauren Smyth (Anthropology), Morgane Thonnart (Religious Studies), Shannon Toribio (Religious Studies), Esra Tunc (Religious Studies) and MacKenzie Wade (Anthropology) in the picture below.
Seven new graduate fellows are in UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Public Humanities Program. From left to right, top row: Kristy Ali (Linguistics), Ana Cárdenas Gasca (Media Arts and Technology), Tanner Cassidy (Music), Katya Lopatko (Comparative Literature). Bottom row: Claudia Mendoza Chavez (Anthropology), Wolfe Randall (Philosophy) and Cypris Roalsvig (Classics).
Seven UCSB’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Public Humanities graduate fellows completed their programs this year. From left to right, top row: Heath Pennington (Theater and Dance), MariaCarolina Sintura (English), Lauren Smyth (Anthropology), Morgane Thonnart (Religious Studies). Bottom row: Shannon Toribio (Religious Studies), Esra Tunc (Religious Studies) and MacKenzie Wade (Anthropology).
The IHC has also received exciting news of its alumni accomplishments over the past year.
Unita Ahdifard began an internship at the Getty Museum, and she received a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA’s Clark Library.
Alesha Claveria began her career as an assistant professor in the American Indian Studies department at California State University, Northridge.
Olga Faccani joined UCSB’s Instructional Development, supporting the teaching of UCSB’s teaching assistants and faculty members.
Kirsten Jaqua joined Veritas Preparatory Academy where she started teaching spoken Latin and Ancient Greek.
David McIntosh joined Southeast New Mexico College as an assistant professor of history and anthropology.
In addition, five graduate fellows won the annual IHC Dissertation Fellowship competition. They are: Jéssica Malinalli Coyotecatl Contreras (Anthropology), Amy Fallas (History), Anthony Greco (History), Christina Guirguis (Global Studies) and Albert Ventayol-Boada (Linguistics).
They were each awarded $7,000 to support their interdisciplinary research and dissertation projects in the 2023-24 year, and they will participate in a cross-UC Humanities Graduate Fellows Collaborative in Fall 2023. Congratulations to these graduate fellows!
This fall, IHC will start its 2023-2024 public event series, “Imagining California,” by inviting academics, activists, artists and writers to engage with California’s historical past and inspire a hopeful future. Despite having the largest economy of all U.S. states and leading the country in various industries, California continues to experience a shortage of higher education institutions, a low literacy rate and lack of affordable housing units. If one wishes make suggestions for series topics or speakers, please contact IHC Director Susan Derwin.
Minyi Jiang is a fourth-year student at UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Middle East Studies and pursuing a minor in Professional Writing. She is a Web and Social Media Intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.