Books & Culture

UC San Diego Professor Takes Novel Approach to Teaching History

From the U.S. to China to Germany and beyond, Distinguished Professor of Chinese History Paul Pickowicz takes a novel approach to teaching history—he transforms students into experienced filmmakers. For more than two decades, Pickowicz has enlivened history with the use of film. As part of his Humboldt Foundation Award, Pickowicz recently taught his history/film course to a group of 24 students from all over the world at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. The course examined the global city of Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s from the historical angle of the Chinese silent film era.

UC San Diego Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Visual Arts Department

The UC San Diego Department of Visual Arts kicks off a two-year program in the University Art Gallery (UAG) to celebrate its 50th anniversary with “Extensions of Photography: A Visual Arts Faculty, Emeritus Faculty and Alumni Exhibition,” running through Dec. 9. Two related events will be held to inaugurate the celebration, including a panel discussion from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Nov. 3 at the University Art Gallery and the “Artists & Language” reception from 3-5 p.m. on Nov. 4 in the Seuss Room at the Geisel Library.

New 3-D CAVEkiosk at UC San Diego Brings Cyber-Archaeology to Geisel Library

The University of California San Diego's iconic, futuristic spaceship of a building, Geisel Library, will unveil its first virtual-reality 3-D display system during a public reception on Monday, November 7 from 10 am to noon. The life-size CAVEkiosk will be open to the campus community and the public at large, but it will also allow researchers to analyze and visualize 3-D data from at-risk archaeological sites in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Greece, Morocco and Cyprus.

UC San Diego Theatre Alumnus Competes for Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award

Faculty and students from UC San Diego’s Department of Theatre and Dance excel on Broadway, in theaters nationwide, and in the film and television industry. Playwriting alumna Rachel Axler ’04, who just won her third Emmy Award for the critically acclaimed HBO show “VEEP,” is one example.

UC San Diego Named World’s 15th Best University by U.S. News and World Report

U.S. News and World Report has named the University of California San Diego the 15th best university in the world, up four spots compared to last year, in the third annual global rankings, released today. The campus was ranked as the 4th best public university in the U.S. on the list of the world’s top 1,000 colleges. The rankings measure factors such as research, global and regional reputation, international collaboration as well as number of highly-cited papers and doctorates awarded.

UC San Diego’s Institute of Arts and Humanities Hosts Inaugural Events

UC San Diego’s new Institute of Arts and Humanities (IAH) makes its public debut this fall with a series of events that explore issues of race, culture and social justice. The campus events, one which took place Oct. 18 and the other occurring Oct. 25 and 27, spur thought-provoking exchanges about urgent issues faced by American cities, including San Diego. The programs also tackle ideas at the core of the institute—bringing together diverse UC San Diego programs in a shared mission.