When playwright Deborah Stein and director Suli Holum began working on the musical comedy “Movers + Shakers” in 2012, it was the height of the presidential election season and they were amused by the foibles of politicians such as Sarah Palin and Anthony Weiner. Flash forward to 2016 and another election year. The players have changed, but the intersections of “sex, power and hubris” portrayed in the play, which premieres Feb. 13 at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre District at the University of California, San Diego, are just as fascinating.
You’re cruising along the highway and suddenly the dreaded “check engine” light blinks on your dashboard. As you rifle through your manual trying to determine the cause, steam starts rising from under the hood. What now? On Jan. 27, students at UC San Diego were invited to learn how to respond to just such roadside emergencies as part of a new Life Skills series. The workshop, hosted by the UC San Diego Women’s Center, also focused on how to find a reputable repair shop. Studies have shown that women, in particular, can be the target of higher price quotes on auto repairs.
In the northern fjords of Iceland, during the darkest days of the year, Rachel Beetz set out to capture the movement of the stars. Every night for 30 days—one moon cycle—she positioned her camera to take a long exposure photograph. The patterns of movement, or “star trails,” would become her launching point for composing a new piece of music.
Universities have used endowed faculty chairs for more than 500 years to recognize, recruit and retain the world’s top scholars. Faculty fellowships, similarly, honor junior faculty who show capacity for great distinction in their research. Both honors provide a perpetual source of funds to support scholarly work, and they can play an important role in attracting and retaining academic leaders. To help the campus stay competitive, Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla recently launched the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Endowed Chair and Faculty Fellowship Challenge.
UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences alumna Helen Griffith had little interest in a career in education when she came to campus as a transfer student. There was no way, she said, she would work around the clock like her mother did as a teacher and principal, but one thing stuck: a passion for reading and, hand-in-hand, libraries. She grew up loving the iconic Geisel library at UC San Diego.
On February 24, the University of California, San Diego Library will sponsor Correcting the Course on Climate Change Negotiations: the Road from Paris COP21, featuring climate change policy expert David Victor and students Joaquin Vallejo and Shayla Ragimov, who attended COP21, and will provide their insights on the process and the outcome. The event is free and open to the public and will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Seuss Room in Geisel Library.
