CHASS Newsletter

Acting professor Bella Merlin brings back one-woman show, reflects on journey

kelvin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 07:01:50 +0000

Acting professor Bella Merlin brings back one-woman show, reflects on journey kelvin Fri, 02/27/2026 - 23:01 More Press Releases By Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications February 27, 2026

Bella Merlin, Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production, has been working on her passion project, a one-woman show called “Tilly No-Body” since 2009. The show follows Tilly Wedekind, wife and muse of German playwright Frank Wedekind, and her emotional journey from youth to old age.

“‘Tilly No-Body’ is a one-person show with five cabaret songs, original cabaret songs, and it's set in a magical space,” Merlin said. “So a young woman who is on the brink of collapse in a coercive relationship swallows poison, and the play takes place in the three days that she is recovering.”

“Tilly” is a story about autonomy and the reclamation of power — and is also deeply socially relevant today. Much like TFDP’s production of “Fuenteovejuna,” this show explores the role women play and their interpersonal relationships. Merlin believes that relationships always have the potential to lead to a power struggle, and that will never be irrelevant.

“All relationships are complicated,” Merlin said. “But these power imbalances, little by little — if we're not careful — can lead to coercive, abusive environments, relationships. And we're never going to get away from that until all different gender identities start understanding how we can mutually respect each other.”

Merlin has brought the show around the world since its first production in 2010, though after closing, it was on hiatus until 2022. She recently returned to teaching for the winter quarter following a summer stint in the United Kingdom. There, she presented “Tilly No-Body” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival — a British theatre festival celebrating small productions — where it was awarded with an “Edinburgh Festival Fringe Theatre A.” The festival involves over 3,500 participating shows, forcing each company to compete for even a small audience. Even then, “Tilly” found success.

“The audience is vital,” Merlin said. “We took the show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this past summer, which is the world's biggest live performance festival. I played to audiences that had four people in them and I loved it. It was so intimate, and it felt like such a vibrant dialogue.”

Merlin first heard about Tilly in her 20s while in a production of Frank Wedekind’s “Lulu.” The real Tilly had published a book about her experiences as an actress for her husband, which — as it was written in German — Merlin spent 10 years translating by hand. As she learned more about Tilly, Merlin found she related to her deeply.

“I kind of love her,” Merlin said. “I think I'm a bit in love with her. As I was translating it, I was getting more and more into her mind, into her emotions, into her romances, and her family life. And I felt a certain responsibility at the end to honor and respect her. We were also invited to South Korea, and we had a question and answer afterwards; and on both occasions, daring to share my connection to Tilly's story ignited a freedom in people to start to share their stories, and it was very humbling, very moving, and very empowering.”

“Tilly No-Body” will be performed at the UC Riverside Studio Theatre on Friday, March 6th at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 7th at 2 p.m.

FEATURED PHOTO. Bella Merlin, dressed in a red coat, strikes a strong pose in a scene in "Tilly No-Body".

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production

UC Riverside sweethearts return to campus for Homecoming

kelvin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 06:51:38 +0000

UC Riverside sweethearts return to campus for Homecoming kelvin Fri, 02/27/2026 - 22:51 More Press Releases By Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications February 27, 2026

Patrick Allen ‘97 and Ayliz Allen ‘97, undergraduate students in business and business administration respectively, first met in a marketing class at UCR. As of now, they have been married for 14 years.

“ We sat next to each other in discussion, and we became friends and started dating,” Patrick said.

“We kept in touch and eventually got married and have two beautiful boys,” Ayliz added.

Though almost 20 years into their marriage, the two were not initially able to be together physically. Each was pursuing a graduate degree, and while Ayliz stayed in Riverside, Patrick had to move to San Diego.

“ Email was pretty new, so we were still writing letters at the beginning,” Ayliz said. “ I went on to a graduate degree and he went on to get his master's in accounting from San Diego State. So we just kept in touch, and then we finally decided to take the next step.”

FEATURED PHOTO. A young Patrick and Ayliz Allen during their undergraduate years at UCR.

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UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Launches Dean’s Research Impact Initiative

kelvin — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:56:17 +0000

UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Launches Dean’s Research Impact Initiative kelvin Fri, 02/06/2026 - 11:56 More Press Releases February 06, 2026

RIVERSIDE, CA — Dean Daryle Williams and the University of California, Riverside (UCR) College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS) are proud to announce the launch of the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative. This strategic program is designed to catalyze high-impact scholarship and creative activity during the Winter and Spring 2026 terms, serving as a springboard for a robust, expanded research ecosystem in the 2026-27 academic year and beyond.

As part of this initiative, Dean Williams has awarded five Dean’s Research Impact Initiative seed grants. Drawing from unspent endowment funds, each grant of $10,000 to $15,000 provides CHASS Senate faculty with the critical early-stage accelerator grants needed to pilot innovative projects, foster interdisciplinary partnerships, and position CHASS at the forefront of research at the University of California and across the Association of American Universities.

2026 Dean’s Research Impact Initiative Seed Grant Recipients

The following faculty members have been selected for their potential to drive meaningful change through their respective disciplines:

Claudia Holguín Mendoza, Associate Professor, Department of Hispanic Studies
Christophe Katrib, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production
Juliette Levy, Associate Professor, Department of History
Kēhaulani Vaughn, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies
Rachel Wu, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

All seed funds must be spent by September 1, 2026, on the expectation that each grantee will be well-positioned to seek additional external funding in the coming academic year. In partnership with the Graduate Division, each grantee will also be able to seek additional one-time summer funding for graduate student research support.

“These seed grants represent more than just financial support; they go beyond accelerating Chancellor Hu’s focus on our research enterprise, “ Dean Williams said. “Each grant makes concrete the enduring truth that the humanities, arts, and social sciences are pillars of the modern research university. CHASS is an engine of discovery and development at UCR."

“By supporting these five scholars today, we are setting the stage for CHASS to lead the way in interdisciplinary excellence and research with public visibility and social impact. These efforts ensure that the momentum generated by Professors Holguín Mendoza, Katrib, Levy, Vaughn, and Wu — and our outstanding undergraduate and graduate students — will evolve into a permanent, well-supported infrastructure for excellence, now and into a bright future.”

Cultivating the Research Pipeline: Incentivizing Student Excellence

The Dean’s Research Impact Initiative extends beyond faculty support to include our student scholars. In a collaborative effort with the UCR Graduate Division and the Division of Undergraduate Education, CHASS is introducing new incentives to celebrate and reward student research:

Undergraduate Excellence Prizes: CHASS will award three cash prizes to top CHASS undergraduates at UCR’s Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Symposium, April 20-24, 2026. Awards of $500 will be presented to CHASS undergraduate majors for Best Oral Presentation, Best Poster Presentation, and Best Creative Arts Presentation. These awards will highlight exceptional achievements and further encourage student engagement in research and creative activity within CHASS. Award recipients will be selected based on feedback from presentation evaluations. Honorees will be formally recognized at a Symposium Celebration Luncheon in early May.
CHASS Grad Slam Award: The top CHASS graduate student at Grad Slam 2026 will receive a cash prize, recognizing excellence in the “three-minute thesis” competition and public speaking. Campus finals are scheduled for April 10, to be held before a panel of judges, university leaders, and a live audience. The campus winner will go on to represent UCR at the UC-wide Grad Slam Finals in Sacramento on April 22, 2026.

By integrating these student milestones into the initiative, CHASS is building a comprehensive "pipeline" that connects undergraduate and graduate student exploration with advanced faculty research.

"In 2026, UCR and the Division of Undergraduate Education is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the signature Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Symposium held every spring on campus,” said Louie F. Rodriguez, Vice Provost and Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education. “We are excited about this partnership with CHASS, which will allow us to expand the celebration of student research, a known high-impact practice associated with student success."

Aligning with Chancellor S. Jack Hu’s Vision for Research

The Dean’s Research Impact Initiative is a direct response to the campus-wide research goals established by Chancellor S. Jack Hu and Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development Rodolfo Torres.

By providing these five seed grants, CHASS is actively implementing the Chancellor’s three core research pillars of Strategically Aligning Seed Funding, Diversifying the Funding Ecosystem, and Enabling High-Impact Research.

“Graduate education is fundamentally research education, and the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative is exactly the kind of strategic investment that accelerates discovery while strengthening the training environment for students,” said Lidia Kos, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies.

“By pairing faculty seed grants with targeted graduate student research support, CHASS is building a model for how campuses can expand scholarly impact while developing the next generation of researchers, thinkers, artists, and public intellectuals. The Graduate Division is proud to partner with CHASS in advancing student success through meaningful research opportunities and mentorship.”

Looking Ahead: AY 2026-27

While the current Winter and Spring terms focus on seeding these five research projects, the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative is just the beginning. CHASS is exploring future opportunities with the Office of Research and Economic Development to accelerate large-scale projects and identify new corporate and foundation partnerships.

“The Dean’s Research Impact Initiative reflects exactly the kind of strategic, forward-looking investment that strengthens UCR’s research and innovation enterprise,” said Rodolfo Torres, Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development. “RED looks forward to further partnering with CHASS on joint funding programs that help faculty build momentum, attract external support, and expand research and creative activities opportunities for scholars and students across the humanities, arts, and social sciences."

About the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS): CHASS is the largest college at the University of California, Riverside. CHASS is home to three Pulitzer Prize winners, two U.S. Poet Laureates, over 11,000 students, 600 faculty members, and more than 20 departments and programs, fostering a diverse interdisciplinary environment where critical thinking, innovation, and social responsibility thrive. Through initiatives like the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative, the College continues to redefine the role of the humanities, arts, and social sciences in the 21st century at one of the world’s premier R1 research universities. Learn more at chass.ucr.edu

FEATURED PHOTO. CHASS Dean Daryle Williams announces plans for the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative during the 2025 CHASS State of the College, held at UC Riverside’s Barn restaurant on November 5, 2025. Photo by Lyndsey Rankin, CHASS Marketing and Communications.

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Christophe Katrib receives CHASS Teaching Award, two fellowships

kelvin — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:08:20 +0000

Christophe Katrib receives CHASS Teaching Award, two fellowships kelvin Tue, 10/21/2025 - 17:08 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications October 21, 2025

Christophe Katrib, assistant professor of teaching in Theatre, Film, and Digital Production, is one of two recipients of the 2024-25 CHASS Teaching Award. The award recognizes outstanding teaching achievements and honors faculty members for their exceptional teaching quality and their ability to positively influence, motivate, and inspire students, often through innovative techniques, effective assessment, or creative curriculum development. Candidates are nominated first, and then a subcommittee from the CHASS Faculty Executive Committee carefully reviews the files to select the awardee(s).

In addition to this honor, Katrib also received two fellowships: the Regents' Faculty Fellowship and the Center for Ideas and Society (CIS) Quarterly Faculty Fellowship. The former recognized Katrib’s efforts to establish more resources in analog film for UC Riverside students. His proposal for the fellowship included attending several professional development workshops in New York, which allowed him to develop new skills to share with students at UCR.

Katrib applied for the CIS Quarterly Faculty Fellowship to support his presentation at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) conference in Washington D.C. in November. The fellowship will provide Katrib with some funding and a course release to grant him time to research and prepare his panel discussion.

“Getting an award is very validating,” Katrib said. “A lot of our time as faculty members is spent working hard, and juggling multiple things at the same time, very often in the shadows. So the recognition of these awards — it kind of recharges you, and it reminds you you're doing something right. It motivates me to push more boundaries and create more opportunities and inspiring work, whether it's with my students or in my own creative practice.”

Katrib has also been recognized for his most recent short film, “This Dissonance,” which has been selected for screening and has been nominated at several film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. More information about this can be found here.

FEATURED PHOTO. Professor Christophe Katrib sits with his coffee. Photo by Meg Rorison.

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Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production

TFDP professor’s short film screens around country, awarded at UFVA conference

kelvin — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 23:37:36 +0000

TFDP professor’s short film screens around country, awarded at UFVA conference kelvin Tue, 10/21/2025 - 16:37 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications October 21, 2025

Theatre, Film, and Digital Production assistant professor of teaching Christophe Katrib has seen recent success for his work on his short film, “This Dissonance.” Its list of recent honors are as follows:

The film was awarded Best Experimental Award at the University Film and Video Association (UFVA) conference in July, but also acquired a list of further accomplishments. It was chosen out of 3700 submissions from 125 countries to be part of the over 130-film Official Selection of the New Orleans Film Festival, which will be held in October.
It was nominated for the Best Documentary Short award at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, Canada in May.
It was selected to screen in the ULTRAcinema Film Festival in Mexico in October and the Colorado Diasporic Film Festival at the end of August.

Katrib will be traveling to attend both the New Orleans and Colorado festivals. He has also been elected as a board member at large for the UFVA after only two years of membership.

“My film is kind of a poetic, experimental approach to documentary,” Katrib said. “So you can consider it a documentary film, but you can also consider it an experimental film. And it’s interesting because it’s been nominated for both of these classifications in different festivals.”

The film focuses on the tragedies the Palestinian and Lebanese people face, to whom Katrib has familial connection. The logline, or a brief summary of the film, reads, “American landscapes roll ominously while Palestinian and Lebanese voices permeate with poetry, hope, and pain.”

“I've been having great difficulty functioning, and I am not able to pretend like everything is normal,” Katrib said. “So I've been wanting to do something about that to not just witness and suffer and mourn, but to also use my voice, use my skills to do something about that.”

In August of 2024, while he was in New York, Katrib saw a call for film submissions by Mono No Aware, an analog film non-profit, which he felt was an opportunity to create something to release the mounting angst he had been feeling. With a deadline of October 31, Katrib only had about three months to work on the film. As such, he utilized footage that he had already filmed.

“I had been shooting a lot of film in those years, and also before,” Katrib said. “So, I started working with that footage, which ranged from recent to almost 10 years old. I started editing, and I made the visuals first. I was thinking about the sound as well, and I wanted to represent that idea of dissonance, which is what I was feeling living in a place that normalizes atrocity while watching it happen. So I wanted to create the sound separately to underline that dichotomy.”

Katrib created his soundtrack with audio from social media posts as well as recordings of his own music and ambient noises he made on his phone. The film was ultimately selected, and premiered at the Mono No Aware Cinema Arts Festival in December of 2024 as an “expanded cinema performance.”

“It starts in the dark,” Katrib said. “It starts with the sound of Israeli drones, and I perform a poem that I wrote, in the dark, with the sound of Israeli drones. Then the film starts, overlapping with the drones and the end of the poem. Toward the end of the film there's a second projector that's triggered and a woman comes up to the stage, and you see her shadow on the screen, and she plays the violin. She plays the very traditional scales that are from that part of the world — from Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria — improvised. And then another woman comes from the other side, and you also see her shadow on the screen and she recites a poem she wrote about the connection between Lebanon and Palestine and what's happening.”

The film was shot using a Bolex brand 16mm film camera. Katrib enjoys the physicality and the preciousness of film, as well as the consideration it requires. He believes that there are many things that students can learn from shooting with analog film.

“You can almost touch it,” Katrib said. “You can hear it, and you can touch it. The visual aesthetic of that image, how it flickers differently on the screen, the transitions between the shots in the camera, all the things that are part of it. For students, I think it can teach them to be more disciplined and more confident, more intentional, and to also prepare better. To be more focused and to care for every frame they shoot.”

This film represents a culmination of Katrib’s work, and a bridge between his creative practice and his pedagogy. He has given several workshops on the subject of analog film in the past, and has been applying to grants and fellowships to build it as a subject at UC Riverside to offer students new skills and possibilities.

Update: On November 7, Katrib won the Best Documentary Short award at the Beirut Shorts International Film Festival. This is an Academy Awards qualifying festival and category, making the film now eligible to be submitted for consideration for the 2027 Academy Awards.

FEATURED PHOTO. Professor Christophe Katrib shoots with his Bolex film camera. Photo by Nathan Baglyos.

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production

Eleventh-annual Smartphone Film Festival demonstrates possibilities of filmmaking

kelvin — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:05:44 +0000

Eleventh-annual Smartphone Film Festival demonstrates possibilities of filmmaking kelvin Fri, 04/04/2025 - 17:05 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications April 04, 2025

For 11 years, UC Riverside’s Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production has supported student filmmakers. On Jan. 15, the 2025 Smartphone Film Festival invited students to submit an original film that was recorded entirely on a smartphone. Taking place in INTS 1128 on Feb. 5, the screening of this year’s films, as well as a vote, Q&A session, and award ceremony, were held. Professor Stu Krieger, a faculty sponsor of the event, has been supporting the festival — and its students — for many years and has witnessed the success of many student films.

“These films just had their premieres at the festival a few weeks ago, so regarding where they go from here, we'll just have to wait and see,” Krieger said. “In past years, some of the films have gone on to be shown at film festivals around the country.”

At its core, the festival serves students as a learning opportunity. Festival Director Kori Chaney, a second-year graduate student in screenwriting, believes that the festival gives students the chance to learn about the rapidly changing industry. She says that filming on a phone gives students a sense of freedom and creativity that is not possible on a traditional camera. Smartphone films have also begun to gain traction professionally.

“It's very useful to know how to film on the phone,” Chaney said. “A few major films right now were filmed on phones. So seeing people do that was, you know, it's relevant.”

The film festival has had great success in its 11 years, with participating students going on to achieve great success in the industry. Nate Hochstetler Ford, the student who founded the festival, has worked as a professional cinematographer for the past seven years, including travel pieces for “National Geographic.” According to Krieger, the important thing to know about filmmaking is that you have to continue to perfect your craft.

“If you want to be a filmmaker, make films,” Krieger said. “TV Series are getting bought; shows are moving from YouTube to HBO because people are producing work — getting it out to the world via social media and other channels and careers are being made. Plus, every time you create work, you're learning, growing, and hopefully getting better to prepare yourself for your next project.”

This year’s Smartphone Film Festival was Krieger’s last year as a faculty sponsor. Assistant Professor of Teaching Christophe Katrib will replace him for future festivals. Students interested in participating in the festival must wait for applications to open in the fall or winter quarter of this coming academic year.

FEATURED PHOTO. The directors of the nominated films sit for a Q&A session.

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Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production

UCR’s Denver Graninger takes on new role in Athens

kelvin — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 13:57:13 +0000

UCR’s Denver Graninger takes on new role in Athens kelvin Tue, 01/07/2025 - 05:57 More Press Releases Alejandra Prado, Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications January 07, 2025

Denver Graninger, associate professor of history at UC Riverside, is visiting one of Greece’s most prestigious institutions of classics, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Archaeology. Graninger, who started his three-year appointment in July 2024, directs the School’s Regular Member program, which provides an intensive, academic year-length introduction to ancient Greek topography, monuments, and culture for student members pursuing doctorates in classics, archaeology, ancient history, and related fields in graduate programs in the United States and Canada. Admission with fellowship is competitive and applicants regularly come from leading programs."

The core practice of the Regular Program is an autopsy of the topography and monuments of the ancient Greek world. Students visits the vast majority of archaeological sites and museums on the Greek mainland in extended 10 to 12-day trips over the fall. The winter is focused on Athens and Attica, with three days a week on-site and in museums in the city and surrounding countryside. Spring is less structured and gives students the chance to advance their dissertation projects. While Prehistory to Late Antiquity is privileged in the curriculum, there is engagement with later periods of Greek history.

“My appreciation for the quality of the organization and its outsize impact has deepened over the years,” Graninger said. “It is humbling and beautiful to be able to return now in this role.”

Graninger’s three-year term as Andrew W. Mellon Professor (with the potential for one renewal) will run from 2024 through 2027, after which he will resume his role as associate professor of history at UCR.

Graninger’s close ties with the school span more than two decades, beginning in 2002 when he attended as a Regular Member and Michael Jameson fellow. “My time at the School has changed who I am as a scholar — after nine months here as a graduate student, I was never able to look at anything in the ancient Greek world in the same way.”

Graninger returned to the ASCSA in 2009 as Rhys Carpenter Faculty Fellow, focusing on research and teaching throughout the academic year and, in the summer of 2016, as the Gertrude Smith Professor and organizer of a six-week summer program. In 2013, Graninger became a member of the School’s Managing Committee, serving on Admissions and Fellowships and, most recently, on the Executive Committee from 2021 through 2024.

According to Graninger, the School has shaped his career and approach to research, teaching, and collaboration with colleagues.

“I was motivated to apply because it has always seemed like the best possible teaching and research environment for me,” he said. Graninger submitted his application in February 2023, and the Managing Committee approved his appointment as the new Mellon Professor in spring and summer 2023.

Graninger joined the Department of History at UCR as an assistant professor in 2012, teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

“Working in a history department has helped me to be more open to seeing how my research connects with that of my colleagues, who are working within different chronological and geographical ranges. It is a stimulating setting and I have learned so much from them,” he said. “All of that has, in turn, made me a better scholar and teacher.”

At UCR, Graninger also became involved in different areas of the university, serving as a member of the faculty advisory board for UCR’s Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities Symposium and as a member and chair of the UCR and UC-wide Senate Committees for International Education which oversees study-abroad programs, foreign exchange programs, and international research to serve UC students.

“My work in the Senate on the IE side has been similarly horizon-broadening and helped me to appreciate further both how transformative international education is for students and how policy and politics prepare the ground for those types of experiences,” he said.

At UCR, Graninger also organized study abroad programs in Athens, providing a platform for students to cultivate international collaboration and learning. “Many of my UCR students had not spent a whole lot of time outside of Southern California, but coming to Athens and living here for a month changed them in a profound way, and gave them the confidence to explore further,” Graninger said.

Prior to joining UCR, Graninger was Professor and Director of the American Research Center in Sofia (ARCS), Bulgaria, from 2010 to 2012, where he contributed to the expansion of its academic program and educational trips through course development, archaeological field school launches, which included collaboration and mentorship of graduate fellows who studied a wide range of disciplines. Graninger’s time at ARCS was an invaluable experience that has influenced his new role.

“I really learned to be a generalist, to invest time in our fellows and point them to local resources, and to engage them as scholars and support them as people,” he said. “I draw on that experience every day in Athens.”

As the new Mellon Professor, Graninger intends to expand ASCSA’s Regular Program in three areas: a local context focused on research within the school; a peer-driven one that invites collaboration and connection with international archaeological students in Athens as well as graduate students from various Greek universities; and a context intended to expand professional development for students.

“I aim to be open-minded, embracing what is traditional in the program, but am also ready to try something new and to make the program meet the professional needs of our students, which are in the midst of a significant shift,” he said.

During his term, Graninger also looks forward to continuing his current book project, a social history of Larisa, Greece, from the fifth century BCE to the second century CE, testing new research methods, and studying inscriptions and sites more closely.

“I want to do the job well, to support our students, and help them to advance their research and to spark among them a deeper love for Greece in all of its complexity. There is enormous professional satisfaction in that,” Graninger said. “And I have so, so much to learn from the students, who are bright, motivated, and intellectually diverse, and from Greece.”

Students are led by Denver Graninger on a hiking trip in Sphakteria, an island off the southwest coast of the Peloponnese, Greece, where a battle occurred in 425 BCE during the Peloponnesian War.

FEATURED PHOTO. Denver Graninger and students discussing the history of Palaios Platanos, an abandoned village in east Thessaly, Greece.

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Anthropology Ph.D. candidate awarded a $22,000 dissertation fieldwork grant

kelvin — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:51:50 +0000

Anthropology Ph.D. candidate awarded a $22,000 dissertation fieldwork grant kelvin Tue, 11/12/2024 - 19:51 More Press Releases Alejandra Prado, Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications November 12, 2024

UC Riverside doctoral student Juan Chavez is making strides in biological anthropology through his field research in the Bolivian Andes. As a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate, Chavez was recently awarded a $22,000 Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant to advance his study of the Mojocoya networks.

“Receiving a Wenner-Gren grant is highly significant for me because it confirms that my work is good enough to be supported and indicates that my scholarship offers some insights to further anthropology from a new perspective,” Chavez said.

According to its grants and fellowships website, the Wenner-Gren grant is considered one of the most competitive grants in anthropology. It funds doctoral or thesis research that advances anthropological knowledge and has a maximum award amount of $25,000.

Motivated by the significance of the grant application, Chavez designed his project to relay the equal importance of the study of archeological materials and making a positive impact on indigenous communities by including transdisciplinary research. According to Chavez, he was also encouraged by his professors at UCR to apply for the grant for the opportunity to gain experience in research design, planning, implementation, and reporting.

The Wenner-Gren grant will support Chavez in adding data to a database he previously created and fieldwork. The grant will also aid his analysis of archaeological samples taken from his upcoming trip to the Bolivian Andes in 2025.

“This is significant because this type of data is minimal in the Bolivian Andes and will contribute to nuanced reconstructions of social dynamics in early pre-Columbian societies,” he said.

Chavez’s dissertation project, titled “A Bioarchaeological Study of Mojocoya Networks in the Eastern Slopes of the Bolivian Andes (AD 600-1100),” explores the pre-Columbian network changes of the Mojocoya, a small-scale Bolivian Andes society, through the study of cultural and skeletal artifacts from mortuary caves. His research utilizes a culturally respectful methodology, focusing on indigenous views of the dead to guide data collection and documentation.

“The results will provide new evidence to reconstruct Mojocoya networks while discussing identity, kinship, and migration in an understudied region,” Chavez said. “This is important because my study of networks in the pre-Columbian Andes will provide a case study of non-state societies working as strategic network-building organizations in South American and world prehistory.”

Chavez's commitment to his research stems from his personal and cultural responsibility as a member of the Aymara, an indigenous group native to the Andes in South America. He seeks to continue reconstructing and sharing indigenous ancestral stories in today’s world.

“I have been doing this for more than a decade in collaboration with American and Bolivian scholars in the Andes, Amazonia, and Gran Chaco regions of Bolivia,” he said.

As he continues his research, Chavez faces one challenge in navigating between bioarchaeology methodologies and indigenous knowledge, specifically within the perception and treatment of archaeological human remains. “I am the first indigenous bioarchaeologist from Bolivia and often find myself in the middle of ethical and methodological debates on the nature of human bodies as either artifacts or people,” he said.

With the support of the Wenner-Gren grant, Chavez plans to refine his methods in data collection, analysis, and management to place these remains within their social contexts, he said. By doing so, Chavez hopes to develop a culturally respectful methodology.

For Chavez, completing his dissertation is only the first step in his career in bioarchaeology research at an R1 university, a Carnegie classification given to UCR for its high priority in supporting and conducting research. Chavez’s dissertation is also the starting point for a new long-term, multi-site research project, “Proyecto Arqueológico Redes y Migración en los Andes de Bolivia (PARMAB),” in which he aims to understand the community formation, local organization, and more of past social groups in the Eastern Slopes of the Bolivian Andes.

“I will continue working in the Andes, my ancestral homeland, and collaborate with indigenous communities to develop alternative strategies for improving their lives while uncovering our ancestors' stories,” he said.

FEATURED PHOTO. Juan Chavez (pictured right) with Palajla Baja indigenous community members in front of a mortuary cave.

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Department of Anthropology

CHASS professors close year-long Distinguished Lecture Series in Shanghai

kelvin — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:38:03 +0000

CHASS professors close year-long Distinguished Lecture Series in Shanghai kelvin Tue, 11/12/2024 - 19:38 More Press Releases Alejandra Prado, Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications November 12, 2024

UC Riverside’s Jeanette Kohl, associate professor of art history, concluded the 2023-24 World Art History Institute’s (WAI) Distinguished Lecture Series on Renaissance Art and Culture during a September trip to China. As a distinguished visiting professor, Kohl delivered the closing lecture at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), following a series of presentations and a two-day workshop that explored new perspectives of art history and culture during a two-week visit spanning three cities.

“It was a particular honor to give the closing lecture for a year-long series with such esteemed international scholars,” Kohl said. Kohl, who also serves as co-director for UCR’s Center for Ideas and Society (CIS), was invited by Chinese art historian LaoZhu, the founder of WAI.

This year’s series, “Dialogues with Distinguished Scholars of World Art History,” brought together 12 experts in European Renaissance art from the U.S. and Europe for monthly lectures to foster dialogue between Eastern and Western perspectives on art history. Kohl was also accompanied by her husband and UCR colleague, Johannes Endres, professor of art history and comparative literature, who also delivered a keynote and co-led a workshop with Kohl at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA) in Shenyang, China.

Closing the lecture series, Kohl presented her keynote lecture, “A Murder, a Mummy, and a Bust – Forensics of a Renaissance Portrait Sculpture,” at SISU. The lecture highlighted Kohl’s approach to Renaissance art, using the bust of Simon of Trent – an object closely linked to anti-Semitic persecution during the late 15th century – as an example.

“I presented new conservatory and iconographic evidence for the object as a key work in the ferocious, anti-Semitic propaganda around the Trent blood libel of 1475,” she said. “The unusual object is a particularly suited object to talk about the role of visual and conservatory observation, knowledge of historical contexts, and questions of methodology in Renaissance art history.”

Prior to her lecture at SISU, Kohl also spoke at the School of Arts at Peking University in Beijing, the third-ranked university in China, in a hybrid presentation with both in-person and virtual audiences. Kohl’s lecture, “Thinking with Busts: Rembrandt’s Aristotle with the Bust of Homer,” amassed a virtual attendance of 12,000 viewers on Zoom.

“This lecture was a unique experience and left a big impression on me,” she said. “Probably the largest audience I will ever reach with a single presentation.”

Kohl’s lecture at Peking University was based on the last chapter of her latest book, “The Life of Bust,” currently in press with Brepols Publishers.

“I spoke about the artistic and ‘phenomenological’ significance of sculpted portraits as a key medium of remembrance that touches humans in unique intellectual and sensory ways,” she said, examining Rembrandt’s famous painting depicting Aristotle as he contemplates a bust of Homer.

Kohl and Endres engaged with 16 students who presented their papers on Western art traditions in a two-day, “student-centered” workshop at the LAFA. Proposed by Endres, the workshop’s topic, “The Concept of Style: Epistemologies in Art and Science,” is closely related to his research on 19th-century European art and literature.

“The workshop was a great success,” Endres said. “I was thrilled to see how interested our hosts and their students were in our research, and especially in the Western disciplinary methodologies of our common field of art history.”

“I was positively surprised by the students’ open-mindedness, excellent preparation of their papers, their dedication to their topics, and the huge interest in European academic traditions – quite different from the U.S.,” Kohl said. “There was a completely open intellectual exchange, both with colleagues and students, about what is going well and what is going not so well on U.S. campuses and in China.”

For Kohl and Endres, the workshop was eye-opening in the differences between academia in the U.S. and China, even down to student approaches to resources used for study. Both were impressed by the students’ dedication to understanding foreign texts and their proficiency in various languages.

“Interest in primary textual and visual sources is strong, and we were absolutely taken with the tremendous generosity and hospitality in all three locations, but especially in Shenyang,” Kohl said.

“Their enthusiasm for learning from us was contagious and amazed my wife and me wherever we went on our trip and whatever we did and saw,” Endres said. “In return, they brought us into their country and their academic lives and took us on exciting excursions into the great history of their art and culture.”

At the LAFA workshop, Endres was also invited to speak in a keynote address on “Style in an Interdisciplinary Perspective,” aimed at exploring the evolution of style as a concept across art, science, and other fields. Endres, who has researched the concept of “style” at length, has traced how style has grown from a term used in art and literary criticism about the cultural shaping of work to a broader intellectual framework on discourse in reasoning in different disciplines.

“In my talk, I was therefore interested in exploring new ways of looking at the relationships between cultural and scientific knowledge formations and their disciplinary production in different fields and objects, such as works of art, literary texts, music, and scientific epistemologies,” he said.

Speaking and co-leading the workshop at LAFA left Endres with new perspectives and questions for his research. “I learned a great deal from their questions and presentations and from their different cultural backgrounds, as they shared a common interest in questions of style and form in art,” he said.

“There is much to be gained, not least on the academic level, from meeting each other at eye level and cultivating an interest in our respective histories and values,” he said.

For Endres and Kohl, it was also an opportunity to represent UCR, as both members of the University of California and scholars of European art and culture.

“Visits and conversations like these are invaluable,” Kohl said. “We need to leave our own academic and national bubbles and actually talk to colleagues in other cultures, connect with their traditions, respect them, and bring an open mind to learn from them and their histories.”

According to Kohl, their two weeks in China were not merely an academic visit but a full cultural immersion. Outside of lectures and presentations, the visit offered Kohl and Endres opportunities to explore local cuisine, museums, and historic sites with tour guides by their side.

“It is such a modern and forward-pushing society, in many ways, and the state of digitization, the cutting-edge technology, and the pride of their own long cultural traditions was palpable everywhere,” Kohl said.

Following their trip, Kohl is motivated to continue working with her colleagues in China by collaborating with them on her new project, “Global Faces,” which examines the various styles of portraiture across cultures during the Renaissance period.

Kohl and Endres hope their visit will strengthen much-needed international academic ties for students and colleagues.

“This is so important,” she said. “If you go places, you learn to understand people in those places, how and why they think differently, act differently, and have different expectations.”

She hopes UCR will welcome more international scholars from across the world.

With funding support from Marko Princevak, UCR’s Vice Provost for International Affairs, UCR recently launched CIS’s first Visiting International Scholars program, which Kohl sees as a promising beginning.

“We are bringing in a Finnish media archaeologist, Jussi Parikka, who has a large international following – a real star in his field,” Kohl said. Parikka will lead a workshop for students and participate in a day-long symposium titled “Operativity and Digital Capture” at UCR Arts in January 2025, an event she hopes will be the first of the series fostering global academic exchange at UCR.

“So – stay tuned,” she said. “There is more to come!”

Jeanette Kohl delivering the closing lecture of the Distinguished Lecture Series at Shanghai International Studies University.

Johannes Endres during his keynote address at LAFA.

FEATURED PHOTO. Johannes Endres and Jeanette Kohl at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA) workshop.

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UCR Center for Ideas and Society

CHASS students lead on-campus sustainability efforts as Bonnie Reiss Fellows

kelvin — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 23:23:49 +0000

CHASS students lead on-campus sustainability efforts as Bonnie Reiss Fellows kelvin Tue, 10/08/2024 - 16:23 More Press Releases Alejandra Prado, Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications October 08, 2024

UC Riverside’s Bonnie Reiss Leading on Climate fellows are making strides in sustainability, with two CHASS undergraduate students at the forefront of efforts to reduce food waste, engage students, and influence university climate policies. Funded by the UC President’s Global Climate Leadership Council, the fellowship program supports student projects on advancing climate action and sustainable agricultural practices, according to the UC Office of the President’s website.

The UCR Leading on Climate fellowships are administered by the Department of Society, Environment, and Health Equity within CHASS. Fellows receive a $5,000 stipend and mentorship from UCR staff to guide their initiatives and measure impact in areas such as planning, decarbonization, sustainable food and agriculture, and student engagement.

Meet the CHASS Leading on Climate Fellows

Victoria Podakova - Climate Action Student Engagement Fellow

As a third-year political science student, one of Victoria Podakova’s main passions is environmental advocacy. Podakova was motivated to pursue the fellowship opportunity because of her experience as an outreach director at Sustainable UCR, a student-led organization focusing on on-campus sustainability initiatives, and her role as a marketing director at Green Campus Action Plan (GCAP), an undergraduate student committee aiming to educate UCR students about sustainable practices.

“I am extremely dedicated to advocating for environmental sustainability and spreading information on campus about various opportunities we have to contribute to the cause,” Podakova said.

As a Climate Action Student Engagement Fellow, Podakova will engage students and build community awareness of UCR's climate action goals while collaborating with the Office of Sustainability, GCAP, and Sustainable UCR. In addition to the $5000 stipend, Podakova received a $1000 programming budget to conduct her work.

“I feel incredibly grateful to receive this opportunity, and the recognition for my impact on campus for environmental sustainability awareness,” she said. “My main goals are spreading awareness and creating connections between clubs and students on campus on issues of climate action and environmental sustainability.”

Podakova intends to utilize her experience from campus organizations to develop awareness surrounding UCR’s climate action goals. She will also use funding to host events on campus to vocalize sustainability efforts, practices, and ideas.

“I plan to educate students on environmental decisions and changes we can all make in our daily lives that are more sustainable alternatives,” she said. Activities and events include thrift markets that help students declutter and repurpose items from their homes.

Podakova anticipates a few roadblocks in spreading sustainability awareness during her time as a fellow. One main challenge includes engaging students who may not initially be interested in learning about UCR’s climate action goals, according to Podakova. To overcome this, she plans to make sustainability relatable by drawing on her personal experiences.

“I began to be interested in sustainable practices through a Parson Paris fashion program… [which] challenged students to research the history of the fashion industry and how it has impacted our environment,” Podakova said. “I learned about what sustainability is and how I can incorporate it into my life to help sustain our environment and the planet.”

“I hope I learn more about how students feel about environmental sustainability, and how I can help them find a personal connection to the cause to help make a difference,” she said.

Looking ahead, Podakova aims to continue fostering engagement in climate action and sustainability at a larger scale.

“My long-term goal is to go into policy making for environmental sustainability,” she said. “This fellowship will help grant me the support and opportunities I need to succeed post-graduation.”

Danielle Ma - Sustainable Food and Agriculture Fellow

Danielle Ma, a third-year student majoring in political science, is dedicated to tackling food sustainability and reducing waste, an interest sparked by taking sustainability courses at UCR. Returning from a summer volunteering at climate activist organizations, becoming a Leading on Climate fellow aligns with Ma’s interest in the fight against climate change.

“I’m super grateful for this opportunity,” Ma said. “I’m looking forward to working with everyone this year.”

As a Sustainable Food and Agriculture fellow, Ma’s work consists of reducing food waste on campus and engaging with the UCR community on sustainable food practices and their environmental benefits.

Ma will also support the expansion of the UCR Food Recovery Network (FRN), an initiative that collects and redistributes surplus foods on campus while collaborating with the Basic Needs Department and UCR Dining Services.

“My overall goal is to prevent food waste through increasing the productivity of food surplus collection and redistribution on campus,” Ma said. “I’m hoping to utilize FRN’s strategies to redirect this potential waste into meals that could be given to students instead through Basic Needs.”

“My current plan is to turn the UCR FRN chapter into a student organization,” Ma said. As a club, the FRN chapter will be easily accessible to students and result in more engagement and involvement through new student positions and events such as tablings. According to Ma, expanding the chapter will lead to more efficient food waste reduction and redistribution.

“What I ultimately want is to create a long-lasting food waste reduction effort that extends past this fellowship,” she said.

Ma is also motivated to continue her experience in climate action by working with similar organizations following graduation. Ma aspires to work as a policy advisor or analyst in the public sector, conducting research related to environmental justice. She also hopes to eventually contribute to non-governmental organizations through research, helping address climate issues at a grassroots level.

For more information about the fellowship, please visit the UCOP Leading on Climate website.

FEATURED PHOTO. Left to right: Victoria Podakova and Danielle Ma.

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Department of Society, Environment, and Health Equity