College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

CHASS students progress to Grad Slam Semi-Finals

kelvin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:24:38 +0000

CHASS students progress to Grad Slam Semi-Finals kelvin Tue, 04/07/2026 - 00:24 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications April 07, 2026

On March 12, from 1 to 3 p.m., five students from CHASS, the School of Business, and the School of Public Policy came together for the semi-final competition for UC Riverside’s Grad Slam. students gave speeches on their pre-determined topics before a panel of judges. Only four were selected to move forward in the final competition, which will be held on Friday, April 10.

Grad Slam is a UC-wide competition challenging students to develop their public speaking and presentation-giving skills on a specific research project within 3 minutes, with only 1 slide to help. At the UCR level, contestants can win $5,000, with the award increasing to $7,000 at the UC-wide competition. However, the skills that each participant gains go beyond winning or losing.

“Grad Slam has fundamentally shifted how I think about my role as a researcher,” said Jasvir Rabban M.B.E, PhD student in religious studies, “It’s not enough to produce knowledge, we have a responsibility to make it accessible, felt, and impactful. My work sits at the intersection of Sikh studies, (sacred) music, neuroscience and (trauma) healing and this experience has pushed me to distill complex, interdisciplinary ideas into something that can truly reach people. That shift from knowledge production to knowledge translation has been one of the most valuable parts of my education.”

Koto Katayama, a second-year screenwriter in the MBA program, said that participating has helped her to break out of her shell and build upon her skillset.

“I was a TA for the public speaking class last year, and now to be doing this, it makes a lot of sense to me that the things that I learned in that class are becoming useful,” Katayama said. “Actually doing a speech is very different, but I think it was really nice to get feedback from the staff in CHASS and improve each time.”

While public speaking can often feel difficult or uncomfortable, it is a common skill needed in the professional world; any job that requires interacting with the public or presenting their work to others needs that skill. Getting prepared for that as a student, however, can sometimes be difficult. Rabban thinks that a similar program for undergraduate students could help to build their confidence and get them used to public speaking.

“I would go further to say it’s necessary,” Rabban said. “Developing the ability to articulate your ideas early on changes how you engage with your education entirely. It builds confidence, ownership, and a sense that your voice has value. Creating that foundation at the undergraduate level would be transformative for how students see themselves as thinkers and leaders.”

Both Katayama and Rabban will be representing CHASS at the final competition, as well as creative writing student Muna Crescent Chahfe and ethnic studies student Jenni Martinez.

FEATURED PHOTO. Speaker Koto Katayama resolutely addresses the crowd.

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of Creative Writing

Department of Ethnic Studies

Undergraduate art history students take trip to Chicago conference

kelvin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:13:21 +0000

Undergraduate art history students take trip to Chicago conference kelvin Tue, 04/07/2026 - 00:13 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications April 07, 2026

From February 18-21, the College Art Association (CAA) held its 114th annual conference in Chicago, promoting scholarship and teaching in the arts. UC Riverside’s art history department, using its student success funds, sent six undergraduate students to the conference along with professor Yong Cho and department chair Susan Laxton. According to third-year student Kira Iokibe, the CAA Annual Conference is a place for professionals, artists, students, and scholars to gather in one place to share, exchange, and gain knowledge across countless fields of art, art history, and broader topics on pedagogy and current issues.

“For the art history field specifically, this conference allows for a discussion of topics not typically discussed in most university settings,” Iokibe said. “These can include sessions about examining the discipline of art history itself through a critical lens, or a deeper dive into specific areas of art historical study, such as Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and other minority groups and their visual culture.”

In addition to the degree-relevant information the students gained, the conference also afforded them a chance to build practical career skills that aren’t often as accessible to undergraduate students.

“Some important skills I gained by attending this conference were networking, how to ask better questions, and learning new ways to view research,” fourth-year Katarina Brown said. “As an undergraduate, I wouldn’t say I have many opportunities to see professionals in a non-working environment. It was nice being able to speak freely.”

Fourth-year Sandra Martus agreed, saying, “Attending professional conferences allows students to better understand and experience professional environments, and this conference allowed us to attend sessions specific to our field in art history, where we each individually study and make valuable connections for grad school and our careers.”

The funds that sponsored the event enabled the group to attend the conference and covered the costs of their flight, hotel stay, and access to select museums. Not worrying about the financial cost enabled the students to fully enjoy their trip, both during and outside the conference.

“We gained a bonding experience by traveling together,” second-year Emily McCartney said. “We see each other often for AHUA (Art History Undergraduate Association) events, but this trip provided a shared experience that I hope will keep us in contact with each other for our future professional development.”

Professor Cho added, “I thought the trip was wonderful. It is rare for undergraduate students to have the opportunity to attend a major international conference such as the CAA. I am so grateful that the CHASS Student Success Funds made it possible to financially support our majors to have this opportunity. I know that many colleagues at the conference were surprised to learn that our undergraduates received some funds to participate in the conference — they really admired this effort.”

FEATURED PHOTO. The students speak with Dr. Seunghee Oh, assistant curator of Chinese art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of the History of Art

UC Riverside Scholar Selected for Elite NHC Summer Residency

rholguin — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 22:20:07 +0000

UC Riverside Scholar Selected for Elite NHC Summer Residency rholguin Thu, 03/26/2026 - 15:20 More Press Releases March 26, 2026

Demonstrating a loud and clear commitment to advancing its world-class research enterprise, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) announces that Susan Laxton, Associate Professor of Modernism and the History of Photography and Chair of the Department of the History of Art, has been selected for the esteemed National Humanities Center (NHC) Summer Residency program. Laxton will be one of 40 participants. Costs will be covered by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, which has been a NHC Institutional Member since 2022.

The NHC Summer Residency Program is an exclusive, four-week fellowship designed to provide exceptional humanities scholars with a highly concentrated period of supported research and intellectual exchange. Held in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, the program is uniquely tailored to help scholars jump-start or make substantial progress on significant academic projects while fostering synergistic discussions with peers from across the country. Laxton’s project title is “Cut Together: Surrealist Photomontage and the Structure of Dissent.”

"For a historian of surrealism, the chance to think and write alongside colleagues equally absorbed in their work has its own dream logic,” Laxton said. “I am deeply grateful to the Dean, the Center for Ideas and Society, and the National Humanities Center for making it real."

“Our deliberate investments in National Humanities Center programs lead our research university enterprise,” said Daryle Williams, Professor of History and Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “When we commit resources to placing exceptional scholars like Professor Laxton in these competitive residencies, we see direct returns in the form of accelerated, field-defining publications and a magnified UCR presence on the national stage. It is an investment in the intellectual capital that drives the humanities forward.”

Championing Field-Defining Scholarship

Laxton brings a wealth of expertise and a distinguished record of scholarship to the NHC. A Ph.D. graduate of Columbia University, her research explores the alternative art practices of the 20th-century European avant-gardes, with a profound focus on photography, photomontage, and chance-based processes. She is the author of Surrealism at Play (Duke University Press, 2019) and is currently developing a new manuscript titled “Cut Together: Surrealist Photomontage and the Structure of Dissent.” Her field-defining scholarship has already been supported by prestigious fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Hellman Foundation, and the Borchard Foundation. Her work frequently appears in leading academic journals such as October and Critical Inquiry.

Elevating UCR’s Humanities Research

Laxton’s upcoming residency highlights UCR’s aggressive, strategic investment in faculty research and the university’s ongoing commitment to shaping the national conversation in the humanities. By supporting faculty through high-impact initiatives like the NHC Summer Residency, UCR ensures its scholars have the dedicated time, resources, and intellectual community required to produce groundbreaking, field-defining publications.

The Center for Ideas and Society (CIS) at UCR plays a vital role in championing these research endeavors, fostering an environment where humanistic inquiry thrives. Katharine Henshaw, Executive Director of CIS, is an alumna of the NHC humanities center director workshop and understands its importance.

“Professor Laxton’s selection for the NHC Summer Residency is a testament to the high caliber of research emerging from our College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences,” said Jeanette Kohl, Co-Director of the Center for Ideas and Society and Professor of Art History. “An internationally acclaimed art historian of photography and the current chair of her department, Professor Laxton will benefit greatly from the dedicated time the residency provides to focus on her research and writing. This opportunity will accelerate her next publication and bring an important scholarly intervention to the field all the more quickly.”

"Prof. Laxton’s Residency in the National Humanities Center’s summer program reflects a valued colleague’s advancement of the Center for Ideas and Society mission,” added Dylan Rodríguez, Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Ideas and Society. “As a signature University of California research center supporting the interdisciplinary humanities at the UCR campus, the work of CIS is strengthened and advanced through Prof. Laxton’s national recognition by the NHC.”

For more information about UCR’s Center for Ideas and Society and its ongoing research initiatives, please visit ideasandsociety.ucr.edu.

A Sustained Partnership with NHC

CHASS has consistently invested in placing both emerging and established scholars in premier NHC programs, ensuring the university remains at the forefront of humanities research, pedagogy, and public engagement. The college’s rich historical footprint at the NHC includes recent and ongoing milestones such as the 2025 Summer Residency, sustained NHC Graduate Student Residencies, participation in the 2024 Being Human Festival, the 2025 Humanities in Practice institute for emerging professionals, and the 2022 Podcasting the Humanities program.

"Institutional sponsors play a crucial role in our mission to support high-caliber humanities research, and our relationship with UC-Riverside has allowed us to support the work of some amazing faculty and emerging scholars," says NHC Vice President for Scholarly Programs Martha Kelly. "We look forward to having Professor Laxton with us and helping her make progress on her project. We also expect that, like most scholars who come to the Center, she will forge connections that enrich her work and benefit the greater UC-Riverside community well into the future."

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 by Melanie Ramiro

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of the History of Art

UC Riverside alumni launch film production company, outreach to UCR students

kelvin — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:05:48 +0000

UC Riverside alumni launch film production company, outreach to UCR students kelvin Thu, 03/12/2026 - 10:05 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications March 12, 2026

Theatre, Film, and Digital Production graduates Saul Guardado (2024), Mary Gutierrez (2025), and Gianna Cosenza (2025) hit the ground running following graduation last spring, launching a production company called Camphor Pictures, targeting smaller, independent filmmakers. Guardado directed Camphor Pictures’ first short film, “Bienvenido.”

“It's fully in Spanish, and I wrote it in the beginning of last year, and I was only finally able to shoot it during the summer,” Guardado said. “It is on the festival circuit right now. The application has been sent. We have not been picked up by any festivals yet, so fingers crossed we'll be playing in festivals soon.”

However, it was during the final quarter of 2025 that the company really began to ramp up its work, producing two shorts directed by Cosenza. “Bless This Mess” was released on Dec. 23, 2025, and the second piece, “Love Me Not” — written by Gutierrez, who also served as the Director of Photography (DP) — is currently in post-production. Though they are new as a company, the group began working together as students at UCR and has learned much about teamwork as they create together.

“Gianna let me DP it for the first time, and that was very brave of her,” Gutierrez said. “I'm very grateful for her to do that. So it's nice that we can all trust each other to bring our projects to life.”

Each member of Camphor Pictures attested to the mentorship provided by the film department faculty, including Stu Krieger, recently retired professor of screenwriting, Patricia Cardoso, professor of filmmaking, and Christophe Katrib, assistant professor of teaching.

“[Krieger] was an amazing mentor in his class,” Guardado said,” ‘A Day in a Filmmaker's life,’ where he had people from the industry come in and give their tales of how the industry works, how certain people fall into working in the industry. It was also very eye-opening.”

“Cardoso is one of them,” Cosenza added. “She was one of, if not the only, female professor in the film department; there are other theater professors, but she was more centered on film. And a lot of what she taught was stuff that I implement now.”

Staff and faculty in the department have inspired their students so effectively through both educational and personal guidance. Katrib, who Gutierrez considered one of her mentors, did this especially well.

“He has classes that make you do work,” Gutierrez said. “It's not just, ‘Do this and that.’ He really gets you to actually do stuff, and just be like, ‘Hey, tell the stories that matter. There's a lot that needs to have a light shone on it and have humanity put to it.’ I think he really makes you do the small steps that you might not want to do, but it makes you better in the long run. And he has that great energy of just being a good person. I feel like that’s good to be in filmmaking, too.”

As a supporter of independent filmmaking, the company directs its outreach toward surrounding communities and student filmmakers. Camphor Pictures recently directed a crew call for a new short film open to all UCR students via UCR’s film club, R’Shorts. Their current project, “Chismografo,” was advertised in joint posts on the Instagram accounts of both organizations.

“Because we're so close to the area, it is very nice to work with people at UCR, like R’Shorts members, because we were once R’Shorts members,” Cosenza said. “But we're definitely open to anyone near us willing to work on a set with us.”

Beyond clubs or community, the members of Camphor emphasize the importance of finding like-minded people in order to move forward in the film industry, and say it is important that current students learn how to do so.

“Find people,” Gutierrez said, “not only your friends and those you get along with, but those you work well together with, and you have similar creative visions, and you have trust in each other when it comes to creative projects. That's also how you get asked to be on more sets, too. Networking — that's what film is. That's what this industry is, is that you have to know the right people, and you have to network. But it starts with college filmmaking, right from the start. I like to think of it as just making friends.”

FEATURED PHOTO. Mary Gutierrez '25, director of photography for Camphor Pictures' third short film, points something out to the crew. Photo by Gianna Cosenza

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production

UCR ARTS, Gluck Fellowship host Family Fun Day for 30th anniversary

kelvin — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:28:51 +0000

UCR ARTS, Gluck Fellowship host Family Fun Day for 30th anniversary kelvin Thu, 03/12/2026 - 09:28 More Press Releases Jeremy Gutierrez, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications March 12, 2026

On Sunday, Mar. 1, UCR ARTS celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts with a community, family-oriented day held at the museum in downtown Riverside. The Gluck Fellows Program awards funds to graduate students to support their education through community outreach. Fellows go to schools throughout the Inland Empire and lead classes or engage with institutions such as UCR ARTS or the California Museum of Photography (CMP). Gluck Fellow and master's student of art history Nicholas Barlow has been collaborating with both museums as part of his work with the Fellows Program.

“For today's activity, I've made a selection of photographs from the California Museum of Photography,” Barlow said. “And the theme I selected was landscape photography — “What is a landscape?” This includes materials from our Keystone mass stereoscopic collection. A holding of Mexican photography, fine art photography, California photography, and contemporary artists from the 70s until now.”

The event, which began at 12:30, featured several arts-and-crafts stations, catering, art exhibitions, and more. Many current UCR graduate students supported the event: running booths, helping kids, performing, and even leading group workshops. Gluck Fellow and second-year PhD candidate in critical dance studies, Sriradha Paul led one group in dance.

“I was here to teach an Odissi workshop,” Paul said, “which is a South Asian dance form, which has a lot of storytelling and a lot of movement techniques that I shared with the participants.”

Paul led her group — which included children, UCR community members, and other guests — through various dance forms, including several that emulated the appearance and behavior of animals such as deer and lions. Paul improves her pedagogy by developing her own teaching curriculum. She observes the response students have to her teaching, and thinks about how else to apply it. Community outreach is a way for people to gain experience in these arts that they might otherwise be unable to access.

“Dancing is a tricky thing; some people want to do it, but it requires a lot of visibility — a pressure — and courage to come up,” Paul said. “So I think in that way, [the Gluck program is a] really an interesting program, because it gives them that platform to try it out. So some people want to imagine how monkeys walk, or how deer run. So I think it gives them a push towards their imagination and to be able to think how they can be creative, and how they can create, build their own story through bodies, without verbal communication.”

Other activities included a button-making station led by Gluck Fellow Maya Salem and collage-making, as well as performances and workshops by the UCR Taiko ensemble and Gluck Fellows Amelia Lee, Cal Plett, Fabiola Ochoa Torralba, and Jorge Calaf. The Gluck Fellows Program is dedicated to diversity and represents a broad spectrum of cultures and art forms that the community can engage with.

FEATURED PHOTO. UCR families embrace as they enjoy the musical entertainment.

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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

UCR ARTS

UCR Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts

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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CHASS Newsletter

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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CHASS Newsletter

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

2025-26 CHASS Faculty Awards

kelvin — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:41:44 +0000

2025-26 CHASS Faculty Awards kelvin Fri, 02/13/2026 - 11:41 More Press Releases February 13, 2026

CHASS Teaching Award

The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences invites nominations for the 2025-2026 CHASS Teaching Award. The award is made annually to recognize outstanding achievement in teaching by a faculty member of the College.

Nominees must be Senate or Unit 18 instructional faculty (Academic Student Employees are not eligible) whose teaching is of such quality that it merits recognition and award. We are looking for an exceptional teacher who thoroughly stimulates and engages students in the classroom and contributes to the growth of teaching excellence in the College and across UCR.

Deadline for Nomination Packets: April 4, 2026

Nominations

Faculty may self-nominate and/or be nominated by individual faculty, or by their department or program. Nominations must include the following:

A nomination letter, which could be from the Department or Program Chair, another UCR faculty member, or authored by the nominee themselves. Letters should highlight the nominee’s pedagogical approach and contextualize the forms of evidence accompanying the nomination packet.
At least two different forms of evidence that demonstrate teaching excellence. These include but are not limited to: class activities (with pedagogical explanations), letters or unsolicited emails of support from an undergraduate or graduate student(s), faculty peer observation reports, syllabi, representative student evaluations of teaching from two or more classes, publications on teaching and learning, and a self-statement outlining the nominee’s approaches to teaching and effectiveness, knowledge production, and/or ability to create accessible learning environments.

Nominations will be evaluated based on overall contributions to teaching and learning. Note that student evaluations of teaching should not be heavily relied upon in the nomination; rather, the award committee will use student evaluations of teaching as secondary or complementary to the main forms of evidence and the nomination letter.

All nominees are expected to meet the commonly held standards of ethics and conduct articulated in UCR’s Faculty Code of Conduct (e.g., concerning harassment, discrimination, and sexual misconduct) and Principles of Community (e.g., embracing diversity, taking responsibility, remaining accountable). Nominees who fail to adhere to these standards will be ineligible for the award. Previous awardees who fail to adhere to these standards may have their awards revoked. Please inform the CHASS Executive Committee if you have any concerns regarding the nominee satisfying this expectation.

All documents should be collated into a single PDF file. Please send the CHASS Teaching Award nomination packet PDF to Gabrielle Brewer via email: gabrielle.brewer@ucr.edu

Eligibility

Nominees must teach in CHASS and be current Senate or Unit 18 faculty. Previous awardees and Academic Student Employees [ASE’s] are not eligible.

Nominations can be carried over for only one year but have to be re-submitted.

Teaching Award Committee

The CHASS Teaching Award Committee will consist of no less than three (3) members, at least two of whom are members of the CHASS Executive Committee.

The winner of the award will be recognized during the CHASS Fall reception.

CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement

The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences invites nominations for the 2025-2026 CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement. The award recognizes faculty members who make outstanding efforts to reach beyond the campus and contribute in meaningful ways to the greater social good. The award also recognizes faculty who work to bring community and university together in meaningful ways. Faculty may be nominated for outstanding individual instances of community engagement, or for an outstanding record of sustained activities. Community engagement may take place at the local, regional, national, or global levels, but must include a significant interface with or service to non-university publics (this is not an award for university service). Such engagement may involve significant visibility, but it may also take the form of behind-the-scenes work.

Nominees should be CHASS Senate faculty at any rank whose community engagement is of a quality and level of commitment that merits recognition. We are looking for individuals whose investment in non-university publics is distinct and meaningful, exemplifying the ideal of faculty as scholars, teachers, and active citizens.

Deadline for Nomination Packets: April 4, 2026

Nominations

A faculty member may be nominated by individual students and faculty, or by their own department or program. Self-nominations are also welcome. Nominations should include the following:

A letter of nomination explaining the nominee’s qualifications, as well as the nominator’s name and contact information.
Two or more individual letters of support, with at least one from faculty and one from community members, programs, and/or institutions. Letters should discuss the nominee’s contributions and how they are accountable to the communities they serve.
Supporting materials that document the nominee’s outstanding community engagement, accompanied by an explanation of how the nominee demonstrates excellence in this engagement. Any questions about what constitutes supporting materials may be directed to Gabrielle Brewer via email: gabrielle.brewer@ucr.edu

All documents should be collated into a single PDF file. Please send the CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement nomination packet PDF to Gabrielle Brewer via email: gabrielle.brewer@ucr.edu

Eligibility

Nominations may be made for faculty at any rank and in any department in CHASS. Previous awardees are not eligible.

Nominations can be carried over for only one year but have to be re-submitted.

CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement Committee

The CHASS Faculty Award for Community Engagement Committee will consist of no less than three (3) members, at least two of whom are members of the CHASS Executive Committee.

The winner of the award will be recognized during the CHASS Fall reception.

CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities Award

The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences invites nominations for 2025-2026 CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities Award. This honor has been created to reward outstanding research and creative contributions of CHASS faculty. The CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities awardee will be invited to give a college-wide lecture.

Nominees should be CHASS Senate faculty at any rank whose overall contributions to research and/or creative activities are outstanding and of a quality that merits recognition. We are looking for individuals whose contributions are significant and innovative.

Deadline for Nomination Packets: April 4, 2026

Nominations

Faculty may self-nominate and/or be nominated by individual faculty, or by their department or program. Nominations must include a cover letter and a current curriculum vitae. The cover letter consists of: (a) the name and department or program affiliation(s) of the nominee, and (b) why this candidate should be considered for the CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities award. Nomination letters must contextualize the nominee’s work and impact within their field(s). The CV should include the following:

Major research and creative activities
Extramural grants for research and creative activities
Fellowships, awards, honors, and marks of academic distinction
Other evidence of excellence and visibility in the nominee’s field(s), including but not limited to presentations, editorships, performances, exhibitions, and screenings

Nominations will be evaluated based on overall contributions to their field(s), with a focus on the significance and innovations of their body of research and/or creative activities. While more “standard” metrics such as journal impact factors, citation counts, and the like may be referenced, nominators should emphasize the quality and contributions of the content of the nominee’s work and its interventions.

All documents should be collated into a single PDF file. Please send the CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities nomination packet PDF to Gabrielle Brewer via email: gabrielle.brewer@ucr.edu

Eligibility

Nominations may be made for faculty at any rank and in any department in CHASS.

Previous awardees are not eligible.

Nominations can be carried over for only one year but have to be re-submitted.

CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities Committee

The CHASS Faculty Excellence in Research and/or Creative Activities Committee will consist of no less than three (3) members, at least two of whom are members of the CHASS Executive Committee.

The winner of the award will be recognized during the CHASS Fall reception.

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CHASS News & Announcements

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

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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College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

2025-2026 Chairs and Directors

kelvin — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 22:41:15 +0000

2025-2026 Chairs and Directors kelvin Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:41 More Messages & Announcements December 19, 2025

Colleagues,

I take this opportunity to communicate the appointments, reappointments, and extensions of several CHASS department chairs and directors that took effect earlier this year. I also offer heartfelt thanks to our outgoing unit heads for their dedication to our academic mission, teaching, research, and service.

The leadership appointments below have been reviewed and approved by UCR’s Academic Personnel Office and shared with Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Watkins.

Please visit our main college website for a list of all CHASS department chairs and center directors.

Please join me in thanking our chairs and directors for their continued leadership.

Yours sincerely,

Daryle Williams
Professor of History and Dean
College of the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
University of California, Riverside

New Appointments
	Department of Anthropology Christina Torres Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Christina Torres is a bioarchaeologist who received her Ph.D in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was previously a professor at the University of California, Merced. Torres’ primary research questions focus on the body and its intersection with society and culture. Through her research, she seeks to convey how our physical body is so much more than just our biology. To do so, she studies how humans directly intervene with their bodies through body modifications and patterns of violence, and the potentially substantial and indelible marks these leave on the skeleton. Within the frameworks of mobility and inequality, she studies how the body maintains evidence of the customs of populations in different social spheres and environments. In this way, her work seeks to understand the experience of living in the Atacama during archaeological times and the ways in which this life is made manifest in the body.
	Department of Art Anna Betbeze Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Anna Betbeze is an artist based in Los Angeles, where she lives and works. She has held solo exhibitions at venues including MassMOCA, Utah MOCA, The Atlanta Contemporary, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Markus Lüttgen in Cologne, Lüttgenmeijer in Berlin, Luxembourg & Dayan in London, Kate Werble Gallery in New York, and Francois Ghebaly in Los Angeles. Her work has been exhibited at institutions such as MOMA PS1, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, The Hessel Museum at Bard College, and The Power Station in Shanghai and reviewed in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, New York Magazine, Frieze, and The Los Angeles Times. She was awarded the Rome Prize in 2013–2014, received the Headlands Chiaro Award in 2020, and is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow.
	Department of Black Study Anthony Jerry Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Anthony Russell Jerry holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His primary research interests are in theorizing the relationships between race and citizenship and investigating the influence that regional discourses of race and racism have on citizenship practices and overall access to citizenship. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Garcia Robles Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, and a University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has worked in the Costa Chica Region of Mexico for over 10 years. His work also explores the impacts of issues of migration, immigration, racism, and citizenship on first-generation youth and youth of color in the U.S./Mexico border region.
	Department of Ethnic Studies Robert Perez Chair 5-year appointment, retroactive to July 1, 2024 Dr. Robert C. Perez is an associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies. He received his Ph.D. in history at UC Riverside. He focuses on American Indian History in California, the U.S. Southwest, Texas, and Northern Mexico. His research includes archival documents from the 16th to 20th centuries in Spanish, French, and English, and “attempts to present history with Native people at the center.” He is interested in studying how modern nations (policies) are associated with those of the settler-colonial past (dating back to 500 years). His current work is a book titled (tentatively) "The Incomplete Conquest of Sonora: Native Survival and Colonialism, 1610-1776.”
	Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts Liz Przybylski Director 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 As an interdisciplinary scholar of popular music, Liz Przybylski (proununciation) specializes in hip hop practices in Canada and the United States, as well as gender in the music industry. A graduate of Bard College (B.A.) and Northwestern University (M.A., Ph.D.), Przybylski’s research appears in Ethnomusicology, Journal of Borderlands Studies, and IASPM Journal, among others. Przybylski has presented research nationally and internationally, including at the Society for Ethnomusicology, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Feminist Theory and Music, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and International Council for Traditional Music World Conferences. Recent publications analyze how the sampling of heritage music in Indigenous hip hop contributes to dialogues about cultural change in urban areas. Przybylski has also published on popular music pedagogy. Przybylski was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship. Przybylski's most recent book, Sonic Sovereignty: Hip Hop Indigeneity, and Shifting Popular Music Mainstreams (NYU Press, 2023) considers how contemporary Indigenous musicians champion self-determination through musical expression, and first book, Hybrid Ethnography: Online, Offline, and In Between (SAGE Publications, 2020) develops an innovative model hybrid on- and off-line ethnography for the analysis of expressive culture. In addition to university teaching, Przybylski has taught adult and pre-college learners at the American Indian Center in Chicago and the Concordia Language Villages program of Concordia College in Bemidji. On the radio, Przybylski hosted the world music show “Continental Drift” on WNUR in Chicago and has conducted interviews with musicians for programs including “At The Edge of Canada: Indigenous Research” on CJUM in Winnipeg. Przybylski served as the Media Reviews Editor for the journal American Music, as the President of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Southern California and Hawaii Chapter, and on the Society for Ethnomusicology Council.
	Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies Crystal Baik Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Professor Crystal Mun-hye Baik (she/her) is an interdisciplinary feminist scholar with training in critical ethnic studies, visual culture studies, and oral history. She is the author of two books, including the forthcoming book, "Before the Fire Dogs Steal the Sun: An Elegy" (Duke University Press, 2026) and is the co-founder and co-editor of the Critical Militarization Studies Book Series with the University of Michigan Press. Baik is a recent recipient of the ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grant and a UCHRI Multicampus Research Award, and is also a Mellon New Directions Fellow (25-28).
	Department of History David Biggs Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 David Biggs is a professor of Southeast Asian History at UC Riverside and an environmental historian with a regional specialization in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, but creative interests locally in Southern California and globally in modern environmental history. His academic research (davidbiggs.net) focuses on ways that historic human interventions such as public works projects and wars have reshaped landscapes, reconfigured environmental relationships and produced new societies. His first book, Quagmire: Nation-Building and Nature in the Mekong Delta, focuses on hydro-engineering, colonialism and nationalism in a bitterly contested wetlands frontier of Vietnam. His second book, Footprints of War, explores militarized landscapes in Vietnam and reflects on the environmental dimensions of military occupation and conflict as well as long-term legacies for post-war economic development. Besides these book projects, he applies similar approaches to a host of issues, including chemical weapons histories and cleanups, international river basin management, and military base transfers. His creative work is focused on related issues of environmental history, including some forays into public history projects in Southern California and creative projects elsewhere. In this work he often draws on photographs, historic maps, oral histories and field research to support exhibits and collaborative publications. He is currently working on two academic book projects, a green history of Southeast Asia and a book about Saigon and sinking urban waterfronts in Southeast Asia.
	Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production Robin Russin Chair 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Robin Uriel Russin is a professor of dramatic writing at UC Riverside, where he has served as graduate advisor and as director of the MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts. Russin has degrees from Harvard, Oxford, the Rhode Island School of Design, and UCLA. He is a Rhodes Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Writers Guild of America. Russin has written, produced, and directed for film, TV, and the theater, including Warner Bros.’ On Deadly Ground; America’s Most Wanted on Fox; and Vital Signs on ABC. His original one-hour series about King David, Beloved, was adapted by ABC as Of Kings and Prophets. He directed the independent feature film, When I Sing, co-starring Chris Mulkey, and an independent feature about the humor and challenges of disability, The Anxiety of Laughing. Another feature he co-wrote, 2 Hearts, starring Jacob Elordi and Radha Mitchell, had a wide theatrical release in 2020 and streams on Netflix. He is currently working on "The Rescuers: The Mystery of Goodness," a documentary series about the “Righteous Among the Nations,” the diplomats recognized by Yad Vashem in Israel for saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Robin has won or been a finalist for numerous awards for screenwriting and directing. In theatre, his play, Painted Eggs, was reviewed by The Los Angeles Times as "ambitious, heartfelt and hypnotic," and his play, The Face in the Reeds, had an extended four-month run at the Ruskin Group Theatre in LA. He has also written dozens of short plays and directed numerous stage productions. Russin is co-author with William Missouri Downs of the books Naked Playwriting and Screenplay: Writing the Picture, both in their second editions.
	Social Sciences Laboratory Jennifer Merolla Director 3-year appointment, effective July 1, 2025 Jennifer Merolla is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focuses on how the political environment shapes individual attitudes and behavior across many domains, such as candidate evaluations during elections, immigration policy attitudes, foreign policy attitudes, and support for democratic values and institutions. She is co-author of Democracy at Risk: How Terrorist Threats Affect the Public, published by the University of Chicago Press (2009), and Framing Immigrants: News Coverage, Public Opinion and Policy, published by the Russell Sage Foundation (2016). Her work has also appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, the Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, Political Psychology,and Women, Politics, and Policy. Merolla has received support for her research on public opinion and terrorism from the National Science Foundation and Time Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences. She was field editor for American Political Behavior for the Journal of Politics from 2015-2018. Merolla earned her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University.
	Department of Sociology Robert Clark Chair 5-year appointment, retroactive to July 1, 2024 Rob Clark is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University in 2007. Before moving to California in 2020, he was at the University of Oklahoma. Clark’s research agenda focuses on international development, the distribution of income in the world economy, and the global spread of institutions across the world polity. He is particularly interested in the effect of globalization (trade, foreign investment, international organizations) on economic growth, the evolution of income disparities as they exist within and between countries, and cross-national convergence in welfare outcomes, institutional forms, and cultural scripts. Collectively, his prior and current work addresses questions of political economy and social change at the global level. Clark’s research has appeared in International Sociology, Social Forces, Social Problems, Social Science and Medicine, Social Science Research, and elsewhere.
Reappointments
	Department of Comparative Literature & Languages Jeffrey Sacks Chair 5-year reappointment Jeffrey Sacks works, teaches, and writes on poetics, critical theory, and Arabic Studies. Sacks is also interested in a number of overlapping questions in relation to collective socialities, law, philology, translation, the question of Palestine, Arabic philosophy, Jewish thought, decolonization in global frames, and practices of study. Sacks has authored two academic books: Poeticality: In Refusal of Settler Life (Fordham UP, forthcoming, 2025), and Iterations of Loss: Mutilation and Aesthetic Form al-Shidyaq to Darwish (Fordham UP, 2015), which was awarded the Harry Levin Prize of the American Comparative Literature Association (2016). In 2023, Sacks edited a special issue of the journal Critical Times: Interventions in Global Critical Theory around the theme “Critique and Translation.” Sacks is presently completing a book titled "Pomegranate Colloquy: Notes on Palestine and Decolonization," and is working, in longer time frames, on two books: one about law and the other about Marx.
	Liberal Studies Heidi Brayman Co-Director 3-year reappointment, effective July 1, 2025
	Liberal Studies Stephen James Co-Director 2-year reappointment Stephen James is an American-born, British dual-national. Stephen returned to the United States after 25 years of working as a consultant in intercultural communication in the Philippines, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan in Soviet Central Asia, London, England, Basel, Switzerland, and Germany. Stephen completed a B.A. in history (1984), an M.Div. in ancient languages and world religions (1990), and a Master of Philosophy at the University of London in Media and Communications (2011). Before attending secondary school and Soochow University in Taiwan, Stephen was raised bilingual in Vietnam during the “Vietnam/American War Era” (1962-1975), Stephen returned to those roots, completing an M.A. in Southeast Asian studies (2015), and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at the University of California, Riverside (2018). At UCR, Stephen serves as Co-Director of the Liberal Studies Program, Faculty in Residence, and Lecturer in Anthropology and Liberal Studies.

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Message from the Dean