Humanities (Audio)

Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most important challenges of modern medicine worldwide. They are often attributed to maladaptations of our body to our peculiar form of locomotion, upright bipedalism. This lecture will explore the evolutionary origin of major musculoskeletal disorders such as back problems and hip joint osteoarthritis. I will show that these problems represent a relatively...

What are the future horizons for indigenous repatriation work? What are best practices in repatriation settings, and how might they inform repair work in other contexts, such as education or land returns? This panel discussion looks at the work of Chumash leaders and broader Indigenous repair work nationally and globally. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [H...

Phenotypic variation within the skeleton has biological, behavioral, and biomedical functional implications for individuals and species. Thus, it is critical to understand how genomic, environmental, and mediating regulatory factors combine and interact to drive skeletal trait development and evolution. One way to do this is by studying skeletal diseases that disrupt skeletal function — like osteo...

The Birch Aquarium celebrates the incredible contributions of women in the rich history of marine plankton research at Scripps. Judit Hersko performs part of her innovative series of visual narratives, "Pages from the Book of the Unknown Explorer," transporting you to Scripps’ early days through a cleverly imagined correspondence between Dr. Easter Cupp, Scripps' first female Ph. D. graduate, and...

Filmmaker RaMell Ross discusses "Nickel Boys", his 2024 feature film adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Directed and co-written by Ross, the film follows two Black teenagers—Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson)—at a brutal reform school in Jim Crow–era Florida, modeled on the real-life Arthur G. Dozier School. Shot entirely in first-person perspective, the...

The rate of cancer and cancer malignancy differ greatly among mammalian species. The placental – maternal interface is also highly variable between placental mammals. This lecture will discuss recent advances that suggest that there is a causal connection between the evolution of placental biology and the biology and rate of cancer malignancy. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Trai...

Menstruation is the cyclical shedding of the endometrium triggered by falling progesterone levels. Menstruation is a rare trait found in less than 2% of mammals and likely evolved independently at least 4 times. Why do some mammals menstruate while most do not? The leading hypothesis is that menstruation occurs as a nonadaptive consequence of spontaneous decidualization of the endometrium, which e...

Filmmaker Adamu Chan joins UC Santa Barbara’s Althea Wasow for a powerful conversation about "What These Walls Won’t Hold", a documentary he created while incarcerated at San Quentin during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film, which aired nationally on PBS’s "America ReFramed", captures the resilience and activism of incarcerated people and their communities in the face of crisis. Chan shares how film...

Pressures of life on Earth experienced by our ancestors – as multicellular beings, as hosts to parasites, and as home to microbes – shaped the evolved structure and function of our immune systems.  Some of the traits favored by natural selection have conferred resistance against infections while opening vulnerabilities to autoimmune diseases.  I will illustrate why analysis of the deep-time origin...

The Carsey-Wolf Center welcomes Jeff Bridges and Amy Brenneman, the award-winning stars of The Old Man, for a conversation with director/writer/producer Brad Silberling. Bridges and Brenneman share their creative perspectives on the series’ treatment of aging and discuss other aspects of their unique collaboration. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40544]

The human body has traits that evolved at different times, from 1.5 billion to 2 million years ago, each bringing health benefits and risks. Multicellularity enabled organs and cancer. The immune system defends us but can cause inflammation. Breastfeeding supports infant health but relates to breast cancer risk. Menstruation and invasive placentas improved reproduction but led to pain and cancer r...

Cancer is normal development spun out of control. It is the great plasticity and power of development, without the overarching controls that guide normal development toward an integrated adult form. Instead, whenever a newly developed kind of tissue acquires the ability to survive, grow, and resist control, there is nothing to stop it. That may be why normal adult cells are often terminally differ...

The Moon and Back marks the feature‑length directorial debut of UCSB Film & Media Studies alumnus Leah Bleich. The film follows high‑school senior Lydia Gilbert (Isabel May) as she grapples with her father’s death and mounting family challenges. When she discovers a space‑opera screenplay her dad left behind, Lydia assembles a low‑budget crew—armed only with a VHS camera—to bring his story to life...

In collaboration with the Transnational Italian Studies Program, the Carsey-Wolf Center presents a discussion examining the long history of Black African life in Italy with filmmakers Daphne Di Cinto and Medhin Paolos and UCSB moderator Stephanie Malia Hom. They discuss the short films Il Moro and Asmarina. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40541]

Screenwriter and playwright Phyllis Nagy joins moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 classic Strangers on a Train. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, the film follows tennis player Guy Haines (Farley Granger), who meets the charming but disturbed Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) during a chance encounter on a train. Bruno proposes they “swap” murders—he’ll ki...

Nicholas Baer, author of Historical Turns: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism, joins moderator and Carsey-Wolf Center Director Patrice Petro for a discussion of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40537]

Author Joseph Wambaugh's success came from writing about what he knew - police work. He spent 14 years with the Los Angeles Police Department first as a street cop then as a detective. He wrote his first novel, “The New Centurions,” in 1971 while on the job. Wambaugh died on Feb. 28, 2025. It was the same day that the Writer's Symposium by the Sea was celebrating it's 30th anniversary. Host Dean N...

Thirty years after the film’s release, Fresh Kill has been remastered by the Fales Library & Special Collections of New York University. Fresh Kill director/producer Shu Lea Cheang traveled with filmmakers Jean-Paul Jones and Jazz Franklin on a nationwide roadtrip to screen the remastered 35mm print of the film at independent arthouse cinemas across the country, and to engage local communities on...

Filmmaker Madhuja Mukherjee joins UCSB professor Bishnupriya Ghosh for a conversation about Deep6, a Bengali-language drama set in Kolkata during the politically charged year of 2011. The film follows Mitul, a solitary journalist navigating the end of West Bengal’s 34-year Communist rule while confronting personal loss and shifting identities. Starring Tillotama Shome, Deep6 blends realism with el...

Cervical cancer remains a significant public health concern, but innovative approaches and community-based research are transforming prevention efforts, particularly immigrant communities. With over 600,000 new cases diagnosed annually, early detection and prevention strategies are crucial. However, accessibility and awareness gaps persist in immigrant communities due to language barriers, cultura...

“When anchors fail, people die.” This line has many meanings for author, motivational speaker and expert mountain climber Manley Feinberg. In this Osher Author Talk interview, Feinberg describes a harrowing climb of Yosemite's El Capitan in 2022, where he and his son saved the life of their companion while suspended on the face of the mountain. He incorporates his experience climbing mountains int...

Jesmyn Ward has been hailed as the standout writer of her generation, proving her “fearless and toughly lyrical” voice in novels, memoir, and nonfiction. She's been called “the new Toni Morrison.” Ward is a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and in 2017, she became the first woman and the first person of color to win two National Book Awards for Fiction—joining the ranks of William Faulkner, Saul...

John A. Pérez, Regent Emeritus of the University of California, sits down with Robert Williams, Ph. D., CEO and Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, for a critical conversation about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. They explore how history shapes present-day challenges, the dangers of misinformation, and the role of higher education in confronting hate. Drawi...

Sandra Cisneros is a Latina American short-story writer and poet regarded as a key figure in Chicano literature. She is best known for her first novel, "The House on Mango Street," and her subsequent short story collection, "Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories." Her work experiments with literary forms that investigate emerging subject positions, which Cisneros herself attributes to growing up...

Human beings show a range of emotional attachment, affection, and infatuation often referred to as “love”. Love promotes long-lasting and secure relationships that involve nurturing and support. Biological mechanisms underlying such behavior involve ancient neuropeptides and their receptors in the brain. These systems are also involved in reproduction, ranging from mating and pair-bonding, to givi...