Humanities (Video)

Peter Bolland, professor of philosophy and humanities at Southwestern College, explores the lasting influence of Augustine of Hippo. Born in North Africa in 354, Augustine—now known as Saint Augustine—is remembered as one of Christianity’s most important thinkers. He shaped core beliefs like the doctrine of original sin and wrote The City of God, a work meant to comfort Christians after Rome fell...

Artist and filmmaker Tom Kalin joins moderator Bhaskar Sarkar (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of his 1992 film Swoon. Kalin discusses the historical background of the film (the famous 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case), how he reimagined the case through the lens of queer desire, and how he conducted archival research into the central figures of the murder. Kalin also discusses how...

Film producer Liz Yale Marsh and mustang wrangler West Taylor join moderator and co-producer Wendy Eley Jackson to discuss their work on the documentary Facing the Falls, which follows disability rights advocate Cara Elizabeth Yar Khan and her twelve-day expedition through the Grand Canyon. They explore how Yar Khan’s muscle disease provided a unique challenge to navigating the Grand Canyon, as we...

Filmmakers Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov join moderator Sasha Razor (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) to discuss their film Captain Volkonogov Escaped. Merkulova and Chupov share how they work as a film making team, how they researched the period of Stalinist purges in the 1930s, and how they sought to make the period of the film feel contemporary. They go on to discuss their experience working...

Eric Faden (Bucknell University) discusses his work on the Japanese Paper Film Project, a project that has been preserving paper films made in Japan in the 1930s. Koto player Yoko Reikano Kimura and cellist Hikaru Tamaki (Duo Yumeno) joins Faden and moderator Alex Lilburn (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) to talk about how the preservation work was carried out and their experiences presenting the dig...

Mona Damluji (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) and Elisabeth Weber (German and Slavic Studies, UCSB) join moderator Bishnupriya Ghosh (English and Global Studies, UCSB) to discuss the film project From Ground Zero, an anthology of films made by Palestinian filmmakers since the beginning of the war in Gaza. They discuss how the films present a unique vision of Gaza, showing a vibrant society dealing w...

The Sleepy Lagoon case of 1942 became one of the most racially charged trials in U.S. history. Twenty-two Mexican American youths, mostly teenagers, were tried en masse for the death of José Díaz, though no witness placed them at the scene and the cause of death was never established. Denied fair treatment, they faced a biased judge and jury, with twelve sentenced to San Quentin. In this documenta...

Film historian Rebecca Prime joins moderator Ross Melnick (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of the classic Hollywood film The Sound of Fury. Prime outlines the film’s production history and how its political and social commentary was shaped by its director, Cy Endfield, who would go on to be blacklisted due to his association with the Communist Party. They further discuss Endfield’s...

Documentary subject and Chicano activist Jerry Ramirez joins moderator Clint Terrell (English, UCSB) for a discussion of the documentary film American Homeboy. They discuss Ramirez’s involvement with the film, his relationship to his Chicano identity, and how his experience being incarcerated fueled his activism, particularly in relation to Chicano issues. Ramirez and Terrrell reflect on how the f...

How should federal governments attempt to right, or at least remedy, past wrongs? Is it appropriate for victims of group-based harms or their descendants to press current generations to atone for the sins of their predecessors? Grace Kao, Professor of Ethics and the inaugural Sano Chair in Pacific and Asian American Theology at Claremont School of Theology, explores these questions by drawing upon...

Over 20 years since its release, Hedwig and the Angry Inch remains as relevant as ever to the politics of the day. A child of division, Hedwig refuses to be caught between categories, instead evading gender description and embracing herself as lovingly as one can. Writer/director/actor John Cameron Mitchell joins moderator Patrice Petro, Dick Wolf Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center, to discuss a p...

Film curators Michelle Baroody and Maggie Hennefeld join moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of their program “Archives of Anonymous Labor: From Farce to Liberation.” The program juxtaposes five films that about anonymity and labor, from silent films that show the invisible labor of housemaids and film editors to films that highlight the erased labor of decolonial struggle. This program is pa...

Carol Stabile (Clark Honors College, University of Oregon) joins moderator Patrice Petro for a discussion of “CBS and the 1950s Blacklist,” a program that included an episode of the television sitcom The Goldbergs and William N. Robson’s radio broadcast titled “Open Letter on Race Hatred.” They discuss the history of anti-communist activism in the U.S. and how CBS capitulated to the FBI and its bl...

Legal scholar Annabel Brett explores the idea of “moral possibility”—the boundary between what laws demand and what people can realistically or ethically be expected to do. Drawing from early modern thinkers like Aquinas, Suarez, and Hobbes, Brett shows how moral impossibility has long shaped debates about legal obligation, resistance, and political agency. Commentators Melissa Lane and David Dyze...

Political theorist Annabel Brett of Cambridge University explores how the concept of “moral possibility” shapes law, politics, and public obligation. She explains that laws must be realistic for people to follow—what is morally possible varies by individual, culture, time, and circumstance. Drawing on early modern Catholic legal theory, Brett discusses how extreme demands (like enduring war or pla...

Science communication expert Lisa Warshaw and scientist Rob Signer, Ph. D., offer a practical guide to turning complex research into clear, memorable stories. They explain why strong openings, simple messages, vivid analogies, and visual storytelling are essential to making science resonate. The talk includes tips on avoiding jargon, using soundbites effectively, and preparing for high-stakes mome...

Is sacred space protective space? This question lies at the heart of the Sanctuary Movement. From the 1980s to the present, this practice has protected undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation by offering them refuge in churches, where federal immigration agents to this day still fear to tread. In this lecture, Lloyd Barba, Assistant Professor of Religion and Core Faculty in Latinx and Latin...

The land we now call Scripps Oceanography has been home to the Kumeyaay people for thousands of years. A history of encroachment, colonization and displacement from coastal lands has challenged Kumeyaay ocean traditions and practices. Today, Kumeyaay-Iipay-Tipay people are actively revitalizing Indigenous ocean culture. As part of Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series, Stan Rodriguez and Pr...

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...

There's a powerful idea in the history of European legal and political thought: that laws must be possible for people to follow. Annabel Brett, professor of Political Thought and History at Cambridge University, describes how from ancient times through the Renaissance, thinkers believed that demanding the impossible—whether physically or psychologically—was a hallmark of tyranny. A classic example...

Humans have long been exposed to three main types of smoke: from early domestic fires, modern wildfires, and more recently, tobacco and fossil fuel pollution. All release tiny particles from partly burned plants, containing harmful chemicals like nitrogen oxides and carcinogens. These particles raise risks for lung cancer, dementia, and even childhood obesity. Studies show that air pollution can d...

What paradoxes arise when victims of related persecution tell their stories next to, and after, each other? This question is at the heart of Ari Joskowicz’s highly acclaimed book “Rain of Ash,” which examines the unlikely entanglement of the histories of Jews and Romani people—the only two racialized groups the Nazis targeted for wholesale extermination. Joskowicz, professor of Jewish Studies at V...

The human gut microbiome is tightly linked our health. Our analyses of diverse human populations from around the globe, ranging from hunter-gatherer to industrialized, show that the gut microbiome is profoundly influenced by lifestyle. With a large collaborative team, we conducted deep metagenomic sequencing of the gut microbiomes of Tsimane horticulturalists from Bolivia and compared them to thos...

Frank Silva talks with writer and educator Eduardo Corvera about the power of reading, writing, and the humanities. They explore how stories help us understand ourselves and the world around us. Corvera shares insights on teaching, the writing process, and why being honest and curious is essential for young writers. It’s a thoughtful and inspiring conversation about creativity, literature, and fin...

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with l...