Library Channel (Audio)

It has been called many things—a spaceship, a large mushroom, an enormous concrete and glass jewel held aloft by concrete fingers … the list goes on. UC San Diego’s flagship building, Geisel Library, fascinates and captures the imaginations of all who encounter it. At this virtual event, a panel of experts peel back the layers of its history and explore the basic architectural principles that make...

As a child, Gabriella Karin was separated from her parents and placed in a Slovakian convent for three years. Although physically safe, she did not emerge unscathed. Suppressed memories of her past came flooding back once she began to fashion sculptures related to the Holocaust later in life. Her journey offers important insight into trauma and how creativity can be used as a tool to process memor...

In his new book, Transmitted Wounds, Amit Pinchevski explores the ways media technology and logic shape the social life of trauma both clinically and culturally. Drawing on a number of case studies such as radio broadcasts of the Eichmann trial, videotapes of Holocaust survivor testimonies, and the recent use of digital platforms for holographic witnessing, he demonstrates how the technological me...

Jeremy Prestholdt examines how Che Guevara, Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur, and Osama bin Laden are major "dissenters" who have represented challenges to the world order. Prestholdt explores the appeal of these four figures over five decades, in part revealing two aspects of an increasingly interconnected world: the tension between shared global symbols and their local interpretations, and the intersect...

Yale University professor and filmmaker Charles Musser explores the historical and contemporary perspectives of race relations in German and American cinema from the 1920s by examining The Ancient Law (1923) and The Jazz Singer (1927). He evaluates how each film addresses anti-Semitism as well as the burning question of the history of blackface as a theatrical convention. Series: "Library Channel"...

As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism, Susan Neiman, author of the contemporary philosophical classic Evil in Modern Thought, asks what we can learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the past. In the wake of white nationalist attacks, the ongoing debate over reparations, and the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and the contested memories t...

Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, created paintings and sketches for his own enjoyment. Some of these pieces were on loan from the Geisel estate and exhibited at the UC San Diego Library for the 16th annual Dinner in the Library gala. Join a panel of distinguished speakers as they explore broad themes woven throughout Geisel’s works and its literary and artistic impact. Panelists Mary Beebe, Stuar...

The film Blade Runner was set in a dystopian 2019 Los Angeles. A timely gathering is in order. Three futurists sit down for a conversation on the film’s legacy and its relevance to Southern California. The guest speakers are David Brin, Paul Sammon and Mike Davis. They discuss the film’s influence and compare its vision with today’s 2019. Blade Runner initially underperformed in theaters when it w...

Despite the explosive growth of Holocaust studies, scholars of Nazi Germany and the Shoah long neglected gender as an analytical category. It wasn’t until 1984 when the essay collection When Biology Became Destiny: Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany raised awareness of women’s experiences under fascism. It explored women’s double jeopardy as females and as Jews. In this lecture, Marion Kaplan, one o...

The suite of international conventions and declarations about genocide, human rights, and refugees after the WWII is known as the “human rights revolution.” It is regarded as humanizing international affairs by implementing the lessons of the Holocaust. In this presentation, Dirk Moses, Professor of Modern History at the University of Sydney, questions this rosy picture by investigating how persec...

Delve into the realms of predatory superbugs with infectious disease epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Thomas Patterson. This is an incredible story of Strathdee’s fight to save her husband’s life, which led her to rediscover a forgotten treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This unprecedented treatment saved Patterson’s life as well as several others and help...

Constructed languages, or conlangs, are well-known in science fiction and fantasy literature as ways of creating an immersive world-building experience. Join us in learning how linguists design the sound systems and grammars to behind some of our favorite conlangs.  With Grant Goodall (Professor and Language Program Director, UC San Diego Linguistics), David J. Peterson (Creator of Dothraki, Game...

What does it means to be literate in the age of Google?  At a time when you can search billions of texts in milliseconds, scan over trillions of online images, and look deeply into planet-wide maps, we need to rethink what it means to be literate, and to be a learner. Dan Russell, the Űber Tech Lead for Search Quality and User Happiness at Google, reviews what literacy means today and shows how so...

San Diego-raised novelist and UC San Diego alumnus, Luis Alberto Urrea ‘77 is the featured speaker at the UC San Diego Library annual gala. Urrea, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist, has written about the border and has knitted together stories in a way that makes them familiar and impactful for everyone. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33668]

What does it mean to be born in a concentration camp, arguably one of the most inhospitable places on earth? Eva Clarke was one of three “miracle babies” who saw the light of day in KZ Mauthausen in Austria. Nine days after her birth, the Second World War ended. As a newborn, Eva’s chances of survival were extremely slim; against all odds, she lived, making her and her mother Anka the only survivo...

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett explores the creation of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto and its multimedia narrative exhibition honoring the lives of those who have passed. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a professor emerita at New York University, is also the chief curator of the Core Exhibition at the POLIN Museum. She is presented here by the Jewish...

UC San Diego's Geisel Library hosts an annual Paper Theater Festival, celebrating an art form with roots in Victorian Era Europe. Paper theaters (also known as toy theaters) were used to promote productions. They were printed on paperboard sheets and sold as kits at the concession stand of an opera house, playhouse, or vaudeville theater. The kits were then assembled at home and plays performed fo...

Cosmologist and author of "Losing the Nobel Prize" Brian Keating tells the inside story of BICEP2’s mesmerizing discovery and the scientific drama that ensued in this interview with science fiction author David Brin. Keating describes a journey of revelation and discovery, bringing to life the highly competitive, take-no-prisoners, publish-or-perish world of modern science. Along the way, he provo...

Brian Nosek, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Open Science, outlines the most urgent challenges in achieving a more open science future and how the scholarly communication community can change practices to validate and recognize open research. Nosek, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, is presented by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Scie...

UC San Diego Professor of Pediatrics and Computer Science & Engineering Rob Knight illustrates the enormous presence of the microbiome in humans. Knight is presented by the Library Channel at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33434]

In describing his new book, “East West Street” author Philippe Sands looks at the personal and intellectual evolution of the two men who simultaneously originated the ideas of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity,” both of whom, not knowing the other, studied at the same university in a now-obscure city that had once been known as “the little Paris of Ukraine,” a city variously called Lemberg,...

This evening is inspired by the short postcard stories that magazine editor George Hay encouraged in the 1970’s. He dared such authors as Arthur C. Clarke to send sci-fi stories that easily fit onto a postcard. In that spirit, Geisel Library invited writers to submit fantasy or science fiction pieces of no more than 250 words, to be read aloud. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33454]

In "Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying: A Citizen's Handbook for the Trump Era and Beyond," author and Literature professor emeritus Roddey Reid traces the origins of the current toxic environment back some 30 years to a culture of abuse in the workplace, media and the political arena. In conversation with sociologist Akos Rona-Tas, Reid reviews the strategies and dynamics of c...

In discussing his book, “Dirt is Good: The Advantage of Germs For Your Child's Developing Immune System,” author and UC San Diego Professor of Pediatrics and Computer Science & Engineering Rob Knight explains how the microbiome works and offers guidance for parents on boosting their children’s health. Knight is presented by the Library Channel at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Health and...

"Short Tales from the Mothership" celebrates an elegant genre by presenting condensed stories from fellow futurists, time-travelers, inventors, artists, and writers. This evening is inspired by the short postcard stories that magazine editor George Hay encouraged in the 1970’s. He dared such authors as Arthur C. Clarke to send sci-fi stories that easily fit onto a postcard. In that spirit, Geisel...