On November 19, our Director of Undergraduate Studies Scott Saul appeared on KQED’s “Forum” for a free-ranging hour-long discussion on the state of the humanities on college campuses.
READ MORE The State of the Humanities: Professor Scott Saul Discusses the Issue on KQED’s “Forum”
nsight at Berkeley is a bi-semesterly e-publication focused on success stories. The Insight team seeks out Cal alumni with all different backgrounds, majors, and careers. We sit down with these professionals and discuss how to get the best out of schooling, internship opportunities, extracurriculars, and ultimately potential career options.
The fourth piece in the series is a review by Alek Jeziorek of Shotgun Players’ production of Strangers, Babies, directed by Jon Tracy.
READ MORE Shotgun Players’ Strangers, Babies: “Injured things can survive.”
Each year in the “Faculty Notes” section of the department newsletter, we list the most recent faculty accomplishments. In the same spirit of recognition and congratulation, listed below are only some of the many accomplishments of our graduate students from this past year. They include prizes, fellowships, academic and literary publications and prizes, conferences organized, and conference papers presented.
The third piece in the series is a review by CFS. Creasy of Cal Shakes’s production of A Winter’s Tale, directed by Patricia McGregor.
READ MORE “Thy zeal deserves a miracle”: A Winter’s Tale at CalShakes
In a new series on the blog, we explore the joys and the tribulations of being both a graduate student and a parent. First in the series is a post by Mia You, who helps run the website a.bradstreet, which publishes pieces on motherhood and poetics.
The second piece in the series is a review by Jonathan Shelley of the Berkeley Rep’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.
Lauren Mueller details the founding of the English department’s first undergraduate academic journal, The Folio.
In a new series for the blog, we ask current graduate students with an interest in theater to review select local plays. The first piece in the series is a review by Alek Jeziorek of the Shotgun Players’ performance of Bonnie & Clyde.
READ MORE Bonnie and Clyde: On the Run with the Shotgun Players at Ashby Stage
Bradford Taylor, a graduate student in the department, recently opened a wine shop and bar in Oakland called Ordinaire. To celebrate the occasion, we asked him to write a piece for us about his interest in wine and the experience of opening the shop.
In 2012-13, the English Department hosted Joyce Carol Oates, whose usual home is Princeton, as a visiting professor. While here, she taught a creative writing workshop on “short fiction” to a very lucky group of undergraduates. Our own Donald McQuade recently had the opportunity to interview Oates about her experience teaching and writing at Berkeley.
READ MORE Teaching and Writing at Berkeley: An Interview with Joyce Carol Oates
Professor Scott Saul’s recent New York Times op-ed (“The Humanities in Decline? Not at Most Schools”) actually began as a post written for our humble blog. When the New York Times expressed interest in Saul’s piece, the editors of the blog happily ceded our claim on it to the Times op-ed page. We now see the value in publishing what didn’t make it into the version published by the Times, and so are sharing Saul’s original post.
READ MORE The English Major, Secretly Resilient: The Case of UC-Berkeley
Recently, graduate student Joe Albernaz had the opportunity to talk with Professor Steven Goldsmith about his new book, Blake’s Agitation: Criticism and the Emotions. The result was a lively interview on William Blake, affect theory, and critical “enthusiasm.”
READ MORE Critical Agitations: An Interview with Steven Goldsmith
We had the chance to catch up with Kerri Majors (’98) recently about her new book for young adult writers. The conversation ended up meandering across a number of different topics, including the current boom in college writing and MFA programs, why writers should buy planners, and Majors’s own writerly biography. It contains a lot of advice for young writers, and plenty to interest writers and readers of all ages.
Below is a reflection from Bonnie Kim (’13), finalist for this year’s Bronson Prize, on her work with Isaac Asimov’s robot novels.
READ MORE Robot Anatomy: Bonnie Kim’s Adventures with Isaac Asimov
