Library Channel (Video): Recent Episodes
UCTV
The Library Channel serves as a conduit to the UC San Diego Library’s many outreach activities and events, ranging from author talks, faculty lectures, and special events, to concerts, film screenings, and behind-the-scenes interviews with students, librarians, and friends and supporters. Visit: uctv.tv/library-channel
In this program presented by UC San Diego Library and UC San Diego History Department, hear and see the work of artists and scholars from Okinawa and Tokyo. The discussion centers around themes of nation, indigeneity, gender and militarism, with the end goal of proposing new ways of “living otherwise,” together through the power of art. Featured artists are Mayumo Inoue, associate professor of comparative literature at Hitotsubashi University,Kaori Nakasone, photographer based in Tokyo and Okinawa, and Satoko Nema, artist and adjunct instructor at the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts. Series: "Library Channel" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 39422]
What does it take to survive persecution and exile? The story of Greta Taussig and Rudy Gans offers answers to this tantalizing question. Born in Linz, Austria, Greta emigrated to London after the country’s incorporation into the Third Reich, eventually enduring the horrors of the Blitz. Rudy was able to make his way to Shanghai after imprisonment in the notorious Dachau concentration camp. Along their arduous journey, each experienced the life-saving kindness of courageous strangers. As part of the UC San Diego Holocaust Living History Workshop, their son, Bob Gans, shares their thought-provoking story, supplemented by a display of artifacts and original documents. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39008]
On December 19, 1980, Shlomo Lewin, the former chairman of the Jewish community in Nuremberg, and his partner Frida Poeschke were shot dead in their house in Erlangen. Instead of pursuing the leads that led to the right-wing extremist group Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann, investigators concentrated on Lewin’s social environment for a long time. As part of UC San Diego's Holocaust Living History Workshop, German historian Uffa Jensen reconstructs the crime and its motivations, in the process unearthing a history of violence, trivialisation and repression that continues to this day. Jensen is a historian of modern history and serves as the deputy director at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität in Berlin. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38976]
Jason Magabo Perez, San Diego's Poet Laureate, engages with UC San Diego's Erik Mitchell in a revealing conversation about his poetic journey and its impact on community and self-awareness. Perez shares readings from his work, which weaves together narratives of grief, identity, and resilience. His ability to articulate complex emotions and historical contexts through poetry provides a window into the experiences of Filipino-American communities and broader societal issues. He also discusses his initiatives as Poet Laureate, emphasizing his commitment to making poetry accessible and relevant to a wide audience. His projects aim to foster a vibrant literary culture in San Diego, highlighting the power of poetry to build solidarity, empower youth, and give voice to marginalized communities. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39322]
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. In 2020, the archives were finally opened. Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents, Brown University Professor Emeritus David Kertzer’s book “The Pope at War” paints a dramatic portrait of what the Pope did and did not do as war enveloped Rome and the continent, and as the Nazis began their systematic mass murder of Europe’s Jews. Kertzer's earlier book, “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe,” won the Pulitzer Prize. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38975]
Between 1918 and 1921, Ukrainian peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution murdered over a 100,000 Jews. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true. In his new book “In the Midst of Civilized Europe,” acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust.Veidlinger is Joseph Brodsky Collegiate Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan and the author of multiple prize-winning books, including “The Moscow State Yiddish Theater: Jewish Culture on the Soviet Stage” (2000), “Jewish Public Culture in the Late Russian Empire” (2009), and “In the Shadow of the Shtetl: Small-Town Jewish Life in Soviet Ukraine” (2013). Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 39078]
UC San Diego Library’s Signature Event Series kicks off with a conversation with filmmaker and author Mason Engel. Engel talks about his current work, “Books Across America,” as well as his past films and his novel “2084.” The discussion is moderated by Audrey Geisel University Librarian Erik T. Mitchell. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39321]
Among the most striking exhibits at the Auschwitz museum are undoubtedly the mountains of loot stolen from Jews murdered upon arrival. Shoes, suitcases, spectacles, and more fill entire rooms in the former barracks of the main camp. Surviving the Shoah when their owners did not, they constitute a potent proof of the Nazis’ abiding concern with material gain. In this talk, author and historian Peter Hayes traces the ways by which the German corporate world became deeply implicated in—and in many respects indispensable to—the Nazi regime’s persecution, exploitation, and murder of Europe’s Jews. He argues that these developments stemmed inexorably from decisions made and actions taken by the nation’s leading corporate executives in 1933, at the very outset of Nazi rule.
Hayes is author or editor of 13 books, including the best-selling “Das Amt und die Vergangenheit” and “Why? Explaining the Holocaust,” which has been translated into several foreign languages including German, Slovak, Spanish, and Chinese. He is currently completing (with Stephan Lindner of Munich) “Profits and Persecution: German Big Business, the Nazi Economy, and the Holocaust.” Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38423]
The China beat is one of the toughest in journalism and one of the most important. How the U.S. media has covered the country has profoundly influenced American government policy and shaped public opinion in the U.S. and around the world. Journalist Mike Chinoy, author of the new book "Assignment China," and a former CNN Beijing Bureau Chief, talks about the experience reporting in China. His book chronicles the stories of American journalists who have covered China — from 1949 through the COVID-19 pandemic — told in their own words. Chinoy is currently a non-resident Senior Fellow at the U.S.-China Institute at USC. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 38804]
What's the future look like with a changing climate? And who will lead the way to help us mitigate the environmental, economic and social impacts? In this program, internationally acclaimed author Kim Stanley Robinson talks about what motivates him to write science fiction that focuses on the environment. Robinson is author of more than 20 books, including "The Ministers for the Future," the "Mars" trilogy and "2312," which was a New York Times bestseller nominated for all seven of the major science fiction awards — a first for any book. He was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine and asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson” in his honor.The program also features four UC San Diego students who talk about their research on dealing with climate change. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38733]
Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, illustrator and author of “Maus,” Art Spiegelman talks with Cristina Della Coletta, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, as part of the UC San Diego Library Author Talk and Holocaust Living History Workshop series. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38420]
Twentieth-century fascism was a political ideology encompassing totalitarianism, state terrorism, imperialism, racism, and, in Germany’s case, the most radical genocide of the last century: the Holocaust. Historians of the Holocaust tend to reject the notion of fascism as a causal explanation for its origins. Conversely, scholars of fascism present the Shoah as a particular event that is not central to fascist historiography. In this lecture Federico Finchelstein examines the challenge the Holocaust presents to the transnational history of ideology and politics.A leading contemporary authority on global fascism, Finchelstein is Professor of History at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College and Director of the Janey Program in Latin American Studies at NSSR. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38422]
As part of the UC San Diego Author Talk Series, class of '76 alumnus and two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter and author Rex Pickett talks about his most recent novel, “The Archivist,” a murder mystery that takes a deep dive into the archiving world set in a fictional Geisel Library. Joining Pickett in the discussion are Brian Schottlaender, UCSD University Librarian Emeritus, Caryn Radick, Digital Archivist, Rutgers University, and UCSD's University Librarian Erik Mitchell. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 38519]
How does the concept of space enhance our understanding of the Holocaust? In this talk, British historian Tim Cole tells the story of the Shoah through an exploration of landscapes victims moved—and were moved—through across Europe. His exploration of the “Holocaust landscapes” shines a powerful light on the geographic dimensions of the Shoah. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37452]
Hugo Marcus (1880–1966) was a man of many names and identities. Born a German Jew, he converted to Islam and took the name Hamid, becoming one of the most prominent Muslims in Germany prior to World War II. Renamed Israel by the Nazis, he was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp before escaping to Switzerland. In exile, he fought for homosexual rights and wrote queer fiction under the pen name Hans Alienus.
Marc David Baer discusses his new book “German, Jew, Muslim, Gay” in which he tells the story of a highly unconventional man and reveals new aspects of the interconnected histories of Jewish and Muslim individuals and communities, including Muslim responses to Nazism and Muslim experiences of the Holocaust. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37451]
When the Second World War came to an end, Berlin, the capital of the Third Reich, lay in ruins. Few contemporaries, if any, could have anticipated that 70 years later, Berlin would boast large diaspora communities of Palestinians and Israelis who have made a home among Germans.
In “The Moral Triangle,” Sa’ed Atshan and Katharina Galor draw on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Israelis, Palestinians and Germans in Berlin to explore the fraught relationship between the three groups in the context of official German policies, public discourse and the private sphere.
Atshan is author of “Queer Palestine: Empire of Critique.” Galor, an art historian and archaeologist, is the Hirschfeld Senior Lecturer of Judaic Studies at Brown University. Her publications include ”The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans” (co-authored with Hanswulf Bloedhorn) and ”Finding Jerusalem: Archaeology Between Science and Ideology.” Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37751]
Helen Epstein, a prolific journalist and author, discusses her mother's memoir about her life in Nazi-occupied Europe. "Franci's War" starts in 1942 when 22-year-old Franci Rabinek began a three-year journey that would take her from Terezin, the Nazis’ “model ghetto,” to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, slave labor camps in Hamburg, and finally Bergen Belsen. Trained as a dress designer, Franci survived the war and would go on to establish a fashion salon in New York. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37412]
Joel Dimsdale discusses his latest book “Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media,” which traces the evolution of brainwashing from its beginnings in torture and religious conversion into the age of neuroscience and social media. Dimsdale is distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 37324]
Who was Josef Mengele? After the end of the Holocaust, the German physician has been increasingly viewed as the personification of supreme evil both in the minds of survivors and the public at large. In this lecture based on his highly acclaimed book “Mengele,” David Marwell untangles history and myth surrounding the man known variously as the Angel of Death and the good uncle, suggesting that Mengele was not so much a uniquely monstrous perpetrator, but more a willing part of a monstrous machine of destruction.
Marwell has had a distinguished career as chief of investigative research at the US Department of Justice, associate museum director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and director and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36713]
What is everyday life, and how is it experienced under extreme stress? This is the broader question that animates the research of Anna Hájková, an associate professor of Modern Continental European History at the University of Warwick. In her talk, Hájková examines sex work, sexual violence, and coercion of Jewish women and men in concentration camps, ghettos, and in hiding. She is the author of many journal articles and books, including her current project, “Boundaries of the Narratable: Transgressive Sexuality and the Holocaust.” This pioneering study seeks to contribute to our understanding of gender and sexual violence during the Holocaust and explores the erasure of narratives of gays and lesbians who were deported as Jews and who subsequently vanished from the historical record. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36710]
At the height of World War II, a team of Soviet scholars embarked on an ambitious goal to collect recently written songs dealing with the Holocaust. Lost until the early 1990's, these songs were rediscovered and recorded with an ensemble of recognized soloists. Thanks to the painstaking labor of Anna Shternshis and the talent of Psoy Korolenko, audiences worldwide can now enjoy and reflect upon this treasure trove of songs that offer a precious glimpse into an unfolding tragedy and the artistic reaction to it. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36542]
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 this icon an architectural masterpiece. Lynda Corey Claassen, director of Special Collections & Archives at the UC San Diego Library, moderate the discussion with Caroline Acheatel, Teddy Cruz and Kevin deFreitas. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36219]
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 memories of oppression, persecution, and loss. Karin is a docent at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and participates in the Righteous Conversations Project, which unites survivors and students through art. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36071]
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 mediation of trauma feeds the traumatic condition itself. His insights have crucial implications for media studies and the digital humanities field as they provide new ways to understand the relationship between technology and human suffering. Pinchevski is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35017]
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 intersection of political vision and consumerism. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35243]
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" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35016]
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 they evoke, Susan Neiman’s Learning from the Germans delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. She combines philosophical reflection, personal stories, and interviews with both Americans and Germans who are grappling with the evils of their own national histories. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35015]
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, Stuart Collection, Seth Lerer, Professor of Literature, and Rob Sidner, Mingei International Museum, each bring a unique perspective. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35062]
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 was first released in 1982; some praised its thematic complexity and visuals, while others were displeased with its slow-paced narrative and unconventional plot. However, by 1992 it had become a cult classic and was re-released in newly edited versions. Why did it take a decade to find — or create — its audience? Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34684]
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 of the editors the publication, takes the audience on a historical tour of her research, from the first workshops raising questions to the first publications providing answers. Since then, the gender perspective has provided significant insight into our understanding of Jewish life in Nazi Germany and during the Holocaust. Kaplan concludes her talk with a forward look at new areas of research that highlight women’s and gender studies. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34018]
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 persecuted peoples have invoked the Holocaust and made analogies with Jews to gain recognition as genocide victims. Such attempts rarely succeed and have been roundly condemned as cheapening the Holocaust memory, but how and why does genocide recognition require groups to draw such comparisons? Does the human rights revolution and image of the Holocaust as the paradigmatic genocide humanize postwar international affairs as commonly supposed? Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34019]
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 helped launch the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH) at UC San Diego, the first phage therapy center in North America. Series: "Women in Science" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 34410]
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 of Thrones), and Paul Frommer (Creator of Na’vi, Avatar). Moderated by Tamara Rhodes (Linguistics Subject Librarian, UC San Diego Library). Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34407]
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 some very surprising and unexpected skills will turn out to be critical in the years ahead. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 34063]
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 survivors of their extended family. In 1948, they emigrated from Prague to the UK and settled in Cardiff, Wales. Eva regularly addresses audiences, and her remarkable story has been featured in the British and American media. She and her mother are among the protagonists of Wendy Holden’s book Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope (Harper, 2015). Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32849]
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 Studies Program and the Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32848]
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 for family members and guests, sometimes with live musical accompaniment. The theaters gradually declined in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but have enjoyed a resurgence in interest in recent years among many puppeteers, filmmakers, theater historians, and hobbyists. Presently there are numerous international paper theater festivals throughout the Americas and Europe, as well as several museums. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33264]
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 provocatively argues that the Nobel Prize, instead of advancing scientific progress, may actually hamper it, encouraging speed and greed while punishing collaboration and bold innovation. In a thoughtful reappraisal of the wishes of Alfred Nobel, Keating offers practical solutions for reforming the prize, providing a vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may, finally, be able to see all the way back to the very beginning. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33369]
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" [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 33455]
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, Lwów, Lvov, or Lviv. It is also a spellbinding family memoir, as Sands traces the mysterious story of his grandfather, as he maneuvered through Europe in the face of Nazi atrocities. Sands is presented by the Holocaust Living History Workshop and the Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32847]
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 contemporary bullying: how it works, the danger it causes, and the lessons to be learned in pursuit of a more civil public life. Reid is presented by the Division of Social Sciences, the Division of Arts and Humanities along with the Program in Jewish Studies and the Department of Literature at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33230]
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 Medicine] [Humanities] [Education] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 32845]
"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 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: 32844]
Celebrated author, literature champion, and bookstore owner Ann Patchett electrifies the audience as she describes her evolving relationships with various books, ranging from classics by Leo Tolstoy and John Updike to more contemporary works by Min Jin Lee (“Pachinko”), Matthew Desmond (“Evicted”) and Ta-Nehisi Coates (”Between the World and Me”), among others. Patchett reads both for pleasure and for business, as the co-owner and buyer for Parnassus Books in Nashville. Why would a best-selling author bother with opening a book store in 2011, when all of the others in her hometown had closed? Because, she says, she couldn’t bear to live in a city without one so she and a partner opened their own! And, as she tells here, Parnassus Books has been a huge success. Patchett is the featured speaker of the 2017 Dinner in the Library event at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32700]
Journalist Ari Shapiro shares his healthy approach to an onslaught of bleak world news. Shapiro's passion for literature has inspired him to find and report great stories in Washington, Europe and elsewhere around the world in his remarkable rise from radio intern to co-host of NPR’s flagship news program, All Things Considered. Shapiro is the featured speaker at the 2016 Dinner in the Library event at the Geisel Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32726]
Journalist Ari Shapiro shares his experiences in Eastern Ukraine as the Separatists arrived. Shapiro had a remarkable rise from radio intern to co-host of NPR’s flagship news program, All Things Considered. Shapiro was the featured speaker at the 2016 Dinner in the Library event at the Geisel Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32736]
In his highly-acclaimed book, The Nazis Next Door, Eric Lichtblau tells the shocking and shameful story of how America became a safe haven for Hitler's men. Lichtblau explains here how it was possible for thousands of Nazis -- from concentration camp guards to high-level officers in the Third Reich -- to move to the U.S. after WWII, and quietly settle into new lives as Americans. Some of them gained entry as self-styled refugees, while others enjoyed the help and protection of the CIA, the FBI, and the military, who put them to work as spies, intelligence assets, and leading scientists and engineers. Lichtblau's book draws from once-secret government records and interviews, telling the full story of the Nazi scientists brought to America, and the German spies and con men who followed them and lived for decades as Americans. He is presented by the Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31542]
The International Tracing Service, one of the world’s largest Holocaust-related archival repositories, holds millions of documents detailing the many forms of persecution that transpired during the Nazi era and their continuing repercussions. Based on her recently published book, "Nazi Persecution and Postwar Repercussions: The International Tracing Service Archive and Holocaust Research," Suzanne Brown-Fleming provides new insights into human decision-making in genocidal settings, the factors that drive it, and its far-reaching consequences. Brown-Fleming is director of the Visiting Scholar Programs of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She is presented here by the Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31541]
Omer Bartov, the John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History and German Studies at Brown University, explores the dynamics of the horrifying genocidal violence which took place in the East Galician town of Buczacz— following the German conquest of the region in 1941— and its subsequent erasure from local memory. For centuries, Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews coexisted in the region, but tragically, by the time the town was liberated in 1944, the entire Jewish population had been murdered by the Nazis. They were assisted by local Ukrainians, who then ethnically cleansed the region of the Polish population. Bartov is presented as part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31540]
Author Zohreh Ghahremani talks with Babak Rahimi, associate professor of Communication, Culture and Religion at UC San Diego about the novel, "Sky of Red Poppies," the 2012 selection for One Book, One San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31539]
In his book, Spitting in the Soup: Inside the Dirty Game of Doping in Sports, UC San Diego alumnus and sports journalist Mark Johnson traces the doping culture in professional sports, from the early days when pills meant progress, to the current day, when athletes are vilified for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In his book, Johnson, who has covered cycling as a writer and photographer since the 1980s, explores the complex relationships that underlie elite sports culture. Series: "Writers" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31408]
Journalist Ari Shapiro shares how his passion for literature has inspired him to find and report great stories in Washington, Europe and elsewhere around the world in his remarkable rise from radio intern to co-host of NPR’s flagship news program, All Things Considered. Shapiro is the featured speaker at the 2016 Dinner in the Library event at the Geisel Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31184]
In his book, Anatomy of Malice: The Enigma of the Nazi War Criminals, author Joel Dimsdale draws on decades of experience as a psychiatrist and the dramatic advances within psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience since the Nuremberg Trials to take a fresh look at four Nazi war criminals: Robert Ley, Hermann Goring, Julius Streicher and Rudolf Hess. Dimsdale, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, is presented by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30898]
Born in Jerusalem to parents who had fled Nazi Germany, Israeli journalist Tom Segev is a leading figure among the so-called New Historians, who have challenged many of Israel’s traditional narratives or “founding myths.” His books include, “The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust” (2000); “One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate” (2000); “1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East” (2006); and “Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends” (2010). Segev is presented by the Holocaust Living History Workshop, a joint program of the UC San Diego Library and the Jewish Studies Program. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30122]
Climate scientist Richard Somerville completes the “Climate Change at the Crossroads” series presented by the UC San Diego Library with a talk recounting his experiences at the Paris COP 21 conference and his ongoing efforts to widen public understanding of the catastrophic impacts of climate change. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 30489]
Renowned climatologist V. Ramanathan from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography makes a moral argument for mitigating climate change, arguing that it is caused by a fraction of the world’s population but is affecting everyone on this planet. He urges scientists and policy makers to reach out to religious leaders, as he has done with the Pope and the Dalai Lama, and ask them to join together in pursuing solutions for the common good. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 30488]
Writer and artist Charlotte Salomon, the daughter of a highly cultivated Jewish family in Berlin, was deported to Auschwitz and murdered at the age of 26. In her final work “Life? or Theatre?” Salomon envisioned the circumstances surrounding the eight suicides in her family, all but one of them women. Darcy C. Buerkle, an Associate Professor of History at Smith College, explores Salomon’s tragic life as she discusses her remarkable book, “Nothing Happened: Charlotte Salomon and an Archive of Suicide,” as part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop sponsored by UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30121]
Climate change policy expert David Victor, a professor of International Relations at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy & Strategy and two of his graduate students provide insights into the process and the outcome of the 2015 COP 21 climate talks in Paris. Victor has been a participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) proceedings since the IPCC’s inception Victor is presented here by the UC San Diego Library Channel. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 30487]
Investigative journalist Bob Woodward and former White House aide Alex Butterfield join Michael Bernstein for a conversation about Butterfield’s decision to reveal the existence of tape recordings that eventually led to Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30187]
A riveting Q&A session with Bob Woodward and Alex Butterfield as the reporter and source share even more details about the personality and character of Richard Nixon. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30454]
An evening of conversation and celebration at the close of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Jonas Salk featuring his sons Jonathan and Peter, author Mary Walshok and Gary Robbins, science editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The panel reflects on how Jonas Salk, his wife Francoise Gilot and his Institute shaped San Diego and its fledgling biomedical community; the interplay between Salk and other leaders in building the civic infrastructure, and other remembrances from the Salk brothers about their father’s discovery of a vaccine for polio. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 29919]
This extended version of “Back to the Future with the Brave New Library Featuring Sarah Thomas, Vice President for the Harvard University Library - Dinner in the Library 2015” includes remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, University Librarian Brian E.C. Schottlaender and Jonathan Hill, son of Ken and Dorothy Hill who curated the Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30107]
Sarah Thomas draws from her years in the stacks at Oxford, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and now, as the Vice President of the Harvard Library, to describe her vision for the future of libraries at the 2015 Dinner in the Library celebration hosted by the Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 28725]
E. Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of the composer Arnold Schoenberg, is an expert in handling cases involving looted art and the recovery of property stolen by the Nazi authorities during the Holocaust. He tells the story here of his most prominent case, “Republic of Austria v. Altmann” which resulted in the successful return of six paintings by Gustav Klimt, including the “Golden Lady,” to their rightful owners. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29174]
Eminent earth scientist Walter Munk recounts events and personalities involved in UC San Diego’s formative years as it grew out of an oceanographic field station now known as Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with former UC San Diego Chancellor and University of California President Richard Atkinson. Series: "Library Channel" [Science] [Show ID: 29113]
Since the defeat of the Nazis in WWII, Germans have been forced to confront their “unmasterable past.” What was it like to grow up in a divided country burdened with the legacy of genocide? How does one deal with the knowledge of one’s people’s complicity in mass murder, and how does this knowledge affect one’s identity? Primary witnesses of both German and Jewish backgrounds explore answers to these questions. Panelists include Frank Biess, Deborah Hertz, Margrit Frolich and Brian Schottlaender of UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29486]
Visual Artist Sheldon Brown presents a multimedia tour de force exploring how art and science illuminate the freedom of imagination. Using examples from his extensive body of work, the founding director of the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination challenges this audience to think about how developments in computation have reframed our understanding of the world and how new digital methods are affecting the means and modes of culture. Brown’s talk is the final installment of the “Degrees of Freedom” lecture series presented by the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 29105]
Heavy drinking by teenagers was once considered just a rite of passage with no long-term effects, but modern biotechnology has changed that perspective. Dr. Sandra A. Brown of UC San Diego presents research showing how voluntary choices that are the hallmark of freedom become rigid and compulsory with frequent alcohol or drug use, especially among young people. Dr. Brown’s talk is part of the “Degrees of Freedom” public lecture series sponsored by the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29104]
Philosophy scholar Monte Johnson explains how the early Greek concept of freedom -- a state opposite of slavery – evolved into notions of self-sufficiency, liberality, and independence in speech and action. Though the most influential philosophers of that time, Plato and Aristotle, were dubious of democracy, a government centered on the principle of freedom, they contrasted with other lesser-known Greek philosophers who accentuated the importance of freedom, including Democritus, Protagoras, and Archytas. Johnson is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29103]
What is the best way to help the poor? Giving money to charities and non-governmental organizations that then determine how the money should be allocated? Or giving cash directly to those who need it most and letting them decide how to spend it? Economist Paul Niehaus offers evidence that suggests direct cash transfers are more effective in reducing poverty, and describes GiveDirectly, a program he co-founded that allows donors to select recipients and transfer cash through mobile phones. Niehaus is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 29102]
Anthropologist Nancy Postero describes the political rise of indigenous peoples in Latin America, as they called for more recognition from the state and more inclusive forms of citizenship. Where that was impossible, they sought international attention by demanding human rights, especially human rights to culture. Postero explores what kinds of freedom these two frameworks of rights offer and how the struggles of indigenous peoples demonstrate the contradictions and limitations of liberal notions of rights. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 29101]
UC San Diego astrophysicist Brian Keating presents cosmological observations that have revealed a mysterious universe, pointing to the startling possibility that our cosmos might be just the most insignificant speck of what is now called “the Multiverse.” New telescopes such as the BICEP based in Antarctica hint at an infinite universe with the possibility of unimaginable fecundity, yet devoid of life other than here on Earth. Keating explores what this implies about free will in an infinite universe, with infinite degrees of freedom and choices. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29100]
Eminent California historian Kevin Starr traces the emergence of San Diego’s role in the distinctly Southern California aesthetic of “Mediterranean-ism,” as seen in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28611]
Award-winning historian Wendy Lower discusses the lives and experience of German women in the Nazi killing fields. Her study chillingly debunks the age-old myth of the German woman as mother and breeder, removed from the big world of politics and war. The women Lower labels “furies” humiliated their victims, plundered their goods, and often killed them, and like many of their male counterparts, they got away with murder. Lower is the John K. Roth professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and has published widely on the Shoah in Eastern Europe. She is presented here as part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28811]
This extended version of “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life” featuring biographer Noel Riley Fitch at the 2014 UC San Diego Dinner in the Library includes remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, University Librarian Brian E.C. Schottlaender and Dorothy D. Gregor, the 2014 Geisel Citation Recipient for Library Philanthropy. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28726]
Internationally recognized biographer Noel Riley Fitch offers some food for thought in “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life,” the title of her keynote address to the annual Dinner at the Library at UC San Diego. Fitch gives a revealing look into how Child’s passion for French cuisine made her a culinary icon to generations of Americans. Fitch is the only biographer exclusively authorized by Julia Child; her other subjects include fellow expatriates to Paris Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Beach and Anais Nin. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 28563]
A love of learning and teaching about pirates inspired UC San Diego’s Mark Hanna to tap the world-renowned Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, housed in Special Collections & Archives at the UC San Diego Library, to bring history to life in his mobile classroom. Hanna’s students discover the authentic Golden Age of Piracy by reading the Hill Collection log books and other original documents, touring the Real Pirates! exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum, and sailing on the Californian at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Here Be Pirates: The First Citizen Scientists is presented by the UC San Diego Library Channel. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28213]
The Holocaust claimed anywhere between 500,000 and 1.5 million Romani lives, a tragedy the Romani people and Sinti refer to as the Porrajmos, or “the Devouring.” Notwithstanding the scope of the catastrophe, the Romani genocide was often ignored or minimized until Ian Hancock and others exposed this misfortune. A Romani-born British citizen, activist, and scholar, Hancock has done more than anyone to raise awareness about the Romani people during World War II. Now a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Hancock is presented here as part of the Holocaust Living History Workshop, a partnership between Judaic Studies at UCSD and the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28100]
The UC San Diego Library announces the purchase of the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project, an online archive containing thousands of documents related to the history of the United Farm Workers’ union and related events. A short video on the historic March to Sacramento in 1966 is shown followed by a discussion with two participants in the march: Roberto Bustos and LeRoy Chatfield, key advisors to Cesar Chávez. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 28138]
The UC San Diego Library Channel presents a talk by William Lanouette, author of “Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard.” Lanouette explains how Szilard’s fear of German dominance of nuclear research in the 1930’s inspired the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb used by the United States in World War II. Szilard could see its potential for mass destruction in the wrong hands and became a strong advocate for nuclear arms control and disarmament. Szilard spent his final days as a founding member of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 28013]
UC San Diego sociologist Amy Binder explains two prevalent conservative styles that she and her co-author Kate Wood found on today’s college campuses. At “Western Public,” students often engaged in a provocative style, looking to poke fun and enrage liberals, whereas at “Eastern Elite,” conservative students embraced a more civil style, leading to friendlier interactions with other students who disagreed with them. The authors argue that these styles emerge from the cultural and organizational features of each campus. Series: "quoteUnquote" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 25590]
Anne Willan, the founder of La Varenne Cooking School, and co-author Amy Friedman share stories, pictures and secret ingredients to a life well-lived as they discuss Willan's autobiography, “One Souffle at a Time: A Memoir of Food and France.” This event is sponsored by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 25903]
Kevin Kinsella of Avalon Ventures, Jim Blair of Domain Associates, Tom Wollaeger of Sanderling Ventures, and Ivor Royston of Forward Ventures discuss the origins of the San Diego biotech community in a panel convened by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Business] [Show ID: 25900]
The San Diego Technology Archive (SDTA)documents the history, formation, and evolution of the companies that formed the San Diego region’s high-tech cluster, beginning in 1965. The SDTA captures the vision, strategic thinking, and recollections of key technology and business founders, entrepreneurs, academics, venture capitalists, early employees, and service providers, many of whom figured prominently in the development of San Diego’s dynamic technology cluster. As these individuals articulate and comment on their contributions, innovations, and entrepreneurial trajectories, a rich living history emerges about the extraordinarily synergistic academic and commercial collaborations that distinguish the San Diego technology community. Series: "Library Channel" [Business] [Show ID: 25899]
Renowned author and Middlebury College Professor Jay Parini charms his dinner audience with selections from his “Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America.” From “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” and “Walden,” through “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and “The Feminine Mystique,” Parini offers a compelling narrative on the evolution of American culture. Parini was the keynote speaker at the UC San Diego Library’s “Dinner in the Library,” which takes place annually in Geisel Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 25715]
Seth Lerer discusses his moving memoir, “Prospero’s Son: Life, Books, Love and Theater,” a record of the tempestuous relationship between Lerer and his father which is later echoed in Lerer’s relationship with his own son. The narrative is framed by elements of literature and performance, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and its evocation of father as magician. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Humanities] [Show ID: 25531]
Forty years ago, Dr. Joel Dimsdale started researching concentration camp survivors. Little did he know where his journey of discovery would lead him. After a visit from a Nuremberg executioner, he switched from studying victims to perpetrators. His latest research is based on an analysis of Rorschach inkblot tests administered at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. Using extensive archival data, Dimsdale reviews what the Nuremberg Rorschachs can (and cannot) tell us about the Nazi mass murderers. Dimsdale is presented by the Holocaust Living History Workshop, a program sponsored by the UC San Diego Library and UC San Diego Judaic Studies Department. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 24993]
Authors and UC San Diego political scientists Steve Erie and Vlad Kogan present a compelling narrative on how San Diego leaders have consistently mismanaged city finances since the 1978 passage of Prop 13. They continue with a bleak assessment on whether the city will ever be able to provide sufficient, equitable services throughout its economically diverse neighborhoods. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 22932]
Carillonneur Scott Paulson plays the campus bells. Series: "UCSD at 50" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 21052]
UCSD political scientist Steve Erie shatters the movie myth about how the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California supposedly stole water rights from the Owens Valley to irrigate Los Angeles and instead holds up the MWD as a model for responsible water management and environmental sustainability. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 12063]
Acclaimed artist John Baldessari discusses his commissioned piece, part of the Stuart Collection to create a site-specific artwork at UCSD's Geisel Library. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 5813]
Historian Richard Minear talks about his new book, Dr. Seuss Goes To War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel at a reception for Friends of the UCSD Libraries. Series: "Library Channel" [Show ID: 4727]