Twain autobiography – the way he wanted it – hits stores today
The first volume of the autobiography of Mark Twain lands on bookstore shelves today (Monday, Nov. 15), 100 years after his death, courtesy of editors at the Mark Twain Papers and Project at the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library.
(15 November)

Fab Four headline at North Gate
"Mad Day Out," an exhibit of 25 never-before-exhibited photographs of the Beatles taken at random London locations one day in July 1968 will open officially this Friday, Nov. 12, at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.The Fab Four photos taken by former music photographer-turned-cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt ("Batman Forever, "Prince of Tides," and other films) is the latest coup by the journalism school’s Center for Photography, which has organized the exhibit at its gallery at North Gate Hall.
(10 November)

Three J-school documentaries to premiere at Mill Valley Film Fest
Short documentaries by three 2010 graduates of Berkeley's journalism school have won coveted spots in the Mill Valley Film Festival, which starts Thursday. The 26-minute films depict toxic waste dumping in Africa, the living limbo of the Nukak Maku people forced out of the Amazon jungle, and the dilemma faced by elderly people deciding whether to drive. They premiere on Sunday on the same bill, "Truth Be Told."
(05 October)

"Appalachian Portfolio, 1959-1963" on exhibit at North Gate Hall
“The Appalachian Portfolio, 1959-1963: Photographs by Andrew Stern,” a collection of black-and-white photos depicting life 50 years ago in Kentucky’s hardscrabble coal mining country, is on display through Oct. 15 at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. It is the collection’s first West Coast showing.
(08 September)

Lunch Poems Series starts with rugby coach, French professor, among others
The fifteenth season of the popular Lunch Poems Series kicked-off on Thursday at Morrison Library. The series features faculty and staff from a wide range of disciplines reading some of their favorite poems.
(02 September)

Fall semester offers bounty of free arts programs
The University of California, Berkeley, is opening up the campus this fall for free, public arts programming that will feature dance, music, prize-winning poets, fiction and non-fiction writers, multidisciplinary collaborations and debate about the role of art in the world today.
(23 August)

Sketching a season for Mark Twain Papers & Project
The Bancroft Library's Mark Twain Papers & Project at UC Berkeley has acquired "A Family Sketch," Samuel Clemens' 64-page, unpublished tribute to his daughter, Olivia "Susy" Clemens.
(27 July)

BAM/PFA selects Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design new building
Following a national search, the world renowned New York City-based design firm of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has been chosen to design the new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) at the University of California, Berkeley. The new museum complex is targeted for completion by late 2014.
(23 June)

Historic treasure of Jewish life and culture gifted to UC Berkeley
This summer, one of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish life, culture and history will begin arriving at its new home at UC Berkeley. The transfer of a 10,000-piece collection from the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley is being made possible through gifts totaling $2.5 million from philanthropists Warren Hellman, Tad Taube, and the Koret Foundation.
(21 June)

How Japanese Americans preserved traditions behind barbed wire
For several decades, Berkeley staff member Shirley Muramoto Wong has tracked down elderly artists who, during World War II, taught traditional Japanese arts while imprisoned in far-flung "relocation" camps. In coaxing out and recording their memories, Muramoto — herself a master of the koto — has helped bring to light a little-known aspect of U.S. history.
(10 June)

The Bancroft Library accepts gift of William Saroyan archives
The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, has received a spectacular gift of hundreds of books, drawings, correspondence and other personal communications to and from one of America's best-known writers, the Armenian-American author and playwright William Saroyan
(19 May)

Painter, printmaker Karl Kasten dies at age 94
Acclaimed painter and printmaker Karl Kasten, a professor emeritus in the University of California, Berkeley’s Department of Art Practice and a leading figure in “The Berkeley School” of abstract expressionism, died at his Berkeley home on May 3 at the age of 94. He had suffered from pulmonary fibrosis. Kasten's art was exhibited around the world at major public and private museums.
(12 May)

Three architecture firms to submit proposals for new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
The University of California, Berkeley, announced today (Tuesday, April 27) the selection of three architecture firms to submit design proposals for the new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA).
(27 April)

2010 Dorothea Lange Fellowship winner looks at dueling identities
Photojournalism student Steve Saldivar turned his camera on teenagers celebrating their quinceaneras to win the 2010 award that honors documentary photographer Lange. The grant will let him explore changes wrought by a new rail line through the center of his hometown, in East L.A.
(21 April)

Janet Adelman, scholar of Shakespeare, psychoanalytic and feminist critic, dies at 69
Janet Adelman, a University of California, Berkeley, professor emeritus of English who wove her research on psychoanalysis, gender and race into a scholarly exploration of Shakespeare and other English Renaissance authors, died on April 6 at her home in Berkeley. She was 69 and had cancer.
(21 April)

In Townsend Center exhibit, architecture prof Jean-Paul Bourdier 'explores the infinite potentials of photography'
Photographer Jean-Paul Bourdier's otherworldly, bold desert images underscore the connection between humans and the world we inhabit.
(13 April)

Canadian history scholar Thomas G. Barnes dies
Thomas Garden Barnes, a professor emeritus of history and law at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leader in the development of Canadian studies in the United States, died on March 9 after suffering a stroke. He was 79. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon credited Barnes with increasing the understanding of Canada in the United States and with promoting closer political, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
(02 April)

UC Berkeley Students volunteer in underserved communities over spring break
Nearly 100 UC Berkeley students are participating in service-learning trips this week through the Cal Corps Public Service Center’s Alternative Breaks program. Seven trips spread throughout California and in New Orleans, each consisting of 12-14 student volunteers, are taking place March 20-26.
(24 March)

Charles Muscatine, Chaucer scholar and educational reformer, dies at 89
Charles Muscatine, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of English, a scholar of Chaucer and medieval literature, and an educational reformer known for refusing to sign a state loyalty oath during the McCarthy era, died of an infection in Oakland on Friday, March 12. He was 89.
(17 March)

Black Nature event explores environment for African American voices
Think of American nature writers, and African American authors probably don’t spring to mind. But the University of California, Berkeley, is hosting a March 4-5 symposium of leading poets and scholars who will explore 400 rich years of African American nature writing, as evidenced in a new, first-ever anthology of nature poetry by black writers.
(24 February)

Symposium to explore black nature writers
Think of American nature writers, and African American authors probably don't spring to mind. But Berkeley is hosting a March 4-5 symposium of leading poets and scholars, including English professor Cecil Giscombe (pictured), who will explore 400 rich years of African American nature writing, as evidenced in a new, first-ever anthology of nature poetry by black writers.
(23 February)

Berkeley Art Museum's new installation puts the fun in functional art
Many modern museums now serve as gathering spots for the art-minded and (especially) the young. BAMscape, a commissioned installation in the museum's central atrium, supports the Berkeley Art Museum's new activities and direction.
(09 February)

Campus musicians receive gift from pianist Earl Hines' estate
The gift to the University of California, Berkeley, of the bulk of famous jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines' estate will provide exceptionally gifted low-income students with free musical instruction and the campus's music library with his collection of papers, compositions and memorabilia. Hines' musical archive will become the cornerstone at the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library of a new Archive of African American Music, which would be unique on the West Coast.
(08 December)

Art museum project alternate plan due early next year
UC Berkeley’s plans for a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) are being modified due to lingering economic uncertainty, museum and university officials announced today (Wednesday, Nov. 18).
(18 November)

BAM/PFA kicks off edgy Friday night series
L@TE nights at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive aim to bring in fresh energy with outside-the-box programs organized by guest curators. The new Friday evening series begins Nov. 6.
(06 November)

Scholar of native textiles to head anthropology museum
Anthropologist Mari Lyn Salvador, a scholar of Panama’s native Kuna people and the textiles that they create and an experienced museum professional, has been named director of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the UC Berkeley. Salvador is scheduled to take the new post in late November.
(05 November)

Ken Ueno premieres new composition
Composer and assistant professor of music Ken Ueno said the audience at Monday's San Francisco premiere of his new musical composition, "Archaeologies of the Future," heard sounds they likely never heard before.
(04 November)

A zombie invasion
The post-9/11 proliferation of zombie movies tells us a lot about society's fears — and gives us a safe place to experience them. Now zombies are giving way to vampires, and students in the "Monster Movies" media studies class are learning why.
(27 October)

The Wizard of Odd
Making music goes far beyond putting notes together to create pleasing sounds for saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, who prefers to think of himself as a "decomposer, someone who takes things apart." Shorter and his acoustic quartet will dismantle Zellerbach Hall when they perform there Oct. 17.
(15 October)

Fernando Botero exhibit exploring Abu Ghraib abuses opens at Berkeley Art Museum
An exhibition of 56 powerful paintings and drawings by Colombian artist Fernando Botero about abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq opens Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the University of California, Berkeley's Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA).
(17 September)

Bancroft's Darwin exhibit taps campus's museum, library collections
An exhibit revealing what inspired and challenged the world's best known biologist, Charles Darwin, is now open at the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. The Bancroft joins a worldwide commemoration not only of Darwin's bicentenary, but of the 150th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, "The Origin of Species."
(17 September)

Simon Karlinsky, scholar of Russian classic and émigré literature, dies at 84
Simon Karlinsky, a University of California, Berkeley, professor of Slavic languages and literature and a pioneering scholar of Russian classic and émigré literature, died in his Berkeley home on July 5 of congestive heart failure. He was 84.
(28 July)

Linguists attending international institute
Hundreds of linguists from around the world are gathering at the University of California, Berkeley, through Aug. 13 to weigh thorny issues such as where grammar comes from, what infants learn before they talk, what DNA says about how related languages spread, and the "linguistically modern man."
(13 July)

Betty Connors, longtime director of Cal Performances' predecessor, dies at 92
Betty Connors, who for 35 years led the UC Berkeley performing arts organization that ultimately became Cal Performances, died on Thursday, June 11, at her home in Richmond. She was 92.
(15 June)

A summer's worth of science writing
The annual Summer Reading List is a Berkeley tradition. Entering freshmen (and the rest of us) stock our beach bags with books recommended by campus staff and faculty — this year, on the theme of science.
(12 June)

Three faculty members elected to American Philosophical Society
Three University of California, Berkeley, faculty members have been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society comprised of nearly 1,000 eminent scholars from a broad range of disciplines.
(01 June)

Matías Tarnopolsky new director of Cal Performances
Robert Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, today (Wednesday, May 20) announced the appointment of Matías Tarnopolsky as director of Cal Performances. The announcement was made at a press conference in Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.
(20 May)

'Passion and romance and love'
A new Berkeley Art Museum exhibit showcases the work of six artists grappling with the power of their media to effect social change.
(01 May)

Bravo, maestro, bravo!
Longtime Cal Performances director Robert Cole, who will step down this August, announces the arts organization's 2009-10 season.The arts impresario also reflects on some of his favorite events during his 23 years at Cal Performances' helm.
(23 April)

Plugging away at the riddle of consciousness
Over the course of his 50 years on campus, John Searle — among Berkeley's most distinguished and engaged public intellectuals — has explored the philosophy of language, to worldwide renown. He's also gotten in some skiing.
(23 April)

New Mark Twain book hits store shelves
As a collection of 24 previously unpublished works by Samuel Clemens – aka Mark Twain – hits bookstore shelves, the general editor of the Bancroft Library's Mark Twain Papers & Project says Clemens is very much still worth reading.
(21 April)

Four professors become arts and sciences academy fellows
Four UC Berkeley professors are among the latest leaders in the arts, humanities and sciences named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences today (Monday, April 20).
(20 April)

JUDITH BUTLER: Thinking critically about war
A leading voice in the developing intellectual field of critical theory has received a $1.5 million Mellon Foundation award that she’ll use to create a “Thinking Critically About War” program at Berkeley.
(02 April)

Japanese architect Toyo Ito to visit campus
Acclaimed Japanese architect Toyo Ito will visit the UC Berkeley campus this month to discuss contemporary Japanese architecture and to attend an open house about the new Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, which he designed.
(02 April)

Judith Butler wins Mellon Award
Judith Butler, a UC Berkeley professor of comparative literature and rhetoric, is a winner of the 2008 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award.
(19 March)

Never the Twain shall print?
Though held back from publication by Twain himself, these varied pieces, his anthologizer says, are “well crafted, clear, and wickedly funny.”
(19 March)

New Mark Twain book offers fresh insights into author
Fans of another famous author, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, best known by his pen name, Mark Twain, will likely be lining up for "Who is Mark Twain?" – an intriguing collection of two dozen previously unpublished sketches and essays by Twain that will be in bookstores on April 21. The materials come from The Mark Twain Papers and Project at UC Berkeley.
(17 March)

Paint, video, Etch A Sketch — this artist's media are varied and many
Grad-student artist Miguel Arzabe explores his complicated appreciation of nature using a wide assortment of media — paint, video, laser etchings, online social-networking tools, public enactments and installations, and the Etch A Sketch.
(03 March)

Student photos of foreclosed home win Lange Fellowship
Photographs of possessions left in a Vallejo, Calif., home following foreclosure, an all-too-familiar contemporary event across the nation, have earned journalism student Rhyen Coombs the University of California, Berkeley's 2009 Dorothea Lange Fellowship.
(25 February)

What's cooking at the Library?
A tour through the most appetizing stacks on campus — the culinary collection in Berkeley's Koshland bioscience library.
(12 February)

A 'hot new journal' turns 25
Growing out of, and informing, the New Historicist movement, the journal Representations celebrates a quarter century of interdisciplinary work.
(05 February)

Japanese Studies Center honors Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Actor and director Clint Eastwood will receive the first-ever Berkeley Japan New Vision Award from the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies on Friday, Jan. 23, for his role in creating a new vision of Japan - particularly during World War II - through his award-winning film, "Letters from Iwo Jima."
(21 January)