Their new perspectives and ideas “help us imagine a world that doesn’t yet exist,” says Sara Guyer, dean of UC Berkeley’s Division of Arts and Humanities
October 20, 2023 | news.berkeley.edu
The recent hire of 10 faculty members in UC Berkeley’s Division of Arts and Humanities is “the largest arts hire in recent years, and it shines a light on the important role that artists play at a public research university,” said Sara Guyer, dean of the division.
These new scholars, welcomed to campus to continue Berkeley’s legacy of shaping cultural movements, generational narratives and historical moments, are at the forefront of their respective fields in poetry and creative writing, ethnomusicology, world cinema, printmaking, painting, theater directing and other fields. Their hiring was modeled after a cluster hire — an approach in which multiple scholars are hired into one or more departments based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests — to provide them with an intentional community of practice.
“The arts at Berkeley help to shape the conversations we have, the research we do, and guide us toward our commitment to the greater good,” said Guyer. “These faculty bring new perspectives and ideas to campus — from their studios, classrooms and screens — that help us to imagine a world that doesn’t yet exist.”
She added that Berkeley’s arts departments are experiencing “an incredible amount of interest, and we’re seeing enrollments rise in art practice, music, and film and media studies, in particular, especially as incoming undergraduates understand how the arts provide an arena for creative problem-solving, storytelling and critical inquiry.”
Of the new faculty members, Ja:göh Luanne Redeye (Allegany Territory, Hawk clan) who was newly hired as Assistant Professor in the Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley.
Having grown up on the Allegany Indian Reservation in Western New York, and as an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians and Hawk Clan, Redeye incorporates community, family and culture into her work. Her collections have been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Seneca Art and Culture Center at Ganondagan, the Institute of American Indian Arts, Saint Lawrence University, the New York State Museum and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.
