Supporting the Humanities at UC Berkeley

Liesl Yamaguchi Photo

Liesl Yamaguchi is a new faculty member in French who specializes in 19th-century French literature.

Her forthcoming book, On the Colors of Vowels: Thinking through Synesthesia, studies how synesthesia came to be constituted as a modern scientific object, and how it was employed by both poets and scientists in the 19th century.

This fall she teaches a course on 19th-century French novels and their representation of the housing crisis in Paris.

 

Gold Astrolabe on Red Background Photo

The History and Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Science working group examines issues at the intersection of mathematics, philosophy, intellectual history, and science. 

These include philosophical problems in the foundations of mathematics and physics, the justification of assumptions inherent in scientific practice, and the application of psychological results to questions in philosophy.

Stephens Hall September 2023 by E. Kotila

Since its establishment in 1987, the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley has encouraged an interdisciplinary approach to scholarship, fostered innovative research, and promoted intellectual conversation across academic fields.

The Center offers an array of fellowship and grant opportunities for Berkeley’s academic community, develops new academic initiatives, and offers numerous public events, including the Avenali and Una’s endowed lectures in the humanities.

Adam Gopnik Color Photo

New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik spoke at the Townsend Center in April 2024.

He said that liberal democracy depends on two pillars: free and fair elections, and the existence of open institutions where people can meet and debate without overt supervision. Such spaces of “commonplace civilization,” including cafes and parks, enable democratic elections to “reform, accelerate, and improve.” 

Listen to Gopnik's lecture on the Berkeley Talks podcast series.