Supporting the Humanities at UC Berkeley

Shu-han Luo Photo

Shu-han Luo is a new faculty member in English who specializes in medieval literature. 

She is at work on a book that examines Old English poetry, Tang Chinese verse, and later imperial commentary in an effort to deepen our understanding of aesthetic experience in early medieval England.

This semester she teaches Introduction to Old English, which gives students the tools to read the earliest texts written in English — including heroic poetry, travel narratives, and riddles.

 

Arts Building Sign in Cyrillic Text

The Critical Approaches to Russia's "Peripheries" working group focuses on the relationship of Russia to its so-called "peripheries."

It considers the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and post-Soviet countries alongside Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Siberia/the Russian Far East, to query the linkages and discontinuities that constitute Russia’s “near abroad.”

 

Faculty Books

Sara Guyer Color Photo

Dean of Arts & Humanities Sara Guyer directed the newly published World Humanities Report, a 6-year investigation into the state of the humanities globally. The report demonstrates the vitality of humanities research around the world and articulates policy recommendations.

This ambitious undertaking is the product of 230 scholars who consider the humanities within the specific contexts of 9 global regions. The report makes recommendations for safeguarding the humanities, including investing in humanities research, protecting freedom of inquiry as a right, preserving archives, and supporting languages and multilingualism.