Global Insights
Perspectives on World Affairs at UCLA
Korean Classics for a Wider Audience
Thirteen Korean historical, religious, and philosophical classics will be introduced to English readers under a translation project coordinated by the UCLA Center for Buddhist Studies.
Posted: 9/26/2008
1st Terasaki Postdoc Studies Wartime Japan's Visions
On leave from Arizona State University, Aaron Moore will conduct research and teach about the relationships between technology, modernity, and empire.
Posted: 9/25/2008
Can't See the Forest for the Trees
Researchers argue that its time to see beyond the myth of the pristine forest to gain a truer understanding of humankinds interactions with the natural landscape.
Posted: 9/25/2008
Law School Receives $4 Million for Clinic on International Justice
The School of Law has received a $4 million endowment to establish a program on international justice and human rights, the first such program at any law school on the West Coast. The donation was made by Sanela Diana Jenkins, a survivor of the war in Bosnia who now lives and works in California and London.
Posted: 9/22/2008
UCLA Study of Satellite Imagery Casts Doubt on Surge's Success in Baghdad
Night light in neighborhoods populated primarily by embattled Sunni residents declined dramatically just before the February 2007 surge and never returned, suggesting that ethnic cleansing by rival Shiites may have been largely responsible for the decrease in violence for which the U.S. military has claimed credit.
Posted: 9/19/2008
Burkle Center Board Member Wins Prestigious Book Awards
September 17, 2008
Posted: 9/17/2008
The Bird in the Top of the Tree
Alain Mabanckou left behind a legal career to achieve acclaim as a poet, a biographer, and an award-winning novelist.
Posted: 9/17/2008
Hip Hop Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: Local Perspectives from the Global Hip Hop Nation
A year-long film screening/speaker series exploring the local permutations of Hip Hop Culture in the Middle East and North Africa within the widely varying configurations of language, culture, politics, and religion in the region.
Posted: 9/16/2008
UCLA Professor Teaches Short Course in Brazil
William Summerhill is Professor of History at UCLA. His research focuses on the determinants of long-run political and economic change in Latin America.
Posted: 9/9/2008
Seeking 'Spatial Justice' for World's Disabled
Victor Pineda, a doctoral student in urban planning, will return to Dubai on a Fulbright-Hays award in December to monitor the implementation of an ambitious disability rights law. He argues that the built environments we live in largely determine our abilities and who we are.
Posted: 9/5/2008
Senior Fellow Dr. Suphamongkhon on BBC Global News
On Tuesday, September 9, 2008, at 8PM, Kantathi Suphamongkhon will participate in a discussion to be heard via the BBC Global News, Public Radio International and KPCC (89.3).
Posted: 9/3/2008
Taking Health Care to Rural India
Undergrads travel to India as volunteers for Project RISHI (Rural India Social and Health Improvement), a nonprofit organization committed to developing and transforming the poorest of Indian villages into progressive and modern communities.
Posted: 9/2/2008
Artists Visit Advanced Chinese Class at UCLA
Award winners in paper cutting and folk dance come at the invitation of the Confucius Institute and others.
Posted: 8/28/2008
Heritage Classes Aim for Preservation
A heritage language is a language spoken fluently at home by someone who has little or no formal schooling in the language and therefore may have trouble reading and writing. The National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA has created summer courses to help high school students in Russian and Persian.
Posted: 8/26/2008
From Georgia, a Young Mediator Reaches Out for Help
Daily Journal, August 25, 2008
Posted: 8/25/2008
World Festival of Sacred Music Showcases 1,000 Artists in 16 Days
From Sept. 13 to Sept. 28, what Judy Mitoma calls the "miracle" of the fourth festival will happen, and, again, the breadth of it is breathtaking.
Posted: 8/22/2008
Fowler Exhibition Explores Human Side of Mexican Migration
Featuring paintings, works on paper, photographs, video and installations, the bilingual exhibition, which runs from Oct. 5 through Dec. 28, examines the struggles and visions of Mexican migrants, as well as the ways in which their spiritual practices are engaged during difficult journeys.
Posted: 8/21/2008
Korean Studies Graduate Student Colloquium
Beginning in the fall of 2008 there will be a student initiated and run Korean Studies Graduate Student Colloquium.
Posted: 8/15/2008
UCLA Center to Present World Festival of Sacred Music
For 16 days in September, the 2008 World Festival of Sacred Music - Los Angeles will present nearly a thousand artists performing in 41 sacred events of music and movement throughout Los Angeles, crossing neighborhoods and cultural, religious and ideological boundaries in the spirit of peace.
Posted: 8/13/2008
Diplomat Concludes K-12 Training With Talk on Caspian Region
The world history teachers in a two-week training workshop at UCLA learned about Azerbaijan and its neighbors from the country's representative in Los Angeles. Consul General Elin Suleymanov also expressed concern about Russian military action in the Caucasus at the lunchtime talk.
Posted: 8/12/2008
UCLA Summer Program Strengthens Writing Skills for Korean Students
A group of 86 Korean students are enhancing their English reading and writing skills for four weeks through the UCLA Writing Project, housed at the university's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.
Posted: 8/6/2008
Bruins in Beijing: UCLA at the 2008 Olympic Games
The UCLA Newsroom has invited UCLA athletes, coaches, students and alumni to produce a weblog from the Beijing Olympics.
Posted: 8/5/2008
East and West Divided by Long, Bitter History
UCLA Professor Anthony Pagden's "Worlds at War" lays the historical groundwork for the political thinking that many feel is badly needed in our globalized post-9/11 world. In a wide-ranging interview, Pagden talked to Today Staff Writer Ajay Singh about what separates the West from the non-West and how the East-West divide might be bridged.
Posted: 8/5/2008
UCLA Helps High School Students to Master the Languages of Home
Two summer courses on campus for the high school set, Persian for Persian Speakers and Russian for Russian Speakers, are about acquiring the skills to impress in languages that L.A.-area students have used since they were small children. The UCLA Center for World Languages created the courses with federal funding.
Posted: 8/4/2008
Course Saves Debate for the Chat Room
Although the international crowd in Dr. Sami Chetrit's "Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Film" shares opinions in class, the students open up more in the password-protected space of an online chat board.
Posted: 7/31/2008
Professor Timothy Rice Receives Award from the Bulgarian President
Photo: Timothy Rice and UCLA guests in the foyer of the Bulgarian Presidency; from left to right: Radka Varimezova, Angela Rodel, Ivan Varimezov, Timothy Rice, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Tanya Varimezova, and Russell Schuh.
Posted: 7/30/2008
'Children of the Atomic Bomb' Website Honors Hiroshima, Nagasaki Victims
Commemorating victims of the blasts and presenting scientific findings about long-term effects of the atomic bomb, the website argues poignantly for non-nuclear proliferation.
Posted: 7/28/2008
Area Teachers Get Their History, Social Studies at Institute's Workshops
In all, more than 70 K-12 teachers will attend three summer workshops hosted within the International Institute, paying modest fees and earning salary points from their districts or continuing education credits from UCLA Extension. The first 2008 worshop looked at labor in Latin America from every angle.
Posted: 7/25/2008
Around the World on Solar Power
Louis Palmer, who launched his journey last July from his hometown of Lucerne, Switzerland, talked with students, faculty, media and others who gathered to take a look at, and take a ride in, the unique vehicle. His visit was hosted by engineering Ph.D. candidate Tony Pereira and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Posted: 7/23/2008
AASC Launches Website to Commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Dr. James N. Yamazaki, who created the resource, "Children of the Atomic Bomb," urges humankind to act upon new medical and scientific knowledge about the long-term effects of nuclear bombing.
Posted: 7/21/2008
UCLA to Have Large Presence at 2008 Olympic Games
Bruins to send a total of 36 athletes and coaches to Beijing
Posted: 7/21/2008
Fowler Shows Art From Oaxacan Struggle
The Los Angeles Times highlights the Fowler Museum at UCLAs current exhibition of wood-block and stencil protest art created by members of the Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca during the social and political unrest that rocked the Mexican state in 2006.
Posted: 7/18/2008
Fowler Receives Donation of Japanese Textiles
The addition of the Krauss Collection nearly doubles the size of the museum's existing holdings of Japanese textiles, making the Fowler an important destination for scholars of Japan's textile arts.
Posted: 7/17/2008
Of Sheiks & Cinema
Jonathan Friedlander has spent 30 years collecting pop culture artifacts that reflect our fascination with the Middle East. Books, movies, videos, even cigarette packs are part of the tireless UCLA scholar's collection of Orientalist Americana at the Young Research Library. Now he's traveling the U.S. to photograph the majestic, Orientalist movie palaces of the 20th century before they're all torn down or turned into drugstores.
Posted: 7/16/2008
Op-Ed: The World is Looking to Obama and America
UCLA Today, July 15, 2008
Posted: 7/15/2008
Teach Africa Launches SoCal K-12 Program at UCLA
Teach Africa advocates more and better teaching about the continent in the schools. The launch event brought distinguished guests to UCLA along with high-schoolers and teachers back from a Ugandan trip.
Posted: 7/11/2008
LA Times Highlights Good Deeds of Islamic Studies Graduate
Parisa Popalzai received a PhD in Islamic Studies from the UCLA International Institute in the 2008 winter quarter. Soon she'll be off to help Afghan copatriots in two big endeavors.
Posted: 7/10/2008
Summer Program Strengthens Research, Cultural Ties with China
Chinese students receive cross-disciplinary training in science and technology.
Posted: 7/10/2008
Practical Math Problems Bring US, Foreign Students Together for Summer
UCLA's Research in Industrial Projects for Students program invites undergraduates from around the country and the world to work on mathematical challenges with applications in biotech, information technology, filmmaking, and more.
Posted: 7/8/2008
18 Win Gilman Scholarships
UCLA is on track for a record in 2008-09. The study-abroad scholarships are based on need and merit, with a preference for those with ethnic backgrounds who are interested in studying outside of Western Europe and Australia.
Posted: 7/1/2008
Archaeologists Hope to Reach Accord in Mideast
The authors of this op-ed, scholars at USC and UCLA, created the Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group to determine what archaeological material is disputed and to formulate recommendations for policymakers.
Posted: 7/1/2008
UCLA Students Providing Tsunami Relief in Thai Fishing Villages
As part of the program, students will work with village residents to regenerate mangroves to fight erosion and resist disasters, and to identify and propagate local species that promise the greatest biodiversity and sustainability.
Posted: 6/28/2008
Burkle Center Director Featured on BigThink.com
BigThink.com, June 16, 2008
Posted: 6/27/2008
Adventures at Ancient Digs Await Students
Students joining archaeological expeditions isn't new, but a Cotsen Institute partnership with UCLA's International Education Office takes it to a new level.
Posted: 6/25/2008
Dig In, Archaeology Fans!
UCLA blogs to offer front-row seat at archaeology digs.
Posted: 6/25/2008
Diplomats View High-Tech Health at Ronald Reagan Medical Center
The International Institute hosts a visit by ambassadors and top envoys to the United States from 42 countries.
Posted: 6/24/2008
New Terasaki Chair and Postdoctoral Fellow
The Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies announces two new appointments for the '08-'09 academic year.
Posted: 6/24/2008
Teaching Africa in L.A.'s Schools
UCLA partners with government, nonprofits on Teach Africa. To jump-start the Southern California launch, the sponsors hosted a group of three high school students and three public school teachers on a trip to Uganda this month.
Posted: 6/24/2008
UCLA Exchange with East China Normal University Promotes International Collaborative Research
Jianbo Dong is UCLA's first visiting scholar through its exchange agreement with ECNU.
Posted: 6/23/2008
Architecture Students Work Hand-in-Hand With Chinese Peers
In the China Studio program run by UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design, bicultural student teams design important structures. Back at UCLA, young Chinese architects share their perspectives and get grilled in English. It's not your typical exchange program.
Posted: 6/20/2008
Tibetan Gift to Library
A Tibetan monk and two Americans dedicated to the Bon tradition of Tibet, an ancient religion that influenced Tibetan Buddhism, deliver a digitized copy of canonical Bon texts to the UCLA Library and Center for Buddhist Studies.
Posted: 6/18/2008
360 Take International Institute Degrees in 2007-08
Kantathi Suphamongkhon, a UCLA graduate and former Thai foreign minister, delivered the Institute's special commencement address. Listen to the podcast.
Posted: 6/17/2008
CISA Faculty Fellowship Recipients
CISA faculty projects for the upcoming year.
Posted: 6/17/2008
Nearly 60 Foreign Diplomats to Tour New UCLA Medical Center June 23
Hosted by the UCLA International Institute, the visit is part of the first West Coast Experience trip for Washington diplomats.
Posted: 6/17/2008
Scalia's Fear Factor
His dissent in a key terror case makes it harder to solve the Gitmo problem, writes UCLA's David Kaye in The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: 6/16/2008
Conference on US-Mexican Issues Caps Off Term
In late May and early June, the Latin American Institute put on a conference addressing issues of policy in U.S.-Mexican relations and sponsored a classical music concert benefitting the UCLA Mexican Arts series, along with other events.
Posted: 6/10/2008
Dedicated Graduates Spend Summer Improving Global Public Health
Three graduates will spend their summers, and beyond, working to improve the state of public health in far-flung corners of the globe.
Posted: 6/9/2008
Foreign Students Face US Job Market
Graduates find rewards and consequences for international origins
Posted: 6/9/2008
Immersion Experiences
People come to America from around the world...to lose their native languages. As part of a national, UCLA-based effort that aims to reverse language loss, Terrence Wiley of Arizona State University and his graduate students are pointing out the importance of local resources, ethnic media, and community-based language teaching.
Posted: 6/5/2008
Crossing the Sectarian Divide in Lebanon
UCLA Fulbright Coordinator Ann Kerr reflects on her visit to Lebanon in early May.
Posted: 6/3/2008
Domesticating the Harem
A doctoral student in art history reconsiders 'zenana' (female household) imagery in 19th- and early 20th-century India.
Posted: 6/3/2008
Initiation of Women's Studies Collaboration
A Swedish academic visits UCLA to begin an exchange program with the Center for the Study of Women and to present research. Professor Britta Lundgren also meets with the Vice Provost and Dean of the International Institute.
Posted: 6/3/2008
Campus Responds to China Earthquake
After the quake, staff, faculty and students across UCLA's campus reached out to help the tens of thousands of people impacted by the temblor. Chancellor Gene Block will visit China in late June in a long-planned trip that will gain new significance as he explores how UCLA can help in the aftermath of the quake.
Posted: 6/2/2008
Globalization: Can Poor Nations Catch Up?
UCLA Today Online, May 27, 2008
Posted: 5/27/2008
Manga's Working-Class Heroes
Historian Yoshikuni Igarashi explains how two celebrated Japanese comic book characters embodied the hopes and fears of Japan's postwar middle class.
Posted: 5/21/2008
A Passion for Learning While Serving
As the driving force behind a string of courses aimed at strengthening UCLA's ties to the Spanish-speaking community in Los Angeles, Plann was recently named by the Academic Senate as the faculty winner of the 2008 Fair and Open Academic Environment Award.
Posted: 5/20/2008
Art and AIDS
AIDS/SIDA symposium mixes one part science and one part art to raise awareness about HIV prevention and the treatment of the disease. View a slideshow from the event.
Posted: 5/20/2008
In Memoriam - Roxanna Maude Brown
Brief obituary for esteemed UCLA alumna
Posted: 5/20/2008
UN Ambassador: Human Dignity is Solution to Middle East Peace
Transforming the Middle East will not be easy, quick or cheap, warned Khalilzad, who served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq and his native Afghanistan in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
Posted: 5/20/2008
Unsettled Deep in Asia
With a film screening and a panel discussion, the UCLA Asia Institute and partners launch a Central Asia Initiative. The goal is to understand societies and cultures long on the fringes of study. Anticipating a UCLA conference in October 2008, historians on the panel ask what changed on the steppes of Central Asia as states acquired the means to move and deport whole peoples, and as nomads increasingly stayed put.
Posted: 5/19/2008
Collecting Contemporary Chinese Art
A talk by Rebecca Morse (Assistant Curator, MOCA) **
May 28, 2008 **
2 - 3:30 pm
Posted: 5/18/2008
God and a Few Close Friends
Rebecca Kim discusses why ethnic-oriented, collegiate Christian groups grow faster than multi-racial ones.
Posted: 5/13/2008
European Classical Meets Japanese Nagauta
Terasaki Chair Thomas Rimer discusses the beginnings of Western classical music in Japan and the life of Japan's first well-known composer.
Posted: 5/8/2008
Film Notes: Three Romanian Movies
Denise Roman of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women discusses "Belonging and Corporeality in the New Wave of Romanian Cinema."
Posted: 5/7/2008
Ravishing
On May 7th, MAKE ART/STOP AIDS and the International Institute will host AIDS|SIDA - Global Updates, Art, and Performance, from 1 to 5pm, Kaufman Hall 200. Noel Alumit reviews the exhibition now at the Fowler Museum.
Posted: 5/7/2008
