Exhibits

UCI Stories exhibit opens Monday, May 23

May 20, 2016 by Christine Deborah Kim 1 Comment

Ready for 50+ anteater antics told through conversations between former and current anteaters? Zot zot! Anteaters come together to share memories, events, and changes throughout UC Irvine’s 50 years of history.

The UCI Libraries announce the opening of an exciting new exhibit called UCI Stories: 50th Anniversary Oral History Project, on Monday, May 23rd at 6:30PM in Langson Library, UCI. RSVP here: http://partners.lib.uci.edu/ucistories/rsvp

Inspired and imprinted with words spoken during the filmed oral histories, UCI Stories highlights the bright past and brilliant future of UCI through the memories, reflections, and predictions of its community. Artfully curated quotes of campus leaders, innovators, alumni, faculty and staff, document how over the past 50 years, UCI has given birth to generations of community-oriented difference-makers driven by a pioneering spirit that has permeated the campus long before a physical building ever stood on the land. UCI Stories captures how this spirit glues UCI together, and often after graduation calls Anteaters back home. Every great story has three main parts: characters with whom you can identify, a memorable and imaginable setting, and a plot based on the unexpected experiences of protagonists. This is UCI Stories.

Opening night speakers are Robert Cohen (UCI Claire Trevor Professor of Drama, Emeritus/Founding Faculty), Jenny Doh ’91 (UCI’s First Student Regent/Past President, UCI Alumni Association), Elizabeth Toomey (Daughter of Founding Chancellor Aldrich/Retired UCI Assistant Vice Chancellor, Community and Government Relations), and Joseph L. White (UCI Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Psychiatry), will engage in a fascinating conversation on UCI’s history and thoughts for the future; with panel moderation by Krystal Tribbett, UCI Libraries 50th Anniversary Project Historian.

The program will be followed by a light reception and exhibit viewing in Langson Library, UCI. The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited; reservations are first come, first served.

Please go to http://partners.lib.uci.edu/ucistories/rsvp to make an online reservation. For further information please call 949.824.4651 or email partners@uci.edu.

The UCI Stories Project is a unique oral history project, launched by UCI Libraries, that pairs over 100 UCI affiliates for dynamic conversations to commemorate UCI’s 50th Anniversary. The reminiscences collected offer first-hand perspectives that tell the multifaceted story of UCI’s intellectual contributions, key turning points, and unique legacy. The UCI Libraries’ 50th Anniversary Exhibit, “UCI Stories” is a product of this effort.

More information is available here: http://news.lib.uci.edu/events/spring-2016-exhibit-opening-uci-stories

Through Discerning Eyes: The Origin and Impact of Critical Theory at UCI – Exhibit Opening

April 15, 2015 by Alexandra M. Bisio Leave a Comment

The new library exhibit, Through Discerning Eyes: the Origin and Impact of Critical Theory at UCI, opened in the Langson lobby last week on Thursday April 9^th.

Foundations in Comparative Literature and English

Through Discerning Eyes explores the development of UC Irvine’s Critical Theory Emphasis program from its roots in the School of Humanities’ department of Comparative Literature and English, to its current focus on interdisciplinary study. It also highlights the impact that UCI’s critical theory faculty have on the state of theory internationally, and the program’s continued success today as a degree emphasis for UCI graduate students.

The exhibit showcases the personal papers of many famous thinkers, such as Jacques Derrida and J. Hillis Miller, housed in UCI Libraries Special Collections and Archives’ Critical Theory Archive. Also on display will be several other documents from both the Critical Theory Archive and University Archives in recognition of UCI’s 50th Anniversary.

Critical Theory Archive case featuring an exam essay by Jacques Derrida

On Thursday evening following opening remarks by University Librarian, Lorelei Tanji, Dr. George Van Den Abbeele, Dean of the School of Humanities, presented an eloquent history of theory and UCI’s unique place in the development of literary and critical thought. To close his presentation, Dean Van Den Abbeele took comments from faculty, emeriti, staff, and students, many of whom shared their own memories and experiences with the Critical Theory Emphasis and Institute. Some audience members also shared their vision for the future of critical theory and the study of theory at UCI.

The First Annual Critical Theory Institute Conference: Is Theory Critical?

During the School of Humanities’ and UCI Libraries’ First Annual Critical Theory Institute Conference, participants in the opening Friday in Langson Library will have the opportunity to tour the exhibit with curators Alexandra Bisio and Matthew Roberts, as well as the Critical Theory Archive.

Through Discerning Eyes will be on display in the Muriel Ansley Reynolds Gallery through August 2015.

Sneak Preview – Spring 2015 Langson Library Exhibit

February 6, 2015 by Alexandra M. Bisio Leave a Comment

The Langson Library exhibit “From Bean to Brew: Coffee and Culture,” has kept us warm these long winter months with delicious facts about the energizing beverage that perks our campus up on foggy California mornings and keeps us going through first quarter finals. In “From Bean to Brew,” we learned that UCI students are part of a long tradition of intellectuals “measuring their lives in coffee spoons” and fueling their synapses with the hallowed brew. Turing from the brain fuel to the brain, this spring we’ll explore the intellectual legacy of one of UCI’s most innovative and influential academic programs, the Critical Theory Emphasis, and its world renown faculty.

Since the late 1960s, the Critical Theory program at the University of California, Irvine has allowed scholars from a broad range of disciplines to think deeply about the theoretical basis of their specialties and challenge the traditional frameworks that surround their fields of study. One of the first programs of its kind, UCI’s Critical Theory Emphasis and its key faculty played a crucial role in the support and development of the study of theory in universities around the world. This exhibit, “Through Discerning Eyes: The Origin and Impact of Critical Theory at UCI,” will explore the development of this program, its peak in the 1990s, its international impact on the state of theory, and its continued success today.

The curators of this exhibit are hard at work going through collections in the University and Critical Theory Archives making selections, designing layouts, and writing text. The exhibit it scheduled to open in early April. Dean of the School of Humanities, Georges van den Abeele, whose research focuses on French and European philosophical literature, critical theory, and aesthetics will present a lecture as part of the exhibit opening on April ^9th.

New Exhibit – Fashionable Dance: The Costume Designs of Professor Bernard Johnson

November 13, 2014 by Steve MacLeod Leave a Comment

An exhibit featuring original costume designs by former UCI faculty member Bernard Johnson is now on display in Special Collections & Archives. The designs are part of the Bernard Johnson papers, a newly processed archival collection available for research.

Bernard Johnson (1936-1997) was a dancer, costume designer, director, choreographer, and teacher who amassed an extensive list of credits working in theatre, television, and film. In 1991, on the recommendation of UC Irvine dance professor and choreographer Donald McKayle, Johnson was recruited as the first UCI professor of costume design for dancers, obtaining an appointment as an assistant professor of dance. He taught students how to draw designs, create patterns, sew, and choose and work with different patterns. He also designed costumes for faculty and student concerts.

The costume designs of Bernard Johnson represent the artistic crossroads of fashion and dance. Johnson’s identity as dancer and designer is reflected in his art, rich in color, character, and movement. His work illustrates both the role of design in supporting the storytelling function of theatre and dance and the aesthetic merit of costume design as a visual art in its own right.

The works selected for the exhibit showcase the diversity of Johnson’s costume styles, media, and draftsmanship. Johnson worked in pencil, marker, pastel, pen and ink, and paint, and executed his designs with varying levels of detail. While some depict carefully crafted figures with nuanced gradients of color, others are minimalistic line drawings or quick sketches. His representation of movement is similarly versatile, ranging from intense athleticism to statuesque stillness. The costumed characters featured in his designs emerge from historical and fantastical narratives and timelines, and serve as a testament to the creative environments in which Johnson participated.

The Bernard Johnson papers (MS-P053) are part of Special Collections & Archives’ performing arts collections. The papers were processed in Spring 2014 by intern Judy Chou, graduate student in Library & Information Science at San José State University. The items featured in the exhibit were selected by Judy Chou and Archivist Sara Seltzer.

Fashionable Dance will be on display through mid-December in the Special Collections & Archives lobby on the 5th floor of Langson Library, Room 525.

For further information about the exhibit or the Bernard Johnson papers, please contact Steve MacLeod, Special Collections and Archives Public Services Librarian at 949.824.4967 or smacleod@uci.edu

New Exhibit — Ward Ritchie and Laguna Verde Imprenta

March 17, 2014 by Steve MacLeod Leave a Comment

Ward Ritchie (1905-1996) was one of the premier printers, book designers, and printing historians in Los Angeles in the 20th century. In his long and distinguished career, he designed, printed and published hundreds of books. Upon retirement in 1972, Ward Ritchie and his wife Marka moved to their summer house in Laguna Beach, on a slope above Emerald Bay. Ritchie bought an 1835 Albion hand press and had it installed in his studio in their home. There he began printing small editions, usually less than 50 copies, of books under the press name Laguna Verde Imprenta. He chose books that he liked and enjoyed, this was not primarily a commercial venture. He wrote many of the books, often about his friends like Robinson Jeffers and Lawrence Clark Powell. His motivation was often purely fun. Most of the books were printed on dampened, handmade papers. This exhibit, in the Special Collections and Archives lobby, tells the story of Ward Ritchie’s press Laguna Verde Imprenta and the wonderful books that he produced in this last phase of his life. This exhibit will end on Friday, May 30, 2014.