UPCOMING EVENTS

April, 24, 4:30-5:45 pm: Judith Van Der Elst "Exploring the Perceptual Grounding of Spatial Ontologies" Digital and virtual information systems and technologies applied in the humanities have enabled the experience of cultural material expression in innovative ways, often with one of its objectives to experience the past ‘how it was’. Even though technological innovation to bring other worlds alive is impressive, my research questions the theoretical foundation of these developments and the influence of systems design and ontology on reifying a specific worldview. This seminar presents a broad overview of literature regarding the human experience from different disciplinary perspectives. It is specifically concerned with differences in spatial cognition among humans, related to differences in principles of design, but affecting all aspects of past and present life. Instead of accepting that digital and virtual systems can represent and facilitate all human experience, this seminar discussion will then focus on sensoral and perceptual differences underpinning human cognition compared to the assumption of universality that guide much of technological development and innovation. Acknowledging and understanding different perceptual and conceptual structures in human thinking is necessary to develop systems that augment rather than substitute for human sensing.
SSM 154 (Click here for details)

May 2, 2012, 3pm: Katherine Jellison, "It's Our Day: America's Love Affair with the White Wedding"   In her book, It's Our Day: America's Love Affair with the White Wedding,1945-2005,(University Press of Kansas, 2008), Professor of History Katherine Jellison examines how-in the face of extraordinary social, cultural, political, and economic change-the white wedding maintained its staying power in the six decades between 1945 and 2005. In discussing this question, the book in turn addresses how the white wedding continued to function as a means for socializing Americans into dominant cultural standards-even as those norms dramatically altered.  Classroom and Office Building 322 Willow Room. (Click here for details)

ONGOING EVENTS

Chicano/a Literature Series- The Chicano/a Literature Series at UC Merced started in the fall of 2005, as a forum to bring major Chicano/a writers, scholars, and artists to UC Merced.  For information on forthcoming events, please contact the series organizer, Dr. Manuel M. Martín-Rodríguez,
mmartin-rodriguez@ucmerced.edu (or Click here)

PAST EVENTS (Click here to view CRHA past events)

PRINTABLE CAMPUS MAP (Click here for a campus map)