UC SANTA BARBARA

Author: Dana Welch

What UCSB’s Mona Damluji ‘Wants You to Know’ About her new Children’s Book

By Sally Shapiro When UC Santa Barbara professor Mona Damluji finished her first children’s book, “Together,” she imagined a parent sitting down with their child, opening the book, and reading her words aloud— filling the room with unity and action. “It’s something that enters someone’s home or a classroom, and it becomes part of a … Continued

Wendy Eley Jackson’s latest documentary, Facing The Falls, now available on YouTube Premium!

Wendy is one of the Producers and has been with this project for 10 years!!!!! The film follows the incredible journey of Cara Yar Khan, a disability rights advocate, as she undertakes a courageous expedition through the Grand Canyon. It highlights themes of perseverance, inclusion, and advocacy. Wendy’s executive producers, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, joined … Continued

James McNamara’s  series The Artful Dodger, has been nominated for an incredible 7 AACTA Awards!

James McNamara‘s  series The Artful Dodger, has been nominated for an incredible 7 AACTA Awards including Best Drama Series, Best Casting in Television, Best Costume Design in Television, Best Editing in Television, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Original Score and Best Production Design in Television.

Arthouse celebrates 100 Years! with Professor Ross Melnick

This week on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, we discuss the One Hundred Year anniversary of Arthouse film with professor, historian, author and Academy Film Scholar, Ross Melnick. Join us for a lively conversation about the amazing history of arthouse film: Where it started, how far it’s come, and where is it today. Greg Laemmle, CEO of … Continued

Mapping Alzheimer’s: UCSB’s Cristina Venegas follows a genetic puzzle tracing Alzheimer’s roots from Colombia to California

There’s a set of childhood memories that UC Santa Barbara film and media studies professor Cristina Venegas returns to once in a while, recollections that stand out because of their peculiar nature. “I have memories of being a child in Montería, which is an interesting city, and it’s on the banks of the Sinú river,” … Continued

Infrastructure and Abstraction

Organized by graduate students at USC, “Infrastructure and Abstraction” is a conference that explores the tensions between what is considered “concrete” and “abstract” within the infrastructural turn of media studies. It features papers and talks on a wide range of media objects and sites of mediation, presented by both emerging and established scholars, including UCSB … Continued

Media Inside Out conference honors pioneers and provocations in film and media studies

Debra Herrick April 15, 2024 form The Current Dozens of mediamakers and scholars will convene on campus for the conference Media Inside Out (April 25–26) to reflect and speculate on the field of film and media studies, its origins and its futures. As a focal point, participants will also engage, think and play with the … Continued

Fossil Free Exhibition Sheds Light on Student Activism

The latest UC Santa Barbara Library Exhibit praises the power of student activism to create environmental change. Located in the Ocean Gallery, this exhibition engages students with the archival blueprints of the Fossil Free UC grassroots campaign. In 2019, the University of California Board of Regents announced its divestment from fossil fuels, a direct effect … Continued

Coastal Media Project student documentaries to screen at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

“841” and “The Salt on Our Skin” are both part of the festival’s Santa Barbara Documentary Shorts programming, which begins at 8:40 p.m. on Feb. 13 and 5:40 p.m. on Feb. 16 at Metro 4 Theatre (618 State St). The student filmmakers will be on hand after each screening to talk about their movies and … Continued

Adventuresome filmmaking meets theory, technique and environmental education (The Coastal Media Project in The Current)

Each summer, the Coastal Media Project filmmaking bootcamp at UC Santa Barbara culminates with long days and nights of editing and final touches ahead of a public showing of student-crafted documentaries, each an environmental short that’s conceptualized, shot, edited and screened in just nine weeks. This year’s films reflect a range of storytelling as diverse … Continued