Year of Free Speech
Save the Date: Year of Free Speech Kickoff Event
Chancellor Howard Gillman will open with a welcome and remarks. Next, a panel moderated by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Willie Banks includes: Jun Jang, president, Associated Students for UCI Tiffany López, dean, Claire Trevor School of the Arts Megan Enciso, director of student affairs, Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing The event will…
Affective Resistance
Affective Resistance brings together works by eight artists using performance art and materialist abstraction as modes of resistance to systemic racism and state power. Several works in the exhibition draw out the conflict between the democratic ideal of liberty and the subjugation of the body under the carceral system. A series of documented site-specific interventions pit…
UC Irvine & PEN America Free Expression Student Summit
PEN America and UC Irvine are teaming up to co-host the first-ever Free Expression Student Summit in Irvine this fall. Our half-day program will include workshops led by UCI faculty on a variety of topics related to free expression including international human rights, book bans and educational gag orders, news media literacy, and protest rights…
Sholeh Wolpé Book Talk: Abacus of Loss
Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-born poet, playwright and librettist. Her performances, solo or in collaboration with musicians and artists, have been hailed by audiences as mesmerizing. Her literary work includes twelve books of poetry, translations and anthologies, as well as several plays, an oratorio, choral librettos and multi-media projects. Wolpé will discuss her most recent…
Banned! A Panel Discussion on Book Bans, Censorship, and Citizenship
The growing movement to ban books from K-12 schools and public libraries has come to California, with heated debates over titles, processes, and the right of students to learn from a diversity of voices and perspectives about topics both controversial and utterly mundane. This year, UC Irvine is spotlighting the university’s commitment to freedom of…
Cabaret
Set in a tumultuous post-World War I Berlin, during the rise of the Nazi Party, Cabaret tells the story of American writer Clifford "Cliff" Bradshaw who becomes romantically involved with cabaret performer Sally Bowles, whom he meets at the Kit Kat Club. As Nazi occupation in Germany mounts, Cliff's and Sally's relationship is similarly brought…
On the Passage of a Few People Through a Rather Brief Period of Time
On the Passage of a Few People Through a Rather Brief Period of Time showcases "project-based" work by artists influenced by Mary Kelly, with her film WLM Demo Remix as its thesis. It explores historical moments of resistance, framed within an intergenerational and historically specific discourse. Inspired by Kelly's online conversation at Tate Modern in…
The Bald Soprano
The Bald Soprano is written by Romanian-French avant-garde playwright Eugène Ionesco and directed by Mihai Maniutiu. Considered an absurdist "anti-play," The Bald Soprano introduces the Smiths, a traditional, middle-class English couple who have invited the Martins—a similar couple—over for a visit. The two couples exchange rote, elliptical, nonsensical dialogue and are occasionally joined by Mary,…
Dance Escape
The Department of Dance presents the thrilling annual spring showcase, Dance Escape! Join us for an unforgettable evening as M.F.A. choreographers present a dynamic program of original new works that celebrate the extraordinary talents of both graduate and undergraduate dancers. Get ready to be mesmerized by their creativity, passion, and artistry as they transport you…
The Prom
The Prom—with Music by Matthew Sklar, Lyrics by Chad Beguelin and Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin—will be co-directed by Don Hill and Daniel Keeling, with music direction by Trevor Bourland. The Prom follows four Broadway actors who journey to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, after learning that the town's local high school has banned Emma…