Announcements

We have an art history alumna (2010) who won a Pulitzer Prize! She wrote an honors thesis on viceregal Entrada ceremonies in New Spain and compared them to border art interventions. Public humanities!

Congratulations to the Class of 2025 who participated in our Commencement ceremony!

On March 27, President Trump signed "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," a directive mandating that the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of the Interior, which oversees national monuments, memorials and statues, rectify "divisive narratives that distort our shared history." This is just one of several actions aimed at changing how arts and humanities organizations tell the story of the country's past and present.

Tomorrow is Big Give, and we're shining a light on History of Art.

Your gift propels the cultural and creative experience of Berkeley students, allowing them to learn from global art histories and to craft imaginative skills in the domain of art and culture.

This year, our biggest BIG GIVE hope is to upgrade our event and educational spaces in Doe Library. Our renovation will provide a welcoming gathering space for students, faculty, and community, while also giving them a deeper, multi-sensory experience of the arts of the globe, past and present.

Congratulations to Anneka Lenssen, who has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs.

This award recognizes faculty (including both Senate and non-Senate faculty) who have provided GSIs outstanding mentorship in teaching at Berkeley and in preparing for teaching in future careers. Faculty receive this award based on nominations from their GSIs. 

A group exhibition for the first-year Art Practice MFA cohort, titled Revolt Against the Sun, opened in the Worth Ryder Art Gallery on January 29, 2025. In addition to featuring the work of six artists (Eleni Berg, GG, Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, Kristiana Chan 莊礼恩, Swaleha, Zuhoor Al Sayegh), it features catalog essays written by History of Art graduate student Kimberly Yu. Acting as an interlocutor as well as an interpreter for the exhibition, Kim undertook studio visits and attended meetings with the exhibiting artists.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society is excited to announce that Professor Shannon Jackson is a 2025-2026 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar!