In Focus: Faculty Interview Series

Sherryl Vint Department: English/Media and Cultural Studies Rank: Professor # of years at UCR: 8 Top three texts I would take to a desert island: There is no way I could pick just three. It would depend on the day and the project and so would always change. Favorite entertainment: I love films, not just sf films, but films of many genres, periods, and countries. An “adventure” I am looking forward to, post-pandemic…I’d like to say travel, and certainly I love to visit ruins and galleries and I have been a frequent traveler in the past. But I’ve also [...]

Eric Schwitzgebel Department: Philosophy Rank: Professor # of years at UCR: 23 (~44% of my life) Top three texts I would take to a desert island: The collected Borges, Montaigne, and Zhuangzi. See my Five Books interview on the philosophers of wonder! Favorite activity: Long walks in beautiful places. Or maybe, during a lecture, the well-crafted pause -- that silent moment when the attention of the audience slowly gathers. Something people might be amazed to know about me: I doubt that anything about me would be amazing to most people. So instead, I will share a picture of my new [...]

Crystal Baik Mellon Second Project Fellow Department: Gender and Sexuality Studies Rank: Associate Professor (first year as a tenured professor) # of years at UCR: this is my 7th year at UCR Top three texts I would take to a desert island: Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider; Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart; Lisa Yoneyama, Hiroshima Traces. Favorite activity: Since the pandemic, I’ve taken up birding and 풍물 (poongmul/Korean drumming). Something people might be amazed to know about me: I’m an identical twin and my partner is also an identical twin. An “adventure” I am looking forward to, post-pandemic: Hiking in the [...]

Padma Rangarajan Mellon Humanities Fellow Department: English Rank: Associate Professor # of years at UCR: 3 Top three texts I would take to a desert island: The Mahabaratha, A Time of Gifts, David Copperfield. Favorite shows to stream: Sci-fi shows from the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. I love Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, all that stuff. Something people might be amazed to know about me: My father pierced my nose. It took him three tries. An “adventure” I am looking forward to, post-pandemic: Hugs. All the hugs. Q: My research agenda summed up in one sentence:   I [...]

Matthew King Mellon Humanities Fellow Department: Religious Studies Rank: Associate Professor # of years at UCR: 5 years Top three texts I would take to a desert island: Sakya Paṇḍita Sakya Lekshé, Annie Dillard Teaching a Stone to Talk, Michel de Certeau Heterologies. Favorite thing: a guitar and Anstruther Lake in my Canadian homeland of Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. Favorite films: Three documentaries that I have seen in recent years that I regularly bring to my students—all imperfect portraits but which tend to leave viewers aching to think, act, and imagine better—are Happiness: TV Reaches Bhutan,Unmistaken Child, and Qapirangajuq: [...]

Marissa Brookes Mellon Humanities Fellow Department: Political Science Rank: Assistant Professor # of years at UCR: I am in my 7th year now. Top three texts I would take to a desert island: Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation; Theda Skocpol’s States and Social Revolutions; Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States Currently listening to: Dillinger Four, Naked Raygun, Danny Brown, Malibu Ken A favorite record I encourage students to listen to is: Propagandhi’s 1993 How to Clean Everything. It’s a political punk classic. Website: researchgate.net/profile/Marissa_Brookes Q: Your research agenda summed up in one sentence: I study the [...]