The IAS is a classroom
Education and research are core aspects of our mission and programming. Classes from all disciplines at UC Santa Cruz and other colleges are welcome for self-guided or staff-led tours. For class tours or visits, please contact Tam Welch, tamw@ucsc.edu. Advanced notice is appreciated.
We develop learning resources, including study guides, artist interviews, and audio tours, for many of our exhibitions.
In addition to our exhibitions, we facilitate research and teaching by developing symposia, hosting an annual dissertation workshop, running our undergraduate certificate, authoring catalogues and more.
The IAS is a laboratory for the arts
As academic disciplines and pedagogies continue to evolve, the IAS serves as a laboratory, fostering and encouraging faculty and students to embrace new ways of thinking to prepare themselves to meet the broad challenges of the rapidly changing social and political landscape.
Since its founding, the IAS has presented a series of major interdisciplinary initiatives and exhibitions originated and co-curated by UC Santa Cruz faculty who serve as IAS fellows. Recent interdisciplinary initiatives created in collaboration with faculty fellows include Visualizing Abolition (2019-24) and Surge: Explorations in Afrofuturism (2022). Recent exhibitions created with faculty include Strange Weather: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundations (2022), Arthur Jafa, Martine Syms, and Black Quantum Futurism: Just Futures (2022), and Angela Melitopoulos and Angela Anderson: Unearthing Disaster I & II (2017).
Faculty who would like to develop exhibitions, iniatives, or symposia should contact IAS Director Rachel Nelson (renelson@ucsc.edu). Lead time for exhibitions is two to three years.
