Alum Vivian Li (B.A., art history ‘25) presented research
conducted while studying at UC Davis at the annual Association for Asian
Studies conference Poster Session. The conference was held in
Vancouver, B.C., Canada March 12-15, 2026. Li’s research
examined ”Cultural Coding of Color: A Comparative Study of
Eastern and Western Perspectives and Modern Applications.” Her
project was developed in coordination with Professor
Katharine Burnett.
A scandal at the Nanjing Museum involving a Ming masterpiece,
millions in laundered money and missing art donations recently
set off alarms in the art world. Correspondent Richard Spencer of
The Times (London) talked to Professor Katharine Burnett
The
Art of Tea exhibit, on display in Shields Library’s Archives
and Special Collections Reading Room, celebrates the UC
Davis Global Tea Institute‘s 11th Annual Colloquium: The Art of
Tea in Culture and Science, Society and Health. Curated by M.A
candidates Grace Wu and Mengchen Sang
Professor Katharine Burnett, founding director of the Global Tea
Institute at UC Davis, will present a talk on ”The
Marvelously Extraordinary, Inventively Original Late Ming Teapot”
at the annual
Global Tea Institute Colloquium.
Professor Katharine Burnett was invited to speak
on “Branding GTI at the University of California, Davis,
Branding Japanese Green Tea to the US Market” at the World O-CHA
Tea Festival.
Professor Michael Yonan and Dr. Amy Freund (Kleinheinz Endowment
for the Arts and Education Endowed Chair in art history at
Southern Methodist University) gave a talk on Oct. 23 at the
Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA. “Visualizing the Feline in
Art” asked “what is it with cats and artists?” Yonan and Freund
examined the ubiquitousness of cats in depictions of
artists’ studios and in artworks that serve as manifestos of
their makers’ techniques of visual representation.
MIT’s renowned History, Theory, and Criticism of Art and
Architecture (HTC) program is celebrating its 50th
anniversary with a landmark event that brought together scholars,
alumni, and thinkers from around the world including Professors
Talinn Grigor and John Lopez.
At the second annual Calouste Gulbenkian Conference in Art
History, Professors Talinn Grigor and Houri Berberian (UC Irvine)
will present the keynote address
Research papers from art history students Isabelle (Izzy)
Villanueva (BA ‘25) and Sophie Jorcino (BA ‘25)
were recently published in see/saw (vol 2, no. 1
(2025).
New podcasts are streaming straight from UC Davis Letters &
Science students, faculty, and staff, including our very own MA
students Anya Thompson and Madeline Madrid. Anya and Madeline
started The E.A.R (Educated Art Review) to make art history
fun and approachable.
Professor Katharine Burnett gave a talk for Professor An-yi Pan’s seminar
“Object, Ritual and Tea” in the History of Art and
Visual Studies Department at Cornell University on Monday, Feb.
26.
UC Davis art history alum were well represented at this
years College
Arts Association conference in New York City. Srđan Tunić
(M.A. ‘23), Anya Shulman (M.A. ‘22), Dada Wang (M.A. ‘22) and
Sienna Weldon (M.A. ‘23) all presented papers or spoke at
roundtables.
Professor Heghnar Watenpaugh joined Dr. Andy Jones on his KDVS
radio show and podcast Dr Andy’s Poetry and Technology
Hour. This Feb. 5 interview is now available online.
The Art and Art History Club is open to all art studio and art
history majors, minors, and friends. Our purpose is to learn
about and discuss all things relating to art and art history. We
do this through open discussions at meetings, going on field
trips to art museums and galleries, watching art-related movies,
selling student-made art, and promoting art education. We are
working hard to create an art community among UC Davis
undergraduates.
