UCLA Arts Invites The Public Into The Classroom For 10 Questions: Centennial Edition

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture will kick off the second edition of "10 Questions" on Oct. 1. Building on the success of its inaugural presentation in 2018, this hybrid undergraduate course and public event series engages leading scholars, artists, scientists, activists, philosophers, executives and more for an energetic exchange of ideas addressing a range of fundamental issues that both shape and transcend our current moment in history.

As a marquee event for UCLA's yearlong centennial celebration, "10 Questions" provides a platform for vibrant conversations that engage disparate viewpoints. The aim is to seed greater understanding of the profoundly interdisciplinary nature of knowledge and knowledge production, while offering a framework in which to think about the role that the university can play as it embarks on its next 100 years as the nation's leading public research university.

"UCLA's Centennial Celebration is grounded in community and our on-going commitment to Los Angeles," said Andres Cuervo, director of UCLA's Centennial Celebration. "'10 Questions' is a reflection of those values as it redefines what an undergraduate course at a top-tier research university can be and invites Angelenos to explore questions at the center of our society."

Every Tuesday evening from Oct. 1 through Dec. 3, the public will join UCLA students in the classroom for an intimate discussion featuring UCLA faculty members, distinguished alumni and other leading thinkers as they come together to explore an essential question, such as: What is community? What is creativity? What is justice? and What matters?

Participants include:

• Peter Sellars, stage and festival director and professor of world arts and cultures
• Andrea Ghez, astrophysicist, founder and director of the UCLA Galactic Center Group
• Kyle Abraham, choreographer and professor of dance
• Jennifer Ferro, KCRW president (alumna)
• Kristy Edmunds, executive and artistic director of UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance
• Funmilola Fagbamila, artist, playwright, and 2017 activist-in-residence at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
• Ananya Roy, director of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at the Luskin School
• Eugene Volokh, First Amendment scholar and professor of law
• Hiroshi Motomura, immigration and citizenship law expert and professor of law

"The work of learning to see differently is the work of our time," said Victoria Marks, who created the series and serves as the associate dean of academic affairs and professor of choreography in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. "Now more than ever, we need to learn to acknowledge different points of view and create space for vital conversation as we work towards greater understanding and societal progress."

Details:

• Tuesdays, Oct. 1 through Dec. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m.
• UCLA campus, Glorya Kaufman Hall Theater (room 200)
• Free and open to the public (RSVP Required)
• Pay by space parking available on campus adjacent to Kaufman Hall (Structure 4)
• All sessions will be moderated by Victoria Marks.

Oct. 1: What is a university?
Peter Sellars, stage and festival director; Emily Carter, sustainable energy expert and UCLA's executive vice chancellor and provost

Oct. 8: What is knowledge?
Tyler Burge, philosopher; Shane Campbell-Staton, evolutionary biologist; Sylvan Oswald, theater artist

Oct. 15: What is justice?
Funmilola Fagbamila, artist, playwright and activist; Jennifer Mnookin, evidence scholar and dean of UCLA School of Law; Stephanie Pincetl, founding director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities

Oct. 22: What is truth?
Eugene Volokh, First Amendment scholar; Jason Sexton, theologian, Editor-at-Large of Boom California, and visiting research scholar at UCLA's California Center for Sustainable Communities

Oct. 29: What is love?
Thomas Bradbury, co-director of the UCLA Marriage Lab; Massimo Ciavolella, professor of Italian; David Roussève, choreographer, writer, director and performer

Nov. 5: What is nature?
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, disability justice and culture expert, bioethicist and humanities scholar; Rebeca Méndez, designer and artist; Adradhna Tripati, climate scientist, faculty director and founder of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science

Nov. 12: What is creativity?
Kyle Abraham, choreographer and artistic director of Abraham.In.Motion; Andrea Ghez, astrophysicist; Evan Sullivan, user experience designer (alumnus)

Nov. 19: What is community?
Jennifer Ferro, president of KCRW; Kevin Kane, arts education and community arts scholar; Ananya Roy, social justice scholar

Nov. 26: What is citizenship?
Leisy Abrego, immigration rights movement scholar; Hiroshi Motomura, scholar and teacher of immigration and citizenship law; Marike Splint, theater artist and educator

Dec. 3: What matters?
Kristy Edmunds, artist, curator and executive and artistic director of CAP UCLA; Michael Eselun, chaplain for the Simms-Mann/UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology

For more information and to RSVP, please visit https://arts.ucla.edu/10questions

To post a comment, you must register and login.