Week 4

Join the UCLA Tri-State Alumni Network for a special Bruins "off" Broadway outing to the off-Broadway hit. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Following the performance, Bruins in attendance will be invited to an exclusive talkback featuring a Q&A with members of the cast, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the production. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the UCLA NY Tri-State Alumni Network Scholarship Fund as well as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

In person: Introduction by Artel Great, associate professor, San Francisco State University School of Cinema, and author of The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance. Here Eddie Murphy stands at the center of the Black Pack as Prince Akeem, heir to the throne of Zamunda, who leaves royal luxury for Queens, New York, in search of love on his own terms. The most commercially successful Black comedy feature of its era, this blockbuster is also a case study in power and authorship, as Murphy gives a tour de force performance of multiple characters and earns a “story by” credit. Ultimately, the film shows how box office clout enabled Black cultural specificity while embedding sharp critiques of race, class and respectability within mainstream studio comedy. Director: John Landis. Screenwriter: David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein. With: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones.

#Arts #MovieFilm

This session introduces key insights from the 2025 UCLA Senior Survey using interactive data dashboards. Learn how to interpret student responses to better understand their academic experiences and inform your teaching practices. Join us to explore trends and translate student feedback into meaningful improvements for your courses and programs. Presenter: Casey Shapiro, Director of Assessment of Student and Instructor Experience, TLC #student-experiences-of-teaching #data-informed-teaching Each academic quarter, the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) hosts a weekly series of 10+10 Pop-Up sessions on Zoom. These brief, 10-minute presentations focus on specific topics related to course design, teaching, learning, and assessment, and are led by instructional designers and developers from TLC and campus partners. The “+10” refers to an optional 10-minute discussion following each presentation, where participants can ask questions and share insights. These sessions are open to all UCLA instructors—including faculty, lecturers, instructors of record, graduate student instructors, and postdoctoral scholars. Please direct any inquiries to instructorsupport@teaching.ucla.edu.

#GraduateProfessional #FacultyStaff #Educational #Academic

What does it mean to feel stony? John Milton’s 1671 verse drama Samson Agonistes retells the last day of the biblical Judge Samson, as he moves from an initial feeling that his disabled body is a “Sepulcher, a moving grave” to his eventual toppling of the Temple of Dagon occasioned by a mysterious set of “rousing motions.” This talk by Shaun Nowicki, Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a recipient of the 2025-26 Kenneth Karmiole Graduate Research Fellowship at the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, examines Milton’s deployment of the lithic as a structuring metaphor for understanding both Samson’s initial abjection and the eventual return of his strength. In doing so, the play both draws on emergent cultural understandings of disability as an abject category of being and offers a refutation of that paradigm by considering the potential vivacity of non-living things and the possibilities inherent in the alliances between the human and nonhuman world.

#Educational #Academic

Please join us for a foundational workshop on how to give effective feedback to students. Whether you’re leading a large lecture course or a small discussion section, this session will prepare you with equity-minded practices to support students in developing a growth-mindset and feedback literacy, as well as foster a classroom culture where feedback is valued. This session is open to all instructors, including faculty, TAs, and postdocs. This workshop will be hosted in-person and facilitated by the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). Please contact instructorsupport@teaching.ucla.edu if you have any questions.

#GraduateProfessional #FacultyStaff #Educational #Academic

Join other Bruin Alumni have a bit and a glass of wine converse with Conejo Valley Bruins.

#Undergraduate #Educational #Research

Join us for our first book club event of the year! In honor of Earth Day, we will be reading "The Parable of the Sower" by Octavia E. Butler. "Parable of the Sower" is a 1993 speculative fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles heavily affected by climate change and social inequality. If you haven't this or any of Octavia E. Butler's other works, you are in for a treat.

HireNewYork is a premier Multi-University Alumni Career Fair connecting Tri-State area graduates — from early-career alumni to doctoral candidates — with top employers across tech, healthcare, finance, and beyond. Held on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at The Prince George Ballroom in NYC, this expo-style event brings together 1,500+ verified alumni and 60+ forward-thinking companies for meaningful career opportunities. Alumni attend free and gain access to exclusive job listings, workshops, and AI-driven tools, while employers enjoy direct recruiting access, unlimited job postings, and booth representation — all with no recruiter fees. Where the best talent meets opportunity.

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This workshop introduces the genres of public speaking in academia, ranging from teaching lectures to conference papers to job talks. The workshop includes suggested strategies to improve your presentation skills.

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Join UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships for a one-hour interactive workshop designed to help newly admitted students and their families better understand their financial aid offer and estimated net cost of attendance. During this hands-on session, a UCLA financial aid expert will walk you through the key parts of your Bruin Financial Aid Letter, explain the different types of aid offered, and demonstrate how to calculate what attending UCLA may actually cost after grants, scholarships, and other support. Please complete the RSVP form below to join us!

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#Undergraduate #Social #Community

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In this session, participants will explore how Gradescope supports efficient, consistent, and meaningful feedback- perfect for courses with limited grading resources and support. Rather than building assessments from scratch, this Practice & Play focuses on understanding the student submission experience and practicing grading workflows that scale. Participants will walk through the student submission process and then practice using Gradescope’s rubric tools and AI-assisted answer grouping to deliver timely, high-quality feedback while managing workload constraints. This session is designed for graduate students, TAs, and postdocs. All instructors are welcome to attend. What is Practice and Play with EdTech The Practice and Play with EdTech series offers instructors a hands-on opportunity to explore teaching tools and strategies with TLC staff. Each session begins with a brief overview of a tool followed by a guided exercise and time to explore and apply the tool to participants’ own course.

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Co-sponsored by the UCLA Library, the Undergraduate Writing Center and the Undergraduate Research Center – Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Learn about citation practices and avoiding plagiarism, how to auto-generate your bibliography, keep track of your sources and more! Join us for this workshop with library instructors to learn about citing your sources. All spring quarter Cornerstone workshops will be held on Zoom.

#Undergraduate #Educational #Research

A Talent Showcase for UCLA Students, Faculty & Staff on the Sunset Plaza Stage

#Undergraduate #Arts #Music

The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC) made significant strides towards establishing colonial control over the Indonesian islands in the seventeenth century. When the Company founded Batavia in 1619, the city became the administrative hub of an extensive mercantile network and served as its Asian headquarters. In this talk, Emma Gagnon, Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art and Architecture Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a recipient of the 2025-26 Kenneth Karmiole Graduate Research Fellowship at the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, examines the images of Batavia in Johan Nieuhof’s (1618-1672) illustrated travelogues. Nieuhof spent years in and out of the colonial capital, and his accounts provide some of the earliest images of Batavia. This talk demonstrates how the city’s Dutch identity was defined not only by its built environment but also through the dissemination of these forms in the Dutch Republic’s print culture.

#Educational #Academic

Please join the TLC and Dr. Logan Juliano (UCLA Writing Programs) for a session about mindful play, a pedagogical intervention that combines active learning with improvisation, contemplative awareness, and reflection. Participants will have the opportunity to play and leave with strategies for classroom implementation. This session is open to all instructors, including faculty, TAs, and postdocs. Please contact instructorsupport@teaching.ucla.edu if you have any questions.

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The mindful writing retreat will integrate simple techniques from mindfulness to support the writing process and cultivate an approach to writing that fosters balance, self-care, and well-being. Please bring a current writing project because much of the retreat time will be allocated for writing. All sessions will be remotely conducted via Zoom.

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Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy Tommaso Treu explores how observations of the cosmos have revealed the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy For more information, visit: https://www3.research.ucla.edu/reo/internalfunding/frl.

Join us for our next OC Bruin Brew at Hidden House Coffee in Santa Ana. The Santa Ana location of Hidden House Coffee is in a beautiful brick building and is known for its craft coffee, airy indoor–outdoor seating, and relaxed atmosphere. Bruin Brews are casual, low-pressure coffee meetups to help alumni connect, make new friends, and learn more about local UCLA community events. Drop in anytime from 9am - 11am on April 25th, grab your favorite drink, and enjoy an easy morning with fellow Bruins.

Join fellow UCLA Alumni from the Latino Alumni Association and San Diego Regional Network for a day of culture, connection, and community as we celebrate Chicano Park Day. Chicano Park Day 2026 is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in San Diego's Barrio Logan neighborhood. This free, annual, family-friendly event celebrates the 1970 community takeover that transformed the area into a National Historic Landmark, featuring live music, Aztec dance performances, a lowrider car exhibit, and community workshops. For questions, email Jessica Huerta at jesshuerta@alumni.ucla.edu

Join us at  [Geeky Teas & Games](https://www.geekyteas.com/?srsltid=AfmBOor3SduY6IeV0R6tGx0msp92Wr__Mm9WUcR1Sl22RCHTPGIrZVF5) in Burbank for an interactive program led by [Drea Letamendi, Ph.D.](https://drdreapsychology.com/) The event will explore the power of authentic storytelling through comic books and the lived experiences of people with mixed identities. Through guided conversation and reflection, attendees will connect with fellow Bruins and community members while gaining practical insights on code-switching, shapeshifting and navigating life in the in-between.

SLC Tournament

The Walt Disney Family Museum, located in the Presidio of San Francisco, features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. It was founded by Walt’s daughter, Diane, who resided in San Francisco and Napa. We’ll view exhibitions and afterwards join other Bruins for coffee at the nearby Presidio Bowling Center. Please meet inside in the museum lobby, next to the ticket counter, at 1 pm. Your host will be wearing a blue UCLA sweatshirt. UCLA is getting a group rate of $21 per adult ticket, but to get it you need to register and pay on the UCLA website by Friday, April 10. After that date if you still want to attend, you can join us April 25 and pay at the ticket counter the regular rate ($30 a ticket). There is a plenty of parking in the Presidio on the street and in two parking lots close by. Parking is metered and usually costs $2 or $3 an hour. By bus, take the Muni 43 Masonic and stop at the Presidio Transit Center. If you live nearby in the Marina, it’s about a 20 minute walk. If you have any questions, please contact host Phil Faroudja at philfaroudja@alumni.ucla.edu.

Bruin Family Socials are events that bring UCLA to neighborhoods around the world. Providing an opportunity for attendees to engage with one another on a regional level, Bruin Family Socials foster connections and relationships within the greater Bruin community. Historically, Bruin Family Socials have taken place over the course of one weekend each year. During spring 2023, these events transitioned to a year-round model that accommodates a variety of activities and locations, ultimately allowing for added flexibility and more opportunities to build community than ever before. We hope you will join us at an event near you!

In person: Introduction by Artel Great, associate professor, San Francisco State University School of Cinema, and author of The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance. Q&A with Great, The Five Heartbeats cast member Tico Wells and UCLA Associate Professor Scot Brown, Department of History.

#Arts #MovieFilm

We will be hiking Murphy Ranch in the Palisades with beautiful canyon and river views. For those who want a longer hike, we will extend the hike to a portion of the Sullivan Fire Road. Please bring water, snacks, and sun protection as needed.

Join us for a special community event celebrating Asian Pacific heritage and the performing arts with an outing to an East West Players production! We’re thrilled to host an exclusive discounted group outing to see Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song — a musical that holds a special place in Asian American cultural history — followed by an intimate artist talkback session. You’ll have the opportunity to hear from performers and discuss the themes of identity, tradition, and community through the lens of this beloved work. APA UCLA Group Outing to Flower Drum Song Sunday, April 26, 2026 1-4pm Aratani Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center 244 San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 RSVP Tickets start at $50+ for APA UCLA (normally $99+), limited discounted tickets available **For questions, contact apaucla@alumni.ucla.edu** **About East West Players:** East West Players (EWP) is the nation’s longest-running Asian American theater and the largest producer of Asian American theatrical works. Founded in 1965, East West Players is committed to raising the visibility of the Asian American experience by presenting inventive world-class theatrical productions, developing artists of color, and providing impactful youth education programs. **About This Production:** The enchanting golden era musical Rodgers and Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, directed by East West Player’s Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal, will serve as the grand finale for EWP’s Diamond Legacy season. FLOWER DRUM SONG pulls back the curtain on themes of assimilation and tradition in 1960’s San Francisco Chinatown as Mei-li, a young Chinese opera artist fleeing communism, arrives in America, where she is immediately drawn into the dazzling world of the Grant Avenue nightclubs. This production beautifully explores the balance between cultural tradition and modern identity through vibrant music, song, and community storytelling, themes that are deeply relevant to our shared experiences as Asian Pacific alumni.

The German-based ATOS Trio will perform in Los Angeles for the first time at the Clark Library with selections from Joseph Haydn, Gaspar Cassadó, and Franz Schubert. Tickets are limited and go on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday, March24. Please visit the event website for full details.

#Arts #Music

The Estimathon is a team-based contest that combines trivia, game theory, and mathematical thinking. Teams have an few hour to work on a set of 13 estimation problems, the winning team being the one with the best set of estimates.

#Undergraduate #Social

In person: Introduction by Artel Great, associate professor, San Francisco State University School of Cinema, and author of The Black Pack: Comedy, Race, and Resistance. Q&A with Great and photographer Bruce Talamon. Harlem Nights marks the only film written, directed, produced by and starring Eddie Murphy. Set in 1930s Harlem, the film imagines a world of Black nightlife, entrepreneurship and survival amid gangsters and corrupt cops. Anchored by a jazzy score blending big band and Duke Ellington standards, the film unites three generations of Black comedy — Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and Murphy — alongside an overflowing ensemble cast. Often misunderstood on release, Harlem Nights stands as a bold assertion of authorship and creative control, envisioning Black autonomy over space, style and destiny. Director/Screenwriter: Eddie Murphy. With: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Jasmine Guy, Della Reese.

#Arts #MovieFilm