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Whether we’re listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from UC Berkeley. For instance, Mozart’s jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.
Arts & humanities archive
At library’s research-advisory service, a specialist is ‘in’
September 26, 2012: A popular research-advisory service at Doe Library provides customized, one-on-one assistance to Berkeley undergrads during peak times each semester. For fall 2012 its dates are Sept. 24 through Nov. 21. Now, for the first time, students can make their appointments online.
‘Fiat Lux’ asks us, again, to picture UC’s future
September 25, 2012: Nearly a half-century after Clark Kerr commissioned Ansel Adams to capture a ‘prospective view’ of UC, the On the Same Page program is prompting a rolling discussion of where the system is headed — and where it should be headed — in 2012.
A violin gifted by Nazi propagandist keeps its secrets 
September 24, 2012: In February, 1943, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels ceremoniously gifted an 18th-century violin to a young Japanese musician. The origins of the instrument remain a mystery. Violin maker Carla Shapreau, an adjunct faculty at Berkeley Law, writes on Nazi plunder of fine art in a feature article in The New York Times arts section.
Architecture’s de Monchaux proposes fixes for ailing Venetian lagoon, islands
September 20, 2012:
Nicholas de Monchaux, an assistant professor of architecture, is leading a workshop exploring the use of urban design software to “redevelop” Venetian islands.
Deborah Berke awarded new Berkeley-Rupp Prize for advancing women in architecture, contributing to sustainability 
September 10, 2012: Deborah Berke, a New York City-based architect known for her design excellence and commitment to architectural innovation, is the first recipient of the College of Environmental Design’s inaugural Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize.
Fall 2012 coming attractions: Politics, rhinos and ‘the Ave’
August 28, 2012: Hot topics and cultural lightning rods, Glass and Guthrie, sublimity and absurdity. It’s — what else? — the fall events season at UC Berkeley. Experts share their perspectives on topics ranging from health care to to the presidential election. A staging of the Philip Glass opera “Einstein on the Beach” and music from the Simon Bolivar youth ensemble are among the performing-arts treats.
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life fall programming announced
August 27, 2012: The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library opens its fall season on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Geoffrey Nunberg’s new book: ‘The Ascent of the A-Word’
August 21, 2012: “We idolize jerks. This is the era of bnoxiousness — and the most arrogant and nasty have somehow become the most successful,” writes UC Berkeley School of Information professor Geoffrey Nunberg in his new book, “The Ascent of the A-Word.” Salon.com has posted excerpts online.
First midcareer retrospective of SF artist Barry McGee opens at BAM/PFA
August 21, 2012: The first-ever midcareer survey of the San Francisco artist Barry McGee’s art opens Friday, Aug. 24, at UC Berkeley’s BAM/PFA. The show covers the full range of his work, inspired by and engaged in urban life — his graffiti beginnings, his trademark down-and-out street characters and a re-creation of a cacophonous street-corner bodega.New works were added during the nights before the exhibit’s opening: bold red tags on BAM’s exterior.
Course on classic novel, and card game, spurs Chinese media interest
August 17, 2012: A new course on the cultural impact of an iconic 14th-century Chinese tale, and the popular role-play game it spawned, called Sanguosha, has seized the attention of campus undergrads and Chinese media outlets alike. “Exploring the Three Kingdoms” will be offered in fall semester through the student-run DeCal program.
Kids + Ailey + Cal Performances = magic
August 7, 2012: Cal Performances’ AileyCamp at UC Berkeley brought 51 local youngsters to campus this summer for six weeks of intensive lessons in dance and life, culminating in a grand performance at Zellerbach Hall. Staffer Amy Cranch, a camp volunteer, narrates a first-person account of the campers’ grit, passion and skill, complete with slideshow.
Linguists advise Democrats to talk the moral high ground
July 23, 2012: Two UC Berkeley linguists look at political messaging 101 and the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
A poet-student’s guide to literary Berkeley
July 18, 2012: From Philip K. Dick and Ursula LeGuin (both Berkeley High Class of ’47) to Kerouac to Hass and Chabon, Berkeley is haunted and defined by literary figures past and present. Now poet and UC Berkeley student Andrew David King has tracked down the who, what and where and published the results, which Berkeleyside calls “a delightful and comprehensive overview” of the city’s literary zeitgeist, in Ploughshares Literary Magazine.
First Brett LGBT fellowship goes to Italian Studies student
July 17, 2012: The first Philip Brett LGBT Fund award has been bestowed on Chris Atwood, a graduate student in Italian Studies. The fund was set up in 2009 in honor of the late professor Philip Brett, an eminent music scholar whose research kick-started the field of musical scholarship about, and by, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.
Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office looks for Bay Bridge accounts that span the years
July 9, 2012: Interviewers at the Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) are betting there are just as many cool stories to tell about the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as about its colorful cousin.
Hearst Museum to close temporarily for transformation
June 30, 2012: An extensive redesign of UC Berkeley’s Hearst Museum of Anthropology means a temporary closure starting July 1; reopening is scheduled for 2014.
CED prof co-curates exhibit on the Mexican-U.S. border
June 29, 2012: Despite its walls and barriers, the U.S. border with Mexico remains an area of connection, almost a third nation, according to an exhibit co-curated by College of Environmental Design professor Michael Dear and currently running in Mexicali. Works by several Berkeley alums are on display.
Memo to Reporters: Campus experts look to London Olympics
June 27, 2012:
Campus experts show the Olympics involve much more than summer games.
On Faculty Glade, music lovers fly North! to Alaska
June 12, 2012: Twenty-one musicians — playing drums, cymbals, birdcalls, sirens, sandpaper and conch shells — performed John Luther Adams’ “Inuksuit,” a piece written for the outdoors, late Monday afternoon. The concert kicked off Cal Performances’ four-day “Ojai North!” series, running through Thursday.
Ojai North! kicks off Monday with free ‘Inuksuit’ at Faculty Glade
June 8, 2012: Cal Performances’ Ojai North! series begins November 11 with a special event — Steven Schick conducting John Luther Adams’s expansive spatial work for 9 to 99 percussion and piccolo players — outside Hertz Hall.
UC Berkeley, as seen through Ansel Adams’ camera
June 1, 2012: Legendary photographer Ansel Adams shot thousands of photos of Berkeley and the other UC campuses during the 1960s, and now a photo book based on the collection, “Fiat Lux,” is going out to all incoming students as part of the annual On the Same Page program.
Historic Greek Theatre safe, sound and superb after upgrades 
May 24, 2012: The 108-year-old Greek Theatre’s seismic rating has gone from “very poor” to “good” following six months of retrofit work and other upgrades.
What makes some students happy? Check out their videos
May 21, 2012: Students in Professor Keltner’s “Human Happiness” class produced short videos this spring on what makes them happy. A panel of judges named, as first-place winner, “Bill’s Story,” about a paper doll who learns about the relative value of wealth, status and social connections.
Mexican ‘library mouse’ wins Bancroft prize for book collecting
May 15, 2012: An exchange student from Mexico City is the newest winner of the Bancroft Library’s Hill-Shumate Book Collecting Prize, given annually to an undergraduate. History student and bibliophile Luciano Concheiro San Vicente, 20, owns a collection of more than 5,000 items — from 19th-century cookbooks and monumental histories to early 20th-century government pamphlets — that help illuminate what it means to “be Mexican.”
Noted classical archaeologist Crawford Greenwalt dies
May 10, 2012: Exploring the history and culture of the ancient city of Sardis in Turkey was a passion of classical archaeologist Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., who died on May 4.
Versatile University Medalist reflects interests from Chinese literature to forestry
May 8, 2012: Double major Eric Olliff’s inquisitive view of the world has helped earn him the 2012 University Medal, UC Berkeley’s top prize for graduating seniors.
English student going to Cannes Film Festival to serve on jury
May 7, 2012: Graduate student Ryan Lattanzio is heading to the Cannes Film Festival, where he’ll help select the winner of the “Visionary Award,” for a fledgling independent filmmaker.
New Summer Creative Writing Program aims to bring out your inner author/poet
May 2, 2012: Daniel Alarcon and Camille Dungy are among authors lined up to teach in UC Berkeley’s new, intensive Summer Creative Writing Program, for aspiring, practicing and experienced writers alike. Applications are now being accepted; the six-week program starts May 21.
Picturing UC’s future: position sousaphones, reshoot, remix
May 1, 2012: At a precise location near Sather Gate, members of the Cal Band gamely shouldered their instruments Monday for a technically demanding photo op. The goal: to recreate a shot taken close to half a century ago by photographer Ansel Adams — this time for a 21st-century campus project on “picturing” UC’s future.
Crawford Greenewalt receives prestigious award for work at site of ancient city of Sardis
April 26, 2012: This year’s Bandelier Award for Public Service to Archaeology goes to a UC Berkeley classics professor emeritus, for his decades-long work exploring the ancient city of Sardis, capital of the ancient empire of Lydia.
