2024 Winter Events
Lecture
Robert Greenberg, “Beethoven in the Movies“
Time: Thursday, February 15
Location(s): UCLA Law School 1447
Robert Greenberg’s lecture is free and open to all. No advance registration is required.
Seminar
Robert Greenberg Seminar, “Amadeus”
Time: Saturday, February 17
Location(s): Faculty Library
Registration for the seminar is free and open to all. To enroll, please e-mail Professor Daniel Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu. Spots are limited.
Robert Greenberg lectured on Mozart for CLAFI in 2019, and his visit was so successful, we have invited him back. This time he will take on Beethoven, and in particular the question of how popular culture influences our views of composers from the past. The same theme will be taken up in Greenberg’s seminar on Amadeus, a popular movie about Mozart. Greenberg received a BA in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton and a Ph.D. in music composition from Berkeley. He has composed over fifty works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles, many of which have been performed in numerous major cities in the United States and Europe. He has been designated an official “Steinway artist” and his many additional honors include three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and three Meet-The-Composer Grants. His music has been commissioned by, among others, the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, San Francisco Performances, and the XTET ensemble. Greenberg has performed, taught, and lectured extensively across North America and Europe. He is currently music historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances, where he has lectured and performed since 1994. He has served on the faculties of UC Berkeley, CSU East Bay, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he chaired the Department of Music History and Literature from 1989-2001. Greenberg has lectured for some of the most prestigious musical and arts organizations in the United States, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Chautauqua Institute, the Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Van Cliburn Foundation, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Villa Montalvo, Music @ Menlo, and the University of British Columbia. For thousands of people, he is best known as one of the most popular lecturers for the Teaching Company/Great Courses Program, for which he has recorded numerous courses on music, totaling over 550 lectures.
Lecture
Matt Malkan, “Why What A Lot of People Think About Science Is Wrong”
Time: Thursday, February 29
Location: UCLA Law School 1447
Matt Malkan’s lecture is free and open to all. No advance registration is required.
Seminar
Matt Malkan Seminar, “Is Our Universe ‘Fine-Tuned’ For Life?”
Saturday, Saturday, March 2
Location: Faculty Library
Registration for the seminar with Matthew Malkan is free and open to the public. However, because capacity is limited, advance enrollment is necessary. Enrollment will be primarily on a first come, first served basis, though preference is given to UCLA students and faculty members. Participants will be expected to read the materials that will be distributedand participate actively in the discussion. A pizza lunch will be delivered at the end of the seminar. To enroll, please e-mail Professor Daniel Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu.
Matthew Malkan, is Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA. He has made pathbreaking discoveries respecting the evolution of galaxies, especially the development of their stars, their heavy elements, and their giant black holes. He is the author or co-author of over 500 articles in scientific journals. He has won numerous professional awards and honors and is active in science outreach, including work in local K-12 schools, film projects, and programs for radio and television. He is also a member of the Faculty Executive Committee of CLAFI and has supported our work in innumerable valuable ways.
2023 Fall Events
Lecture
Barry Kraft, “Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest.'”
Time: Thursday, October 19 • 7:30PM
Location(s): UCLA Law School 1447
Barry Kraft’s lecture is free and open to all. No advance registration is required.
Seminar
Barry Kraft Seminar, “Samuel L. Johnson’s preface to Shakespeare.”
Time: Saturday October 21st• 10:30am-12:30am
Location(s): Faculty Library
Registration for the seminar is free and open to all. To enroll, please e-mail Professor Daniel Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu. Spots are limited.
Samuel Johnson was the literary giant who stood astride mid- and late-18th century England. His edition of Shakespeare’s plays is consulted by scholars to this day. The preface is a landmark of commentary on Shakespeare’s writings. The seminar is an opportunity to not only learn but also express. A copy of the preface will be sent to participants in Barry Kraft’s seminar, who should read it and be ready to discuss it.
Barry Kraft has the rare achievement of having acted in all of Shakespeare’s plays. He has played more than 100 Shakespearean roles. For 30 seasons, he was an actor-member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. He is also a scholar of Shakespeare’s plays and served as Ashland’s first dramaturg. He Was Ashland’s most popular lecturer for decades. His energy, humor, vast knowledge, and unusual ability to appeal to everyone from the expert to the newcomer to Shakespeare will make this seminar memorable for all.
Staged Reading
Interact Theater Company, “Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest.”
Time: Monday, November 13 • 7:30 PM
Location: Royce 314
Oscar Wilde remains the most popular writer of his period, and Earnest remains his most popular work. It evokes laughter like few other works and has been revived on the stage and adapted to film innumerable times. Learn why “Earnest” is so important and why possession of a “Bunbury” is so vital.
Since 1999, the acclaimed and award-winning Interact Theatre Company has been presenting staged play readings at UCLA. This reading is co-sponsored by CLAFI and the UCLA Law School. It is free and open to all. No advance registration is required.
Lecture
Cynthia Clegg, “Censoring Shakespeare: Custom and the Rule of Law.”
Time: Thursday, November 16 • 7:30 PM
Location: Law School 1447
Cynthia Clegg’s lecture is free and open to all. No advance registration is required. Light refreshments will be available.
Seminar
Cynthia Clegg seminar: “Shakespeare‘s Othello.”
Saturday, Nov 18 • 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: Law School 2326 (Faculty Library)
Registration for the seminar with Cyndia Clegg is free and open to the public. However, because capacity is limited, advance enrollment is necessary. Enrollment will be primarily on a first come, first served basis, though preference is given to UCLA students and faculty members. Participants will be expected to read or re-read Othello and participate actively in the discussion. A pizza lunch will be delivered at the end of the seminar. To enroll, please e-mail Professor Daniel Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu.
Cyndia Susan Clegg, is Distinguished Professor of English Literature. She received her PhD in English Renaissance Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also earned an MA and a BA in English. Her areas of expertise include Shakespeare, History of the Book, and Censorship and Propaganda in Early Modern England.
Lecture
Daniel Hannan, “How Like a God: Shakespeare and the Making of Our Reality.”
Time: Thursday, November 30 • 7:30 PM
Location: TBD
Daniel Hannan’s lecture is free and open to all. No advance registration is required.
Seminar
Daniel Hannan seminar: “Shakespeare‘s Henry V”
Saturday, Dec 2 • 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: TBD
Registration for the seminar with Daniel Hannan is free and open to the public. However, because capacity is limited, advance enrollment is necessary. Enrollment will be primarily on a first come, first served basis, though preference is given to UCLA students and faculty members. Participants will be expected to Shakespeare’s play Henry V and participate actively in the discussion. A pizza lunch will be delivered at the end of the seminar. To enroll, please e-mail Professor Daniel Lowenstein at lowenstein@law.ucla.edu.
Daniel Hannan was an early and prominent supporter of the Brexit movement in the United Kingdom. That activity inevitably earned him considerable controversy, but it is not the reason he will be presenting a CLAFI lecture. Hannan is the latest in a long and I think noble tradition of British statemen and political leaders who have been distinguished literary scholars and commentators. Hannan has had a particular interest in Shakespeare and will be sharing the fruits of his study in both his lecture and seminar.