CTSA Faculty Named as Newkirk Fellows for 2022-2023
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) has announced that two Claire Trevor School of the Arts faculty members have been selected as Newkirk Fellows for the 2022-2023 academic year. Jesse Colin Jackson, Associate Dean, Research and Innovation and Associate Professor in the Department of Art, and John Crawford, Professor of Intermedia Arts in the Department of Dance, will each receive a $5,000 grant and participate in a program designed to promote cross-disciplinary interaction and community building.
"Arts-based and arts-incorporating interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination have the potential to provide enormous contributions to some of the most complex problems of our times," said Jackson. "Joining the Newkirk Faculty Fellows network provides us with an exceptional opportunity to bring these approaches into conversation with scientists and other scholars motivated to have an impact on society."
The Newkirk Faculty Fellowship, administered by UCI's Newkirk Center for Science & Society, aims to increase the visibility of UCI scholars and their activities within and outside the university. Fellows will be expected to hold a UCI faculty appointment at any career stage, give a public lecture or workshop on a topic of their choosing, attend a monthly lunch discussion with other Fellows and center staff (food provided), and interact with Newkirk Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellows.
According to the center, the program is designed to build community around the strategic mission of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society. Fellows will be encouraged to be open to new collaborations and program development, with the goal of enhancing UCI's impact on society.
"The Newkirk Center for Science & Society as a Faculty Fellowship is a wonderful opportunity to expand my research and creative activity through interactions with other faculty, students and community members who share my passion for the integration of art and science," said Crawford. "In particular, I look forward to working with scientists, scholars and other artists to create performances and exhibitions that enhance ecological awareness as we respond to an escalating crisis driven by the rapidly evolving human capacity to alter planetary ecosystems."
The fellowship term started in Fall 2022 and will extend through the end of Fall 2023. As Newkirk Fellows, Jackson and Crawford will join a prestigious group of UCI scholars, who have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to their fields and to the UCI community.
Image: Professor John Crawford (left) in the Motion Capture Studio at CTSA. Associate Dean, Research and Innovation Jesse Colin Jackson in the Great Park Gallery during his solo exhibition Urban Ecologies In Irvine.
Jesse Jackson is a Canadian artist and designer based in Southern California. Jesse explores the architectures we construct—from buildings to landscapes to virtual worlds—through objects and images made with digital visualization and fabrication technologies, and through intensive collaborations with scientists, humanists, and other creatives. His interactive Marching Cubes performances and installations (2016—present) have been featured in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Mexico City, Stockholm, Tehran, and across America. Solo exhibitions of his work focused on the places we live have been reviewed in the LA Review of Books (2021) and The Globe and Mail (2014, 2019). In 2016, Jesse edited Urban Ecologies 2013, which examined the impact of emerging categories of research and practice that are shaping the future of our cities. Jesse is currently editing Experimental Engagements in Interdisciplinary Art: An Anthology of Contemporary Practices, forthcoming in 2023. He is an Associate Professor of Electronic Art & Design at the University of California, Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, where he also serves as Associate Dean, Research and Innovation and Executive Director of the Beall Center for Art + Technology.
John Crawford is an intermedia artist, performance director and systems designer. Engaging directly with the emerging technologies of our time, he creates immersive environments, interactive experiences and media productions that are presented online as well as in theatres, galleries and other public spaces, featuring creative exploration of environmentalism, climate justice and community engagement. His work investigates how the human desire to transform our environment is unleashing destructive forces that endanger the world and everything in it, including ourselves. He is a Professor of Intermedia Arts in the UCI School of the Arts, where he directs the Embodied Media Research Group (EMRG). More information at http://emrg.embodied.net