UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies

07/09/2025

The CMRS Center for Early Global Studies is hosting a summer language workshop on Lesser Taught Research Languages. This year, it is featuring Tangut. It will take place over five sessions (July 21-30) and will be led by Dr. Nikita Kuzmin.

Sign-up is free and open to the public!
Register to attend by July 14: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-tdsv4yjDBq4XrN2qU4A4mTWC9qsZieeXIauj41HsOW2BRg/viewform?pli=1

For questions, please contact Prof. Sixiang Wang (Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA); [email protected]

07/09/2025

06/12/2025

On Friday and Saturday, May 30-31, CMRS-CEGS hosted the conference, “Status: Developing a Category of Analysis for the Early Global World.” Historians and art historians focusing on early modern East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East gathered to explore how pre- and early modern societies (200-1800 C.E.) developed, defined, and recorded social status. Through case studies, scholars examined how categories of rank and recognition have influenced life across cultures over time. Thank you to all who attended.

We look forward to seeing you at our future events.

05/29/2025

05/27/2025

This Friday and Saturday, the CMRS Center for Early Global Studies invites you to “Status: Developing a Category of Analysis for the Early Global World.”

This symposium brings together historians and art historians of early modern East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East to discuss the question of “status” as a socio-analytical category.

RSVP to attend here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEtwJJcwWWYg8hvSjwmUa44o4zoDLz_lNmKSbgCmwNEkixiw/viewform

Status: Developing a Category of Analysis for the Early Global World
Day 1: May 30th , 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Day 2: May 31st , 9:30 – 5:30 PM
RSVP to attend in Royce 306

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEtwJJcwWWYg8hvSjwmUa44o4zoDLz_lNmKSbgCmwNEkixiw/viewform

This symposium invites participants to develop status as a category of analysis for the pre- and early modern world by investigating categories of social practice that were current in this past. Interested participants should be prepared to share a specific, concrete case study from their area of research between the 3rd and 19th centuries (roughly 200 C.E. – 1800 C.E.) that sheds light on how societies ordered individuals and communities in different contexts.

05/27/2025

Imagine trying to write a book today that contained all knowledge! Bartholomew of England compiled one of the most popular encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, intended as a comprehensive guide to all knowledge.

Organized hierarchically, it treats divine and celestial subjects first, then humans (including the body and its ailments), followed by several books on the natural world. This scene depicts a scholar conversing with a king and his entourage while pointing to a representation of the world divided into climatic zones. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, this text was especially popular among aristocrats, who commissioned lavishly illuminated copies like this one.

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Associate of the Boethius Master, Illustration for Book 8 (On the World), in Bartholomew of England, On the Properties of Things. France, Paris, ca. 1410. Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.537, fol. 238r (detail). Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1912. Photography by Carmen González Fraile

05/14/2025

On Saturday, May 3rd, faculty and graduate students gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the California Medieval Seminar (CMS).

Presenters from art history, archaeology, and medieval history shared pre-circulated papers exploring aspects of the medieval past. Attendees then engaged in discussion, offering constructive feedback to help refine the presenters’ works in progress.

Patrick Geary, the CMS founder and former CMRS-CEGS director, and Piotr Górecki, who recently concluded his term as CMS director, joined us for the occasion. Special thanks to Steering Committee members Tom Barton (USD), Heather Blurton (UCSB), Rowan Dorin (Stanford), and Alison Perchuk (CSU Channel Islands), who presented Geary and Górecki with commemorative books filled with images and reflections from three decades of Seminar participants.

Following the presentation, participants gathered on the patio for a celebratory reception. Geary and Górecki led the cake cutting, marking the 30th anniversary of the California Medieval Seminar with toasts, singing, and shared reflections on the Seminar’s legacy.

Thank you to all who attended. We look forward to seeing you at the next Fall Seminar, on Saturday, November 8th.

Please note that advance registration is required. To register or inquire, contact us at [email protected]. Speaker details and paper topics are announced via email. Let us know if you want to be added to the distribution list. Calls for presenters are issued quarterly, typically two months before each meeting, and papers are accepted on a first-come basis.

Learn more about the California Medieval Seminar and explore past papers at: https://cmrs.ucla.edu/research/california-medieval-seminar/

05/13/2025

Research and Conservation of Peruvian Material and Visual Heritage: Keys to Studying Interculturality
Speaker: Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Reyes

Date: Wednesday, May 14th
Time: 5:00 PM PT
Location: Fowler A222, UCLA

This event is co-sponsored by the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies, and CMRS Center for Early Global Studies.

Please register at the following link:
👉 [https://forms.gle/edwCPJLVu7eZ9hWt7]

05/07/2025

The CMRS Center for Early Global Studies invites you to “Status: Developing a Category of Analysis for the Early Global World.” This symposium brings together historians and art historians of early modern East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East to discuss the question of “status” as a socio-analytical category. The symposium will begin on Friday, May 30th, and conclude on Saturday, May 31st

Status: Developing a Category of Analysis for the Early Global World
Day 1: May 30th , 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Day 2: May 31st , 9:30 – 5:30 PM
RSVP to attend in Royce 306

This symposium invites participants to develop status as a category of analysis for the pre- and early modern world by investigating categories of social practice that were current in this past. Interested participants should be prepared to share a specific, concrete case study from their area of research between the 3rd and 19th centuries (roughly 200 C.E. – 1800 C.E.) that sheds light on how societies ordered individuals and communities in different contexts.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEtwJJcwWWYg8hvSjwmUa44o4zoDLz_lNmKSbgCmwNEkixiw/viewform

05/06/2025

Medieval Texts Reading Group
Friday, May 16, 3 - 5 PM
Kaplan 193

This year's third meeting, led by Matthew Fisher (English), will discuss the short Middle English poem Wynnere and Wastoure. Join us for a discussion about over-using, under-using, not using, prematurely using, belatedly using, and strange medieval food stuffs. No preparation is necessary (other than a brief skim of the text) and no expertise or medieval knowledge is required – only enthusiasm! No registration required.

https://cmrs.ucla.edu/event/medieval-texts-reading-group/

For questions, contact Matthew Fisher ([email protected]), Basil Arnould Price ([email protected]), or Erica Weaver ([email protected]).

This event is co-sponsored by the UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies

05/06/2025

Today, May 6, 2025, 3 - 6 PM

Join for a special gathering celebrating Andean ancestral knowledge and inviting reflective dialogue in conjunction with the exhibition Taming the Desert: Resilience, Religion, and Ancestors in Ancient Peru. Led by Professor Luz María De la Torre and CMRS Center for Early Global Studies (CMRS-CEGS) Postdoctoral Fellow Solsiré Cusicanqui, this program marks the conclusion of UCLA’s tenth annual celebration of Andean festivals and ceremonies.

This event honors Andean cultural traditions, uplifts the voices of “Runa” women, and amplifies ongoing movements for Indigenous resistance and visibility. The program will begin inside the exhibition gallery and continue in the museum’s courtyard, where guests are invited to engage in oral storytelling and collective reflection.

IN PERSON

04/30/2025

The inaugural Bruin Giving Day is upon us, and the UCLA community is already hard at work making a difference across the campus. On this community-oriented day of giving, consider supporting the UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies with a gift in any amount.

Visit https://bruingivingday.ucla.edu/pages/humanities-landing-page-1 to learn more and make your mark!