Cal Culture

Arthur Sze’s Berkeley: Attention, Translation, and the Joy of Making

By Urja Upadhyaya

Arthur Sze ’72 returns to Berkeley memory, Josephine Miles’s courtyard, an IBM typewriter by an open window, a creek, to trace a life in poems. In this interview, the Poet Laureate maps how translation, science, and disciplined attention shape his work and teaching, and why his enduring advice to young Cal writers is simple: write, and don’t stop.

“Action is my coping mechanism”: Wendy Marie Ingram on building community care in academia

By Urja Upadhyaya

When loss struck her graduate community, Wendy Marie Ingram, Ph.D. ’15, didn’t wait for permission to act. The UC Berkeley alum transformed her pain into purpose, founding Dragonfly Mental Health to make mental health care in academia collective and sustainable. Her story is one of evidence, empathy, and resolve.

Fictions and Frames: Professor Nina Beguš on Building “Artificial Humanities”

By Urja Upadhyaya

What if fiction were a working lab for AI? In conversation with UC Berkeley’s Nina Beguš, we explore how stories, translation, and careful language can reshape design choices long before ethics memos arrive. From Pygmalion to chatbots, Professor Beguš invites the Cal community to test metaphors, revise frames, and build technology with more care and clarity.

Here’s to Thee: How Cal’s Donors and Volunteers Turn Care into Opportunity

By Urja Upadhyaya

The CAA Donor and Volunteer Appreciation Brunch felt like a family gathering, but the story reaches further. Alums power six scholarship programs, steady finalist rooms, and lead chapter events that welcome, mentor, and open doors.

Teaching Through Turbulence: Berkeley Alums on the Future of K-12

By Urja Upadhyaya

Public education is at a crossroads. In this Berkeley panel, school leaders and teachers confront AI, equity, and policy turbulence, sharing strategies for redesigning schools, sustaining teachers, and protecting dignity in classrooms.

Before Berkeley Begins: A Coast-to-Coast Welcome for Incoming Students

By Urja Upadhyaya

This summer, UC Berkeley Alumni Chapters across the country hosted Summer Welcome Parties that turned strangers into classmates and questions into confidence. From Cal Band cameos to cultural unity chants, gatherings welcomed the new students, long before Move-In Day.

Ramon Ramirez Paints a City That Refuses to Sit Still

By Urja Upadhyaya

Cal alum Ramon Ramirez found his calling at Berkeley, where a Chicanx art exhibition and a book of poetry redirected his path from architecture to painting. Today, his large-scale works capture the restless energy of Los Angeles, blending heritage, identity, and civic responsibility into art he insists is essential, not ornamental.

Golden Bears in the Capital: The Enduring Spirit of the DC Cal Alumni Club

By Urja Upadhyaya

In Washington, D.C., where lives are often in flux, the Cal Alumni Club offers permanence. From the Summer Welcome Picnic to the Annual Reception, the chapter connects generations of Bears, supports Cal in the Capital, and ensures the Berkeley spirit thrives far from California.

The Curiosity Lab: ‘Failure is Just a Data Point’ – Markita del Carpio Landry’s Berkeley Story

By Urja Upadhyaya

Professor Markita del Carpio Landry bridges nanotechnology, neuroscience, and mentorship at UC Berkeley. Her journey shows how curiosity and inclusion create science that serves society.

Bear Territory Meets Tiger Pride: A Night of Unity at Alumni House

By Urja Upadhyaya

At Alumni House, Golden Bears and Tigers gathered not as rivals but as a community. The Cal Alumni Association’s Golden Bears Welcome TSU Tigers reception honored TSU’s proud legacy and Berkeley’s public mission through spirited conversation, alum voices, and a powerful dialogue between Chancellor Rich Lyons and TSU President J. W. Crawford III.

“Access Is a Culture, Not a Checklist”: Ann Wai-Yee Kwong ’15 on Redefining Disability

Blind, neurodivergent, first-gen, and working-class, Ann Wai-Yee Kwong ’15 is helping reshape how higher education understands disability, not as a limitation, but as leadership. At the helm of UC Berkeley’s Disability Cultural Community Center, she’s building a future where access begins with culture.

“From Sproul to The Hague”: A Q&A with Christina Hioureas ’04, J.D. ’07

By Urja Upadhyaya

Drawn to UC Berkeley by the free-speech tradition and human-rights legacy, Christina Hioureas ’04, J.D. ’07 now argues climate accountability, decolonization, and human rights before international courts while building a pipeline for the next generation of Bears.