Academics & Research

Academic Departments & Programs

UCLA Architecture and Urban Design is a champion of ideas and their articulate expression. Our exceptional faculty teach students to engage the world around them, to see ideas as opportunities for reflection and imagination, and to leverage design and writing as productive forms of response. These ideas are grounded in a critical engagement with the history and theory of architecture and the future contingencies of contemporary culture. Through rigorous inquiry, we interrogate contemporary urban issues and propose possible futures with equal measures of expertise, optimism, and vision.

1317 Perloff Hall | 310.825.7857 | www.aud.ucla.edu |
UCLA A.UD Global Index

The top-ranked studio-art program in a public university nationally, the UCLA Department of Art empowers students to reshape their worlds through critical inquiry and transformative creativity. Committed to equity and inclusion in art, it attracts diverse, highly motivated students who are encouraged to engage society's challenges and envision change. Students work with a faculty of internationally recognized artists in rigorous studio courses, developing skills in Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Ceramics, New Genres, and Interdisciplinary Studio. Intensive making is augmented by courses in art history, critical theory, and a broad exposure to art in one of the world's leading cultural centers.

Broad Art Center, Suite 2275 | 310.825.3281 | www.art.ucla.edu

The UCLA Department of Design Media Arts (DMA) strives to educate conscientious designers and media artists and to create socially and culturally relevant work. DMA's renowned faculty guide students to develop truly contemporary practices in typography, graphic design, branding, digital fabrication/printing, photography/video, video games and 3D modeling, virtual/augmented reality, art+science, social and environmental practice, public arts, media archeology and theory, creative coding, interaction, electronics, and interface design. We make our work public in galleries and laboratories, as social media, on large screens, smart phones and game consoles, in media installations, performances and public spaces, as websites, posters, books and magazines..

Broad Art Center, Suite 2275 | 310.825.9007 | www.design.ucla.edu

Through performance, media, and critical studies, the faculty and students of UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance (WACD) forge new and diverse understandings about the social, political and esthetic impacts of culture and performance. Defined by a dynamic blend of theory and practice, our faculty of renowned scholars, activists, curators, filmmakers, and choreographers are dedicated to critical cross-cultural analysis and interdisciplinary art-making. Our students position their work within broad social contexts while drawing upon multiple disciplines and artistic approaches. As a result, WACD produces world-class scholars of the body-based arts; we launch social activists, documentarians, curators, and cultural scholars; and we train the next generation of choreographic innovators.

Glorya Kaufman Hall, Suite 150 | 310.825.3951 | www.wacd.ucla.edu

The Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE) comprises several components that work together to support UCLA students as artists, educators, scholars, and researchers. The program provides students with experiential opportunities to develop into qualified teaching artists and introduces them to a range of possible careers in the arts. VAPAE is committed to community engagement—dedicating itself to building bridges between UCLA artist educators and the surrounding Los Angeles community. Through its curriculum and programming, VAPAE aims to be at the center and the forefront of the statewide and national debate regarding the place and importance of the arts for all and strives to be a catalyst for positive change in urban arts education.

Broad Art Center, Room 2101 | 310.794.4822 | www.vapae.arts.ucla.edu

Research Centers & Activities

Founded in 2006, the UCLA Art & Global Health Center is an art-and-health think tank specializing in reinventing sexual health education, devising new methods for HIV stigma reduction, reinforcing human empowerment, and catalyzing behavioral change. Our key initiatives blend community engagement with arts-activist training accompanied by rigorous research. Housed under the Regents of the University of California, within the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, the UCLA Art & Global Health Center nurtures a global network of artists, students, academics, and advocates working in the realm of public health. The goal: to improve health and save lives, through the arts.

David Gere, director | www.artglobalhealth.org

The Art|Sci Center is dedicated to facilitating the infinite potential of collaborations between contemporary artists and cutting edge scientists. Founded in 2005 in cooperation with the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, and the Department of Design Media Arts, the center has organized over 200 events to date; including lectures, workshops, symposia, mixers, and screenings. Themes range from artificial intelligence to nanotech to designing with genetics and biomaterials, with an eye to addressing social, medical, ethical, and environmental issues. Students, faculty, and the public benefit from the center’s active engagement with the international community, including University of Tokyo, University of Tsukuba, Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, Ars Electronica in Linz and Leonardo ISAST.

Victoria Vesna, director | www.artsci.ucla.edu

Founded in 2006, cityLAB is a think tank in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. One of the leading urban design centers in the country, cityLAB's mandate is to bring design and research together to forge experimental proposals for architecture in the 21st century metropolis. Its projects engage four broad initiatives: the postsuburban city, rethinking green, urban sensing, and new infrastructures. Through cityLAB, faculty, students, designers, and policy makers collaborate on numerous problems at a range of scales, beginning in Los Angeles but extending beyond the region.

Dana Cuff, director | www.citylab.aud.ucla.edu

Chandler McWilliams, Director | www.conditional.arts.ucla.edu

Rebeca Méndez, director and founder | https://counterforcelab.org/

The UCLA Game Lab fosters the production of experimental computer games and other game forms. Its artistic vision is to advance exploration of Game Aesthetics through experimentation in the look, sound, language, and tactility of games; Game Context through development of games that involve the body, new interfaces, physical space, and performance in new ways; and Game Genres through examination of the socio-historic-political discourse around games and the development of new genres that challenge traditional game boundaries. Founded in 2009, the lab is a leading advocate for games-related research, education, and awareness, hosting public lectures, residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and festivals.

Eddo Stern, director | www.games.ucla.edu

The collection of the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts comprises more than 45,000 prints, drawings, photographs, and artists' books dating from the Renaissance to the present. Established in 1956 with a substantial gift from Fred Grunwald, the collection has been steadily enriched through significant acquisitions and donations. A primary resource for teaching and research, the Grunwald Center houses one of the most significant collections of works on paper in the country.

David Rodes, director emeritus; Cynthia Burlingham, deputy director, Curatorial Affairs | www.hammer.ucla.edu/collections/grunwald-center-collection

Lauren Lee McCarthy and Casey Reas, co-directors | https://dma.ucla.edu/initiatives/social-software

Hitoshi Abe, director | www.xlab.aud.ucla.edu

Academics CTA

Funding Opportunities for Research

Small Event Grants

School of the Arts and Architecture Faculty Research funds will be awarded up to $2,000 to help support new or ongoing faculty research, projects, or travel not otherwise supported by UCLA or other external funding. Senate faculty, at all levels within the school, are eligible with priority given to assistant and associate level faculty. The primary purpose of the faculty research award is to seed projects and support unanticipated research/field related needs.

The Center for the Study of Women offers award and grant opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students.

NEH Opportunities

NEA Opportunities

Other Federal Opportunities

The Copp-Dash Inspire Award will help support small teams tackling difficult climbs in the great mountains of the world that plan to personally document and share their ascents through a multimedia blend of storytelling elements.

Recognizing the importance of experiencing original works of art firsthand, the Terra Foundation supports exhibitions that increase the understanding and appreciation of historical American art (circa 1500–1980).

These grants are awarded for timely needs of larger mid-sized organizations. Grants support special artistic projects or initiatives, artistic collaborations or commissions involving local artists, and upgrading facilities to benefit artists and audiences (when not part of a large capital campaign).

The Fund for National Projects supports projects that strengthen the national infrastructure of the professional nonprofit dance, jazz, presenting and/or theater fields; or improve conditions for the national community of performing artists in professional nonprofit dance, jazz and theater.

The Research Enhancement Series provides grantmaking webinars to support researchers at all career stages. All webinars are free and open to UCLA faculty, researchers, postdoctoral scholars, students, and staff.

More information

The Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) is a year-long scholarship program designed for students who are completing a comprehensive creative or research project, capstone project, or departmental honors thesis in the arts, humanities, or social sciences and under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

The CCA supports innovative, advanced research on the history, theory, and criticism of architecture and design from a broad interdisciplinary perspective. As a research centre and museum, the CCA emphasizes themes that are particularly relevant to current discourses on the built environment—contemporary design theory, media archaeology and digital processes of design and communication, transformation of the professional practice, environmental histories—but also other current cultural, social, economic, technological, and political issues.

The Center offers grants and fellowships to support UCLA students and faculty conducting research on or related to Israel from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Scholarships for UCLA students interested in studying abroad in Israel are also available.

This grant furthers advanced study in any area of architectural investigation that will effectively contribute to the knowledge, teaching or practice of the art and science of architecture. The proposed investigation is to result in a final written work, design project, research paper, or other form of presentation.

The SFFILM Rainin Grant program is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the US. Grants support films that address social justice issues-the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges-in a positive and meaningful way through plot, character, theme or setting and benefit the Bay Area filmmaking community in a professional and economic capacity.

The Miller / Packan Film Fund supports documentaries that Educate, Inspire and Enrich. The Fund is financed through the Rogovy Foundation. We believe in the transformational power that comes from enlightening narratives and inspiring characters.

The Film and TV Funding Award is awarded annually to an emerging filmmaker from anywhere in the world with the most promising pitch for a director-led documentary which fulfils the core criteria detailed below. With a main award worth £80,000 and a runner-up contribution of £15,000, The Whickers Film and TV Funding Award is one of the most significant documentary awards in the world.

VSCO Voices is a six month grant program run by VSCO and Access Ventures. The program supports creators who make art to empower marginalized communities in the United States.

This grant is awarded to further the personal and professional development of an architect in early or mid-career through travel. Travel plans should be focused on a selected topic of interest to the individual, rather than a part of a larger humanitarian or institutional endeavor. If appropriate, the winner may be asked to present at the Center for Architecture upon return.

This grant is awarded to further the personal and professional development of an architect in early or mid-career through travel. Travel plans should be focused on a selected topic of interest to the individual, rather than a part of a larger humanitarian or institutional endeavor. If appropriate, the winner may be asked to present at the Center for Architecture upon return.

100&Change is a competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that promises real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time. The Foundation considers proposals from any field or problem area.

Conduct postdoctoral research and/or collaborate with Taiwanese academic and research institutions. Activities may include presenting lectures, seminars and workshops as arranged by the host institution. With prior approval, up to one-fifth of their total grant period may be spent in mainland China, if necessary for their research.