History of Consciousness
History of Consciousness is an interdisciplinary graduate program centered in the Humanities, with links to the Social Sciences, the Arts and the Sciences. It is concerned with forms of expression and social action as they are manifested in specific historical, cultural, and political contexts. The program stresses flexibility and originality; interest is focused on problems rather than disciplines. HistCon students are prepared to teach in various specific fields, with an emphasis on questions that span a number of different approaches.
History of Consciousness fosters problem-driven research vital to new forms of knowledge and intelligibility and to meet the challenges of imagining new modes of scholarship for the arts, social sciences, and humanities. The department emphasizes a variety of topics in its seminars and research pursuits. These areas of research include studies at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender; global capitalism and cultural processes; psychoanalytic and semiotic theories of the image; science and technology studies; theories and histories of religion; social movements; and literary studies and poetics. Seminars are regularly offered in these and other areas of ongoing faculty research.
News & Events
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PhD Brian Kantor on All That Changes You. Metamorphosis, Palazzo Te
Brian Kantor, a PhD student in the History of Consciousness department, is working as the 2025 THI Moving Image Lab Public Fellow with the Isaac Julien Studio. In this report…
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Massimiliano Tomba Co-Edits a Special Edition of Journal History of the Present
HistCon professor Massimiliano Tomba was co-editor of a Special Edition of History of the Present: A Journal of Critical Theory. This special issue, “Thomas Müntzer and the German Peasants’…
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Applications for the HistCon PhD Now Open!
Applications to the History of Consciousness PhD Program are now open! Find application requirements here & apply at the below link! Questions about the application process? Have a look…
HistCon in UCSC News
UC Santa Cruz Professor Banu Bargu Awarded 2025 David Easton Prize for ‘Disembodiment’
UC Santa Cruz History of Consciousness Professor Banu Bargu, an acclaimed scholar of political theory and resistance, has spent her career exploring some of the most extreme and harrowing forms of political protest, including hunger strikes.
Bargu’s work has now been recognized with the 2025 David Easton Prize from the American Political Science Association.
A Renaissance dream reimagined: Sir Isaac Julien’s major new installation opens in Italy
Acclaimed artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts and History of Consciousness Isaac Julien has created a Renaissance-inspired dreamscape for the 21st century.
Eighth US-India Conference to explore dynamic and evolving relationship with a focus on AI, global dynamics, and biomedical breakthroughs
This year’s conference, US India: Normalization or Reset?, examines how the two countries can review their priorities and either restore normalcy or redefine the relationship for a multipolar world.
Events
- HistCon Research Colloquium
- earth ecologies x technoscience
- HistCon Research Forum