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Telling stories about books by campus scholars

two men in a black and white photo in the desert with one pointing out to the horizon and the other behind a 1950s motion film camera
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Courtesy
Archival photograph on the back cover of “Pipeline Cinema: The Cultural Infrastructure of Oil Extraction in Iran and Iraq” (UC Press, 2025) by Mona Damluji

How oil companies shaped early cinema in Iran and Iraq

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color photograph of mario garcia with the cover of his new book

UCSB historian publishes testimonio of consequential Chicano artist Rupert García
fighters raising their arms and waving a flag
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Book cover detail for "When Rebels Win" by Kai Thaler (Cornell University Press, 2025).

Why some rebel victories build states — and others break them
Two students look at the UCSB Reads book exhibition
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Courtesy UCSB Library
The university’s award-winning common book program is the focus of "Creating Community Through Books: 20 Years of UCSB Reads," on display until Dec. 11.

New library exhibition celebrates 20th anniversary of UCSB Reads
color photographic portrait of writer julissa arce

Mexican-American Dreamer Julissa Arce wins Luis Leal literary award
book shelves in library
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Jeff Liang

How books helped make computers mainstream
Older woman with grey hair and blue coat sits outside rustic building
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Elana Resnick
Baka, a waste collector, at home.

How Europe’s green transition is reinforcing racial inequality
color photograph of professor Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky
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Matt Perko
Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky, December 2024

A feat of multilingual research, Hamed-Troyansky’s “Empire of Refugees” wins eight book prizes
black and white image of an older person's face
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Courtesy Image

Michael Gurven reframes aging as evolutionary success
bloody face man holding mask and shovel
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Detail of "Queer Traffic" book cover with art by Lechevirgen Trimegisto

Free trade, moral panic and the politics of belonging
Headshot of Paul Leonardi next to cover of his book, "Digital Exhaustion."
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Courtesy UCSB Engineering
Paul Leonardi

In ‘Digital Exhaustion,’ Paul Leonardi shares how to make technology work for you
color portrait of poet robert krut with his new book

Poet Robert Krut on the oblivion between tectonic plates
close up of woman at beach
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Courtesy
Detail, book cover for "Unfaithful: A Translator's Memoir" by Suzanne Jill Levine, Bloomsbury, 2025

New memoir explores the art of translation and Latin American literature
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