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Neon in the Gutters: Cyberpunk Visions of the Future
A new generation of comics writers and artists, who have slowly been diversifying the industry, has brought new perspectives and ideas along with them.
Their exciting new artistic visions and energy have utilized the fruitful spaces of cyberpunk to explore how identity, conceptions of the self, and different bodies and peoples fit into modern technological societies. Cyberpunk is tailor-made for these kinds of conceptual explorations of transhumanism, posthumanism, and societal change, as technology is increasingly interfacing with the human body, mind, and culture.
This exhibit will explore some of the ways cyberpunk has changed since its inception, how the visual design and language has evolved, how it has engaged with concepts like transhumanism and posthumanism, and how it continues to reshape itself as our technological landscapes change and evolve. View a digital version of the exhibit guide here or pick up a print copy in-person when you visit the exhibit.
| Event | Neon in the Gutters: Cyberpunk Visions of the Future |
| Location | Tomás Rivera Library, 4th Floor in Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) |
| Dates | Ongoing |
| Hours | View this exhibit during SCUA's operating hours: Monday - Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Exceptions to regularly scheduled hours:
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| Parking | Free Visitor Parking is available on Fridays, starting at 12:00 PM through 6:00 AM Monday morning in the unreserved spaces of the following parking lots/structures:
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Tuskegee Airmen Archive Luncheon Shows Gratitude to Donors and Servicemen
Library thanks donors to the Tuskegee Airmen Archive.
On Saturday, June 6th, Chancellor Kim Wilcox and University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble welcomed some of the donors who have contributed to the Tuskegee Airmen Archive Collection. In thanks for their generosity, donors were treated to a private luncheon and given a special look at the collection’s new permanent exhibit space in the lobby of the Tomás Rivera Library.
Four Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen were in attendance at the event: Flight Officer Alfonso Harris, Master Sergeant Buford Johnson, Lt. Col. Harlan Leonard, and Lt. Col. Ted Lumpkin. Co-founders of the Tuskegee Airmen Archive Dr. Ruth M. Jackson and Col. Ralph W. Smith noted the importance of the Tuskegee Airmen in U.S. history, their role in the integration of the military, and their outstanding contributions to the military record as well as to numerous other professional fields.
Donors to the Tuskegee Airmen Archive are invested in ensuring that the stories of these heroic men and women are accessible to students and scholars worldwide, and UCR Library staff are honored to take part in this historic preservation effort. A current exhibit in the Rivera Library highlights some of the preservation tools and methods utilized to care for the historic documents and items donated to Special Collections and Archives at the Library. Curator of African American Collections Bergis Jules also shared his thoughts in regards to these preservation efforts, the permanent exhibit, and the future of African American Collections at the University of California, Riverside.
“We had an outstanding time," remarked Ron Brewington, President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. "We got the chance to meet some fabulous people who are doing a much-needed, tremendous job.”
Dr. Raymond Uzwyshyn is our new Director of Research Services
We are excited to announce Dr. Raymond Uzwyshyn is our new Director of Research Services.
Ray joined us on Monday, September 9 and brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished academic research background, including a Ph.D. from New York University, MLIS from the University of Western Ontario, and an MBA (IT Project Management) from American Public University.
Before joining us, Ray served as Research Impact Coordinator (full professor) at Mississippi and Texas State University Libraries. His work involved supporting the academic research lifecycle through development of digital research ecosystems, AI possibilities for research across departments and supporting and developing innovative digital systems, projects, and infrastructures for faculty and graduate students’ research.
Ray shares what sparked his interest in the Director of Research Services position here at the UCR Library, "I was quite intrigued by this position's unique technological focus for research directions and current wealth of new digital and IT innovation possible this way. I'm a huge believer in new technologies and enabling the university scholarly community with these new infrastructures for communicating, collaborating and enabling research."
Ray hopes to continue to shape the Research Services department into an innovative and interdisciplinary service infrastructure where staff expertise and cutting-edge technologies—such as AI, augmented and virtual reality, data, digital research archives and multimedia—can empower faculty and student research directions to create national level best-in-class projects.
Outside of his professional work, Ray has longstanding interests in the humanities and the arts. "I still have a passion for film, art history, literature and the socio-historical valences of media, more recently—everything AI and new media," Ray says. He also enjoys hiking, yoga, meditation, strength training, and jogging to maintain work/life balance with academic and creative pursuits.
We are thrilled to welcome Ray to our team and look forward to the exciting contributions he will bring to the UCR Library and the UCR research community.
Orange Roots
The University of California, Riverside Library invites you to celebrate the opening of a new exhibition, titled, “Orange Roots: The Remarkable Story of Two Trees, a Pioneer Town, and the University of California, Riverside.”
The welcome reception in honor of the exhibition’s opening will be held at the library, from 2-4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited so we encourage you to register if you wish to attend.
The reception will include a talk by Susan Straight, professor of creative writing at UCR, and a citrus-tasting station where guests can sample different varieties of citrus fruits. The citrus-tasting station will be organized by Tracy Kahn, UCR’s Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection Endowed Chair. Free parking will be available. Those interested in attending should RSVP using the link below.
In honor of Homecoming and Discover Day, the University of California, Riverside Library invites you to join us for a curator-led tour of the "Orange Roots" exhibition. This tour will be held at Rivera Library from 12-1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, and led by exhibit curator and librarian Krista Ivy. The tour is free and open to the public, but space is limited so we encourage you to register if you wish to attend.
The exhibition will showcase the remarkable history of Riverside’s citrus heritage, from its early, pioneer days to the establishment of UCR. It will feature photographs, historical documents, and other memorabilia from the UCR Library Special Collections & University Archives, the UCR Citrus Variety Collection, the UCR Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, and the Riverside Public Library.
The exhibition will remain on display at the Tomás Rivera Library through June 2017.
Donor profile: Charles E. McGee, Tuskegee Airman
One of only nine living Tuskegee Airmen, retired United States Air Force Colonel Charles McGee has kicked off 2020 with fanfare befitting a centenarian.
On Feb. 2, he presented the coin for the on-field coin toss for Superbowl LIV at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL, along with three other 100-year-old World War II veterans. The NFL ceremony acknowledged the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and celebrated 100 years of professional football.
During the 2020 State of the Union address on Feb. 4, the U.S. President recognized McGee, announcing his recent honorary promotion to Brigadier General. McGee saluted as the audience gave two standing ovations while 13-year-old Iain Lanphier stood beside his great-grandfather, smiling proudly up at his hero and inspiration. Lanphier hopes to join the U.S. Space Force, the newest branch of the Armed Forces, inspired by McGee’s achievements.
His noteworthy life and military career are represented in the Charles E. McGee papers (MS 272), which are available at the UCR Library in Special Collections and University Archives on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library. McGee donated his collection of military documents, administrative records, photographs and artifacts to the UCR Library in 2015. A small portion of the collection has been digitized and made available online through Calisphere. “We are currently in the process of completing the digitization,” said Tiffany Moxham, Assistant University Librarian for Content and Discovery. “It should be up before summer.”
A Cleveland, Ohio native, McGee enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 and became part of the Tuskegee Airmen, earning his pilot’s wings and graduating from Class 43-F in 1943. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first group of African-American military aviators (fighter and bomber pilots), who served in World War II after training at Tuskegee Army Airfield and Moton Field in Alabama. Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had been a U.S. military pilot. McGee was stationed in Italy with the 302nd Fighter Squadron of the 332d Fighter Group.
In his 30 years of military service, he flew 409 aerial fighter combat missions, including service in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War -- one of the highest counts recorded by any Air Force fighter pilot. McGee retired from active duty in 1973 with many service awards.
Additionally, in 2007 President Bush and the U.S. Congress awarded the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to McGee and all other Tuskegee Airmen, both living and deceased. In 2011, McGee was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. George Lucas consulted McGee for his 2012 feature film Red Tails, named after the distinctive markings of the Tuskegee Airmen’s aircraft. McGee also earned the Eagle Scout award from the Boy Scouts of America in 1940.
4 to Explore: June selections from our Special Collections
This month in 4 to Explore, your Special Collections librarians and archivists have selected four new items and placed them on hold in the reading room.
Here's what you can see this June in 4 to Explore:
Bookbinding Models
Sample structures by Karen Hanmer
Commencement Setup Photos
See UCR graduation in the 1990s
Tetsuwan Atomu
Astro Boy meets Frankenstein
History of the Bucaniers of America
The 1699 English translation
Why you should try 4 to Explore:
Special Collections materials are kept in closed stacks, which means you can’t see the shelves and browse. You also can’t check things out and take them home. So, 4 to Explore is a great way to experience first-hand some of the collections that truly make the UCR Library unique.
4 to Explore will give you the chance to visit a reading room, like the ones that are used for archival research or by rare book scholars, and to get a sampling of our collections without having to submit a request ahead of time.
You’ll be asked to show photo ID and to check your bags – but don’t worry! Our UCR Library staff will explain everything to you when you arrive.
We will also have rotating exhibits of items from the collections on display.
Where to find 4 to Explore:
Department: Special Collections & University Archives
Where: Take elevators to 4th floor of Rivera Library
Hours: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Bring: Photo ID
Don’t bring: Food or drinks
Who: Everyone is welcome. 4 to Explore is more of an individual experience, but we can usually accommodate up to two people using the same item at the same time, so feel free to bring a friend.
What to expect: Staff will help you sign in and feel comfortable in the reading room. It should take about 5-10 minutes for you to get up to the 4th floor and get settled. Then you can stay and enjoy as long as you like!
Want to receive updates each month with more details about our 4 to Explore items? Sign up here.
4 to Explore: March Selections from Special Collections
This month in 4 to Explore, your Special Collections librarians and archivists have selected four new items and placed them on hold in the reading room.
Here's what you can see this March in 4 to Explore:
Moonshot
An edited volume of indigenous comics
Westways travel magazine
A 1973 cover article on visting Riverside, CA
Post-War Jobs
A 1944 pamphlet aimed at women, blacks, and veterans
A Humument
A "treated novel" artist's book
Why you should try 4 to Explore:
Special Collections materials are kept in closed stacks, which means you can’t see the shelves and browse. You also can’t check things out and take them home. So, 4 to Explore is a great way to experience first-hand some of the collections that truly make the UCR Library unique.
4 to Explore will give you the chance to visit a reading room, like the ones that are used for archival research or by rare book scholars, and to get a sampling of our collections without having to submit a request ahead of time.
You’ll be asked to show photo ID and to check your bags – but don’t worry! Our UCR Library staff will explain everything to you when you arrive.
We will also have rotating exhibits of items from the collections on display.
Where to find 4 to Explore:
Department: Special Collections & University Archives
Where: Take elevators to 4th floor of Rivera Library
Hours: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Bring: Photo ID
Don’t bring: Food or drinks
Who: Everyone is welcome. 4 to Explore is more of an individual experience, but we can usually accommodate up to two people using the same item at the same time, so feel free to bring a friend.
What to expect: Staff will help you sign in and feel comfortable in the reading room. It should take about 5-10 minutes for you to get up to the 4th floor and get settled. Then you can stay and enjoy as long as you like!
Want to receive updates each month with more details about our 4 to Explore items? Sign up here.
UCR Library and Sherman Indian Museum receive $376,191 Digitizing Hidden Collections Grant from CLIR
On January 4, 2017, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) announced that the UCR Library and the Sherman Indian Museum would receive a $376,191 Digitizing Hidden Collections grant, generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, for a collaborative project to digitize the museum’s collection.
“Their collection houses thousands of one-of-a-kind documents about the history, education, and culture of The Sherman Institute from 1901 to 1970, and Sherman Indian High School from 1970 to the present day,” explained Dr. Clifford E. Trafzer, UC Riverside’s Distinguished Professor of History and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs. “The collections also have all the records of Perris Indian School from 1892 to 1904, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred students to The Sherman Institute, the first off-reservation American Indian boarding school in southern California. These are valuable treasures that cannot be replaced. Documents and photographs represent many aspects of student life at Sherman and focus on the people, curriculum, sports, music, dance, and vocational education.”
“These records hold the history for so many people: Native American people who came to school here, people who have worked here, and their families,” said Lorene Sisquoc, Director of the Sherman Indian Museum. “We get many different research requests, not just from alumni. It’s been quite in-demand for the past 25 years, and the demand has gotten bigger and bigger to access these archives that are well over 100 years old. It was crucial that we got this done somehow.”
The Sherman Indian Museum collection is an invaluable resource documenting the Native American experience in the United States. The collection supports research in a range of disciplines and on a variety of topics including Native American education, the US government’s cultural assimilation efforts of Native Americans, and the history of American Indian off-reservation boarding schools.
“There are only a handful of American Indian boarding school collections out there, and the only other one that has been digitized is in Pennsylvania,” explained Eric Milenkiewicz, Manuscripts Curator and co-principal investigator on the grant. “So this project will provide the public with a glimpse into the boarding school experience from a California, west coast perspective.” Given the granting agency’s guidelines, the Sherman Indian Museum could not apply for the grant on their own; they also didn’t have the resources needed to digitize their collection. That was all the incentive that UCR Library needed to complete the grant application last April.
“Serving this type of community need is exactly why the Inland Empire Memories initiative exists,” Eric explained. Founded in 2013, the mission of Inland Empire Memories is to identify, preserve, interpret, and share the rich cultural legacies of the Inland Empire’s diverse communities. “It’s really about safeguarding these materials, this community treasure for future generations. This is part of Riverside’s history, which UCR is also a part of, and we want to make sure that the collection is preserved and accessible to the community.” The digital collection will be made available through Calisphere, thanks to CLIR and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, allowing worldwide online access to this rich resource.
As part of this grant, UCR Library will help build infrastructure for future digitization efforts at the Sherman Indian Museum. The grant will also procure scanning equipment for the Museum, and students from the Sherman Indian High School will receive training so that they can participate in digitization. “This is something that’s been needed for a long time,” said Lorene, “and we’re very fortunate to get this.”
“One of our project’s primary goals is to embed these technical skills in the community that will be carrying this digitization work forward,” Eric explained. “We believe that the skills learned by the students over the course of this project will positively impact the museum and community, promoting a greater understanding of digital initiatives work. And we hope that this grant project will inspire further community support from other interested organizations or individuals who will want to step in, to carry this torch into the future,” Eric added.
Benefits of digitizing the Sherman Museum’s collection are many, but three come to the forefront. As Lorene explains, “It’s going to benefit people all over to be able to access these, and also to protect them so we won’t be using originals as research access.” According to Dr. Trafzer, “Scholars will produce many books and articles from the rich documents found in the collections,” he explained. “Equally important, former Native American students of Sherman and their families will have easy access to documents and photographs, school newspapers and annuals. Native American people and families will be able to learn more about the lives of their loved ones. This will provide contemporary American Indians and scholars with images and voices of past generations of students, faculty, and staff at Sherman.”
“It’s not just great news for UCR’s own graduate students,” Associate University Librarian for Collections & Scholarly Communication, Alison Scott concurred. “This will be great for the world.”
4 to Explore: November selections from Special Collections
This month in 4 to Explore, your Special Collections librarians and archivists have selected four new items and placed them on hold in the reading room.
Here's what you can see this November in 4 to Explore:
I'isniyatam (Designs)
A self-published 1977 Cahuilla word book
Thanksgiving Day
A Cuban artist's book of Carvajal Marrer's poem
The Faerie Queene
The first edition of all 12 books of Spenser's epic
Folding Paper
A "book" that's folded paper in a box!
Why you should try 4 to Explore:
Special Collections materials are kept in closed stacks, which means you can’t see the shelves and browse. You also can’t check things out and take them home. So, 4 to Explore is a great way to experience first-hand some of the collections that truly make UCR Library unique.
4 to Explore will give you the chance to visit a reading room, like the ones that are used for archival research or by rare book scholars, and to get a sampling of our collections without having to submit a request ahead of time.
You’ll be asked to show photo ID and to check your bags – but don’t worry! Our UCR Library staff will explain everything to you when you arrive.
We will also have rotating exhibits of items from the collections on display.
Where to find 4 to Explore:
Department: Special Collections & University Archives
Where: Take elevators to 4th floor of Rivera Library
Hours: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Bring: Photo ID
Don’t bring: Food or drinks
Who: Everyone is welcome. 4 to Explore is more of an individual experience, but we can usually accommodate up to two people using the same item at the same time, so feel free to bring a friend.
What to expect: Staff will help you sign in and feel comfortable in the reading room. It should take about 5-10 minutes for you to get up to the 4th floor and get settled. Then you can stay and enjoy as long as you like!