Thinking L.A.

UCLA historian Richard Hovannisian, a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies, talks about what inspired him, what surprises him and what he thinks of the most well-known Armenian-American.

Dismissing unrest in America’s cities as aimless violence overlooks the roots of people’s anger, according to the panelists at a UCLA-Zócalo event examining the history of urban resistance.

Obstacles, ranging from skyrocketing housing costs and insufficient state and federal funding to social stigma, are sending greater numbers of Americans onto the streets, said a UCLA-Zocalo panel of experts on homelessness.

A panel of Angelenos who study and work to improve the city honed in on how best to manage the forces that are rapidly transforming neighborhoods like Highland Park and Lincoln Heights. Participating was UCLA architecture and urban design professor Dana Cuff.

The research director at UCLA’s Center X writes about how teacher evaluations that include hours of observation and student feedback, among other criteria, foster trust between educators and those grading them.

In a Zócalo discussion featuring two UCLA professors, experts agreed that hurdles like an official definition, the assessment of intent and the expected violence of warfare make stopping genocide extremely difficult.

In this piece for Zócalo, author Naomi Hirahara explains the history of the Los Angeles area recently designated by the city as “Sawtelle Japantown.”

UCLA alumnus Robert Farrell writes about how desegregating a Houston coffee shop helped change America — and his life.

A panel of experts that included UCLA Latin America and Caribbean literature scholar Jorge Marturano shared their perspectives on the future of Cuba during a discussion at a “Thinking L.A.” event co-presented by UCLA and Zócalo.

A few days after host Neil Patrick Harris joked the Oscars honored “Hollywood’s best and whitest,” entertainment insiders addressed the lack of diversity in the industry.

Anthropology professor Alan Page Fiske writes in an op-ed that the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ attackers, like so many people who use violence, probably thought they were acting righteously.

A UCLA psychologist and her sister explain why Disney struck billion-dollar gold with Elsa, Anna and ‘Let It Go.’

UCLA linguist Pamela Munro writes about the nearly forgotten language of the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians and her efforts to revive it for descendants of Southern California’s Tongva people.

At a “Thinking L.A.” event copresented by UCLA and Zocalo Public Square, a panel that included two UCLA professors discuss the transformation of downtown L.A. and whether it lives up to the current hype.

Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus says that the near-ubiquity of alcohol contributes to the staggering toll fetal alcohol spectrum disorders take on society each year.

In an interview, Randy Newman, who attended UCLA, explains how growing up and living in Los Angeles as influenced him. The event was part of the "Thinking L.A." series co-sponsored by UCLA and Zócalo Public Square.

UCLA professor Edward Walker explains how corporations — from Verizon to Wal-Mart — manufacture citizen lobbyists.

In an event co-sponsored by UCLA and Zocalo Public Square, Luskin School of Public Affairs Dean Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. and others disagree on Mayor Garcetti’s first year in office.