Storytelling, Truthtelling

Director’s Message

Welcome to the 2026–2027 academic year at the University of California, Irvine!
Each year, the Humanities Center selects an annual theme to guide our programming and conversations. For 2026–2027, the UCI Humanities Center is exploring the relationship between storytelling and truthtelling. 
We tell stories all the time, to share life experiences and reflect on their meaning.
Some stories are personal, and others are about collective experiences. Some are overtly fictitious, and others claim to be based in fact. In our current conflicted political context, one person’s and one community’s claim to truth are often questioned by others as lacking in legitimacy and accuracy. And, in the coming of age for artificial intelligence, the ability to discern what is “real” from what is “fake” is even more challenging. 
What is make-believe and what is truth? How might storytelling reveal fundamental “truths” about human beings and our societies? Is history invalid if it offers an imaginative reinterpretation of the past? How do we discern what is true and what is at stake in making that determination?

Benedict Anderson offered the concept “imagined community” to describe the bonds between people within a nation. These imagined connections are fostered through the media, through the stories that are told and circulated. Even if one person has not met another, the sharing of stories could create a common bond. What happens if we are deeply suspicious of each other’s stories? If we are unable to hear and share another’s stories? If our social media algorithm only replicates particular stories and not others?

Join us to explore these questions regarding storytelling and truthtelling.

Fall Quarter

Please join us for the annual kick-off event:

Revisiting the Past on the Page and in Museums: A Lunchtime Discussion 

October 12, 2026

12:30-1:45

HG 1030

Moderators: Jeff Wasserstrom and Judy Tzu-Chun Wu

Joes Segal, Curator, Wende Museum

Choi Chatterjee, Professor of History, California State University, Los Angeles

Co-sponsored by Forum for the Academy and the Public as part of their day-long symposium. 

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Seeing Each Other: A U.S.-China Photography Exhibition Opening

Friday, October 30, 2026
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Exhibition located on Fifth floor of Science Library
 

Exhibit dates October 30, 2026 through December 11, 2026
 

In the summer of 2026, UCI students traveled to Shanghai and Fudan students traveled to Southern California to explore and photograph stories documenting each other’s communities. Combining images from different perspectives into collective visions, this exhibition is the result of their unique collaboration.

Project co-sponsored by the Cyrus Tang Foundation, North Oaks Huang Foundation, and the Schools of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences. 

News story in Chinese about Seeing Each Other with sample photos, U.S. News Express, 1 September 2026, https://www.unecne.com/archives/270311 
https://www.humanities.uci.edu/news/seeing-each-other-sharing-journeys-across-china-and-us 
Gong Yanhua, “China-US Youth Photography Exchange Program Brings Cultures into Focus,” Shanghai Eye: Bringing Stories to Life, 19 August 2026, https://www.shanghaieye.cn/detail?postId=133659