UC Irvine’s Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative has brightened the UCI campus for 10 years with various events for students and community members. The program, meant for all students regardless of major, was first steered by founding director, Julia Reinhard Lupton, Distinguished Professor of English.
Lupton’s work at UCI has brought about many projects, courses and events that have her name attached in one way or the other. For three decades and counting, Lupton aided in the creation of humanities events and co-directs — along with Eli Simon — UCI’s award-winning New Swan Shakespeare Center. Because of her contributions, she was awarded the prestigious Daniel Aldrich Distinguished University Service Award on March 6, 2024.
The award, likened to a lifetime achievement, was presented at the Distinguished Faculty Awards Ceremony at the Newkirk Alumni Center. The event celebrated distinguished faculty, often tenured and recipients of national and/or international recognition in their respective fields, for the 2023-2024 academic year.
“Theater is intrinsically collaborative … I just love learning from other people and making things happen with other people, because it takes the pressure off of you,” Lupton told New University. “The whole is greater than the parts, and that’s what the university is. The university is a collection, a universe of communities.”
Lupton’s office, tucked away on the fourth floor of the Humanities Gateway building, is a modest, orderly space with small, tidy stacks of papers and books covering multiple desks. Upon walking in, one does not see the prestigious service award she recently received or any other plaques indicating her impact on UCI. Lupton maintains a humble approach throughout her impactful career, honoring not just staff and faculty but also the students who helped her along the way.
“As I get older, sometimes younger people have skills I don’t have,” Lupton, 60, said. “Younger people learn from older people, but older people also learn from younger people. And being comfortable with that kind of reciprocal flow, where there’s mutual respect, especially at the university, where you constantly have a self-renewing population of young people.”
Lupton, who studies Shakespearean and Renaissance culture, immerses herself in it and views contemporary life through this lens.
“I see Shakespeare as an invitation to learn about the past and the impact of the past on how we live now,” Lupton said.
This view allows her to incorporate her love of the English playwright into a myriad of humanities events, from thought-provoking panels like In Defense of Women: An Illuminated Lecture to food-centered events like the past Virtuous Table series and an innovative online Shakespeare course.
“She is a leading scholar in her field and certainly has a lot to brag about, given over three decades of research and service to UCI, but she makes a point of not blowing her own horn,” Eli Simon, artistic director of the New Swan Shakespeare Festival and chancellor’s professor of acting, told New University. “She’s more interested in building bridges that make Shakespeare accessible and impactful for members of our campus and community.”
At the In Defense of Women lecture on Oct. 24, Lupton herself baked apple spice, banana coffee cardamom and lemon almond rosemary cakes, underscoring her commitment to not only help arrange an event but to make it a welcoming place.
“[Hospitality is] about extra, making things special, and so administration is often about efficiency, and efficiency is important,” said Lupton. “I’m not dissing efficiency, but I would hope that efficiency is a means to an end, which is having a more hospitable university. A more inclusive, more beautiful, more diverse, more open, more attuned to nature and to time and to history [university].”
Beyond her work within the university, Lupton authored five books on Shakespeare, including essay collections, handbooks and analyses, as well as a book on Renaissance saints. She also co-wrote a book with her husband Kenneth Reinhard and collaborated with her identical twin sister Ellen Lupton on two graphic design books. Currently, she is working on her next project, a book exploring Shakespeare and virtue.
The award-winning professor is grateful for what she has been able to accomplish with her colleagues at UCI. Now, she hopes that students continue to flock to the New Swan Shakespeare Center or at least take part in the art events around campus.
“There’s just a lot of art on campus: music and dance and drama,” Lupton said. “You can make it a date night. You don’t have to go off campus. Go with friends. Support our own actors and dancers and musicians.”
Cassandra Nava is a Features Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. She can be reached at cassan2@uci.edu.
Edited by Kaelyn Kwon and Jaheem Conley