Cultural Resources

research centers & groups    museums, galleries, & cultural sites

New / Prospective Students and Visitors

Located in the second largest metropolis in the United States and an urban center at the cutting edge of contemporary American cultural and intellectual life, the UCLA campus is a major cultural magnet in its own right, attracting national and international scholars, speakers, and performance groups. In addition, the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic city of Los Angeles offers numerous opportunities for exploration and enrichment.

Other major cultural institutions in the area include:

• The Huntington Library
• The J. Paul Getty Center for the Humanities and Museum
• The Norton Simon Museum
• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
• The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• The American Film Institute
• The American Cinematheque
• The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

For more information on some of these, see our Museums and Cultural Points of Interest below.

The campus's location also allows easy access to ocean fronts, beaches, mountains, and deserts, along with a variety of recreational and sports facilities. UCLA's own recreational facilities were expanded and upgraded for the 1984 Olympics and are open to all students.

Southern California is one of the main overseas poles of attraction for a large number of French people today. The French community in Los Angeles is highly visible through a variety of activities, including cultural, economic, and industrial exchanges, movie making, gastronomy, and imports. A number of restaurants have been instrumental in the creation of the New Californian cuisine by adapting traditional French cooking to California. Cultural Attachés from France, Canada, and Switzerland assist academic institutions with visiting faculty, lecturers, movie screenings, and a variety of other resources. A number of Alliances Françaises offer regular French cultural and social events to their members. Two local French lycées are accredited by the French Government.

Southern California is the focus of attention in a number of recent publications by influential French writers and international scholars who are reflecting on post-industrial society and post-modern culture: Edgar Morin (La Californie), Jean Baudrillard (Amérique), Umberto Eco (Travels in Hyperreality), Fredric Jameson (Postmodernism), and Jean-François Lyotard (Disneyland).

Admissions and Other Services and Resources

Research Centers and Groups

African Studies Center

Institute for Social Science Research

Center for European and Eurasian Studies

Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Center for Modern and Contemporary Studies

Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies

Center for the Study of Religion

Center for the Study of Women

Multi-Campus Research Group on History and Culture of Late Antiquity

Museums, Galleries, and Cultural Sites

UCLA

UCLA Performing Arts

UCLA Hammer Museum

Fowler Museum of Cultural History

Greater Los Angeles

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