Esotericism unveiled

The Association for the Study of Esotericism's second annual North American conference is scheduled from June 8 to 11 at UC Davis, hosted by Allison Coudert, the university's Paul and Marie Castelfranco Professor of Religious Studies.

Esotericism, as an academic field, refers to the study of alternative or marginalized religious movements or philosophies whose proponents in general distinguish their own beliefs, practices and experiences from public, institutionalized religious traditions, according to the association's Web site.

An opening reception with a klezmer band is scheduled from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 8 at Putah Creek Lodge, to be followed by a talk by New York University professor Elliott R. Wolfson from 7:30 to 8:30, also at the lodge. Wolfson's topic is "(An)Iconic Representation of Divine Embodiment: The Role of Imagination in Medieval Kabbalistic Esotericism."

All events, including the reception and Wolfson's talk, are open to the public. For more information, e-mail Coudert, apcoudert@ucdavis.edu.

Prof named UC Santa Cruz humanities dean

Georges Van Den Abbeele, a professor of French and humanities, will be leaving UC Davis to become dean of the UC Santa Cruz Humanities Division this summer. Van Den Abbeele's accomplishments on campus include establishing the general humanities and film studies programs, and helping faculty members develop and teach a wide range of interdisciplinary courses for undergraduates. He also served as president of the Western Humanities Alliance, which includes 23 West Coast universities. In 1999, he helped set up the Pacific Regional Humanities Center at UC Davis, which has now been running for three years and is one of nine of its kind in the United States. Van Den Abbeele's first teaching job was at UC Santa Cruz.

Pianist to perform

Pianist Lara Downes, who is a UC Davis artist-in-residence, and the Alexander String Quartet are on the program for Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts' next event in the center's continuing celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

The quartet and Downes are scheduled to perform Mozart piano quartet music — for piano, violin, viola and cello — at 2 and 8 p.m. June 11 in the center's Studio Theatre. Tickets: Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or toll-free (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org.

Aggies upset Stanford

The UC Davis men's baseball team swept Stanford University last weekend in a two-game series, almost knocking off the Cardinal (30-25) from qualifying for the NCAA Division I baseball championship. During the 2005-06 year, the Aggie men's soccer, football, wrestling and basketball teams also beat Stanford.

Family connections

The UC Davis Family Connection Program, an educational play series based on university research about infants and toddlers, will be celebrating its one-year anniversary with a family reunion. It will take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 3 in the toddler yard at the UC Davis Center for Child and Family Studies, 244 First St., Davis. Families are encouraged to bring picnic supplies.