In 2001, the University established the Arts Research Center (ARC), the first
UC Berkeley research unit devoted exclusively to the arts. ARC aims to create
a deeper appreciation within the academic community of art-making as a vital
form of research that both interprets and re-imagines our world. ARC provides
a forum where faculty, graduate students, and artists-in-residence can engage
in dialogue about shared concerns, create new collaborative work, and pursue
projects across disciplinary and departmental boundaries. ARC activities
include an ambitious artist-in-residence program, a graduate fellowship program,
academic conferences, and support for innovative curriculum development in
the arts. The core faculty are drawn from Architecture, Art Practice, English,
Film Studies, History of Art, Music, New Media, Rhetoric, and Theater,
Dance and Performance Studies.

The Arts Research Center grew out of the Consortium for the Arts, which
between 1998 and 2008 brought together all the arts teaching and presenting
units on campus in order to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and promote
the arts at Berkeley.

For more information about the Consortium, please see this article in the
Daily Californian (February 11, 2009):
Campus Arts Consortium Looks for Funding After Forced Closure