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2021 Social Consciousness

December 03, 2021
Stepping up to fight food insecurity
UC Santa Cruz has expanded its annual Second Harvest Holiday Food and Fund Drive to help boost donations—needed now more than ever in the wake of the pandemic, wildfires, and economic turmoil.
November 23, 2021
Reviving deep-rooted knowledge
The Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the Arboretum & Botanic Garden aims to assist the tribe's efforts in cultural revitalization, recuperation and relearning of dormant cultural knowledge, and environmental justice.
November 02, 2021
Engineer David Lee wins funding for public interest technology program
David Lee, assistant professor of computational media, has received funding through the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) for a program to provide community-engaged experiential learning for students.
October 27, 2021
UC Santa Cruz advances commitment to social justice with College 10 naming in honor of John R. Lewis
College Ten—an undergraduate residential learning community founded on principles of social justice and community—will be named in honor of the late congressman and civil rights icon John R. Lewis.
September 24, 2021
New BBQueer Fest dance and arts festival co-produced by UCSC dance professor Gerald Casel
Beginning on September 30, Santa Cruz will host the first annual BBQueer Fest—a four-day dance and arts festival organized by and for QTBIPOC artists and community members.
September 15, 2021
Felicity Schaeffer named Baskin Foundation Presidential Chair for Feminist Studies
Felicity Amaya Schaeffer, the new Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation Presidential Chair for Feminist Studies, plans to address the most pressing issues of the department’s focus on social justice.
September 13, 2021
Karen Tei Yamashita to receive 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
UC Santa Cruz emerita professor of literature Karen Tei Yamashita will be awarded the 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards.
August 24, 2021
Humanities Institute and Bookshop Santa Cruz offer evening with bestselling author Sandra Cisneros
UCSC’s Humanities Institute is co-sponsoring a special online event with Bookshop Santa Cruz, featuring Sandra Cisneros, in conversation with Emmy Award-winning journalist Rubén Martínez, to celebrate her new book, "Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo."
August 17, 2021
UCSC theater arts alumna nominated for Emmy Award in television writing
UC Santa Cruz theater arts alumna Ashley Nicole Black is on a roll. The 36-year-old comedian has the distinction of being nominated twice in the same category of television writing for the upcoming 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards.
August 10, 2021
Preserving the caring, compassion that helped us through the CZU wildfire
Watching the wildfires now burning throughout California takes me back to the anxious, uncertain days one year ago when the CZU Lightning Complex wildfire was burning through our county.
August 09, 2021
Fostering anti-racism in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology
A UCSC team has assembled a toolkit of resources for academic departments to use in addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
July 22, 2021
Dickens Universe celebrates 40th anniversary with ‘A Christmas Carol’
This summer, the Dickens Project at UC Santa Cruz—the largest multi-campus consortium on Victorian studies in the world—will present the 40th year of the Dickens Universe, a week of intense study and festivities.
July 20, 2021
Susana Ruiz awarded ACLS digital grant to develop VR documentary of 2011 Egyptian Uprising
UC Santa Cruz assistant film and digital media professor Susana Ruiz has received a 2021 Digital Extension Grant of $150,000 from The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) for her project, Arab Data Bodies: Social Media in Mixed Reality.
July 16, 2021
History professor wins prize for article on post-Civil War incarceration of African American children
Associate professor of history Catherine Jones has been honored with the 2021 Richards Prize for the best article published in The Journal of the Civil War Era in 2020. The journal explores how knowledge of the Civil War era informs our understanding of 21st-century politics and society.
July 06, 2021
Library’s new Community Archiving Program to broaden scope of Regional History Project
The University Library has announced the establishment of a new Community Archiving Program that will build on the foundation of its decades-old Regional History Project.
June 22, 2021
Nathaniel Deutsch’s ‘A Fortress in Brooklyn’ reveals provocative counter-history of American Jewry
A new book by UC Santa Cruz history professor Nathaniel Deutsch details how a group of determined Holocaust survivors survived in one of the roughest parts of New York City—reshaping the urban landscape of postwar Brooklyn.
June 15, 2021
Dialogues, collaborations, and the success of 'slow science'
With funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, the new Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions Initiative takes a methodical approach to worldwide social and environmental challenges
June 10, 2021
Pulitzer Prize-winning UCSC alumnus Jeffrey Stewart gives keynote address at Humanities Spring Awards
UC Santa Cruz alumnus Jeffrey Stewart (Cowell College ’71, philosophy) delivered the keynote address at the annual event celebrating the achievements of students, faculty, and alumni of the Humanities Division.
June 03, 2021
Feminist studies Ph.D. student receives Institute for Citizens & Scholars fellowship
Claire Urbanski, a Ph.D. candidate in feminist studies, has been named a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation).
May 27, 2021
Exhibition explores the art of creating comfort in a year of unexpected hardship and isolation
Twelve of UCSC's most promising artists will have their work on display in the 35th annual Irwin Scholarship exhibition, beginning June 3, at The Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery.
May 24, 2021
‘We Are What We Eat’: Alice Waters to celebrate new book in live event with Michael Pollan
Renowned chef and food activist Alice Waters will be in conversation with bestselling author Michael Pollan at a live virtual event presented by Bookshop Santa Cruz and Extended Session, and co-sponsored by UCSC’s Humanities Institute.
May 23, 2021
UC collaboration launches first online course in the Punjabi language
The first online Punjabi language course for University of California students that launched earlier this year is a collaboration of several UC campuses, centered on UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis.
May 12, 2021
Alumna Reyna Grande wins Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Literature & Advocacy
UC Santa Cruz alumna Reyna Grande (Kresge '99, B.A. creative writing, film & video) has received a 2021 Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus.
May 06, 2021
Creating a soundtrack and adding a heartbeat to the struggle for prison abolition
UCSC’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences will present ‘Music for Abolition'--an artist panel featuring three-time Grammy-award winning musician Terri Lyne Carrington with a dozen prominent guest musicians.
April 28, 2021
2021-22 Dickson Emeritus awards support faculty research in history, literature, and psychology
Karen Yamashita, professor emerita of literature; Dana Frank, research professor in history; and Thomas Pettigrew, research professor in psychology, were each awarded Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorships in recognition of their outstanding achievements in scholarship and teaching.
April 23, 2021
Three UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Angela Davis, distinguished professor emerita of history of consciousness and feminist studies; James Estes, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology; and Barbara Rogoff, distinguished professor of psychology, are among the newly elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
April 21, 2021
UC Santa Cruz and United Way partner to empower youth through research in local communities
A research partnership between UC Santa Cruz and United Way of Santa Cruz County will offer local youth and UCSC undergraduates new leadership platforms and support college-readiness and success.
April 20, 2021
Enabling women and girls to achieve their potential
Alumna Ann Starrs, director of family planning at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, came to reproductive health work from a steadfast commitment—strengthened by her time at UC Santa Cruz—to feminism, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.
April 15, 2021
Two UC Santa Cruz arts professors receive 2021 Guggenheim Fellowships
Film and digital media professor Irene Lusztig and art professor Elizabeth Stephens were among the 184 artists, writers, scholars, and scientists selected this year from nearly 3,000 applicants to receive Guggenheim Fellowships.
April 12, 2021
UCSC's Van Williams discusses diversity in IT at Stanford event
Speaking at the second “Conversations with Extraordinary Leaders” at Stanford University last month, Van Williams, vice chancellor of information technology and strategic technology initiatives at UC Santa Cruz, said designing for diversity and inclusivity within organizations requires planning.
April 12, 2021
Sharing insights from more than six decades of social psychology research
New book by Professor Emeritus Thomas Pettigrew distills themes across his storied career
April 09, 2021
Inaugural Hayden White lecture to explore the afterlife of slavery with author Saidiya Hartman
Award-winning literary scholar and cultural historian Saidiya Hartman will be the featured guest at the inaugural Hayden V. White Distinguished Annual Lecture, a virtual event that takes place on April 19.
April 08, 2021
UCSC climate change conference focuses on food security issues
‘Confronting Climate Change: Food Security in a Changing World’ will be held virtually April 28-29, featuring a panel of experts and a series of short films.
April 06, 2021
Proud Slugs making a difference through public service
A Superior Court judge. The director of the public art program for Los Angeles. A defense attorney. They all believe in public service, and they all say their time at UC Santa Cruz changed their lives in permanent ways.
April 01, 2021
UCSC awarded three 2021 VOICE grants from UC National Center for Free Speech
UC Santa Cruz has received three awards from the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement's Valuing Open and Inclusive Conversation and Engagement (VOICE) Grant Program.
March 29, 2021
Teens describe their gender and sexuality in diverse new ways, but some are being left behind
Psychology Professor Phil Hammack’s latest research shows how regional differences and other social factors can either hinder or support expression of diversity in sexual and gender identity among teens and young adults.
March 22, 2021
UC Santa Cruz joins AAAS Sea Change initiative
UC Santa Cruz has joined the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s SEA Change initiative in a public commitment to systemic transformation into more diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces where the full range of talent can succeed in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine.
March 18, 2021
UC Santa Cruz joins new consortium to ensure future of SlaveVoyages database
UC Santa Cruz has joined a newly formed consortium of institutions to ensure the preservation, stability, and future development of what has become the single most widely used online resource for anyone interested in slavery across the Atlantic world.
March 16, 2021
Campus holds first Sexual Violence Sexual Harassment Research Symposium
UC Santa Cruz will hold its first-ever research symposium — and a first for a UC campus — highlighting research by campus scholars on issues of sexual violence and sexual harassment Friday, April 2.
March 11, 2021
How to live like Shakespeare
A new series of conversations about Shakespeare that explore different aspects of human experience and the human condition kicks off April 5, co-hosted by Sean Keilen, director of UCSC's Shakespeare Workshop, and Julia Lupton, co-director of the New Swan Shakespeare Center at UC Irvine.
February 26, 2021
Massive debris flow swamps Big Creek Reserve as heavy rains follow summer wildfire
Boulders the size of vehicles and decades-old redwoods were ripped from the banks of the Big Creek drainage when an atmospheric river inundated the Landels-Hill Big Creek Natural Reserve on the Big Sur coast in late January.
February 26, 2021
Deep Read to present Tommy Orange in conversation with literature professor Micah Perks
Award-winning novelist Tommy Orange will be featured in conversation with literature professor Micah Perks, director of UCSC’s Creative Writing Program, in a free virtual event on Wednesday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m.
February 22, 2021
LASER talk to feature research by UCSC deans of the humanities and social sciences
The event will feature research presentations by Jasmine Alinder, Dean of the Humanities (“Representing Japanese American Incarceration”), and Katharyne Mitchell, Dean of the Social Sciences (“Sanctuary Space and Insurgent Memory”).
February 18, 2021
Computer scientist Yang Liu wins $1M grant for research on fairness in AI
Liu’s research aims to achieve more equitable outcomes from decision-making tools based on automated machine-learning algorithms.
February 16, 2021
Hope, mutual aid, and abolition
Activist and organizer Mariame Kaba offers a blueprint for mutually supportive communities during the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation
February 04, 2021
Three UCSC film alumni recognized by International Documentary Association
Three alumni from UCSC’s Film and Digital Media Department received nominations for this year's prestigious International Documentary Association Awards (IDA).
February 01, 2021
Green New Deal architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright will make a virtual campus visit
Gunn-Wright previewed some of the insights she'll share on climate policy and environmental justice during her February 10th event with the Institute for Social Transformation.
January 20, 2021
Italian newspaper ranks sociology professor among top women of the year
Camilla Hawthorne is being recognized for shedding light on emergent Afro-Italian identities and activism during a time of racial reckoning in Italy and beyond.
January 14, 2021
Humanities Institute launches 2021 Deep Read with Tommy Orange’s novel ‘There There’
Following the success of last year’s Deep Read with guest author Margaret Atwood, The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz has announced the second installment of its new program that invites the campus and community to think deeply about literature, art, and the most pressing issues of the day.
January 06, 2021
CITRIS UCSC Tech For Social Good Program funds student teams
Six student teams at UCSC have been chosen for funding this year through the Tech for Social Good Program run by CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UCSC and co-sponsored by the Institute for Social Transformation.
January 04, 2021
UC Santa Cruz scholar of Chinese American history Judy Yung dies at 74
Judy Yung, a pioneering author and scholar of Chinese American and women's history, died on December 14, 2020.
January 04, 2021
Uncovering the social factors lurking within diabetes risk
Assistant professor of sociology James Doucet-Battle's new book challenges assumptions about race within diabetes research and delves into the issue through the lens of African American experience.