Social Sciences
- October 08, 2024
Will AI tools revolutionize public health? Not if they continue following old patterns, researchers argue.
A new paper published in the journal Social Science & Medicine shares findings from an extensive literature analysis of AI’s current trajectory in health care.
- October 08, 2024
Professor Stacy Philpott leads U.S. delegates for “Agri-Young Hackathon” at G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Agriculture
Environmental Studies Professor Stacy Philpott led the U.S. delegation for a youth hackathon at the recent G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Agriculture in Italy. Philpott was asked by USDA representatives to coordinate and support the country’s team, a reflection of her national leadership role in preparing the next generation of agriculture professionals.
- October 08, 2024
Recognizing outstanding faculty and staff in the Division of Social Sciences
Social Sciences Dean Katharyne Mitchell and award committee members recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Social Sciences Division faculty and staff awards, which are dedicated to honoring significant contributions to teaching, research excellence, and student support.
- October 07, 2024
UC Santa Cruz launches new degree program in Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Technologies, Applications, and Research
UC Santa Cruz is launching a new Master of Arts program in Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Technologies, Applications, and Research (GISTAR), designed to meet the growing demand for expertise in geospatial technologies.
- October 07, 2024
Social Sciences Division welcomes new faculty
UC Santa Cruz’s Social Sciences Division is welcoming 10 outstanding new faculty members this academic year.
- September 23, 2024
Leading by listening: Marianas Fernandez’s journey to becoming a student leader
UCSC student Marianas Fernandez excels in academics, activism, and athletics, earning recognition and awards for her leadership and contributions.
- September 19, 2024
Famed economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz speaks out against right-wing notions of economic freedom
On Tuesday night, famed progressive economist Joseph Stiglitz drew a large and enthusiastic crowd to downtown Santa Cruz, where he took aim at neoliberal economics and called for more equitable alternatives. The event was co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.
- September 16, 2024
Election forum series to foster dialogue and empower students for active democratic participation
This fall, the University of California, Santa Cruz will host the 2024 U.S. Elections Forum Series: Power, Politics, and Our Democracy, a six-part event series designed to foster open dialogue and engage students and the public in critical conversations about democracy, media, and voter participation.
- September 12, 2024
Celebrating the 2024 UCSC Alumni Awards recipients
The UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association is proud to present this year’s UCSC Alumni Awards honorees: George M. Kraw, Keith Curry, Jacob Martinez, Kamari Maxine Clarke, Paul Fielder, and Neroli Devaney.
- September 12, 2024
National Academy of Education awarded Josephine H. Pham the Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship
Josephine H. Pham, Assistant Professor of Critical Studies in Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been awarded the prestigious National Academy of Education Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.
- September 10, 2024
Creating community and change: Sharhonda Bossier’s path from UCSC to education leadership
Sharhonda Bossier, a UCSC undergraduate and graduate alumna and current CEO of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC), credits the support and community she found at UCSC for shaping her career in education leadership.
- September 10, 2024
New book explores the limits of technology in addressing food system problems
A new book from UC Santa Cruz Professor Julie Guthman warns that technological solutions are no match for structural problems in our food system. She hopes the book will help more people realize that we need to respond to these problems with social action.
- September 10, 2024
Experts weigh in on wildfire impacts
UC Santa Cruz has many experts who can provide relevant, research-based comment on a wide variety of wildfire impact topics.
- September 09, 2024
A car-free future? A Banana Slug alum is targeting one obscure regulation to get there
Alumnus Tony Jordan is a 2024 Grist 50 honoree, a list of climate leaders and innovators.
- August 27, 2024
A special look into art exhibition Seeing through Stone
For First Friday this September 6, Director and Chief Curator, Dr. Rachel Nelson will give a special curator-led walk-through of the major Visualizing Abolition exhibition, Seeing through Stone, at the UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences Gallery on the Westside of Santa Cruz.
- August 21, 2024
Humanizing every client
One year after graduation, Guneet Hora (College Nine ’23, intensive psychology, legal studies) works as a paralegal at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in the Western District of Virginia.
- August 21, 2024
A passion for change
One year after graduation, Nailah Smith (Stevenson ’23, cognitive science) works in the African American Studies and Chicana and Chicano Studies Departments at San José State University and is pursuing a Masters in Science.
- August 21, 2024
Breaking barriers and breaking news
One year after graduating from UCSC, Ryan Loyola (Stevenson ’23, politics) is a news assistant and fill-in assignment editor at ABC7 Los Angeles where he reports on breaking news.
- August 21, 2024
Stepping onto the global stage
One year after graduating from UCSC, Samantha Moore (Merrill ’23, politics) recently completed an M.A. in International Relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
- August 21, 2024
Accounting ambitions
One year after graduation, Yehan Weerasuriya works at PwC as a consultant and associate in the Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory group.
- August 19, 2024
Guiding generosity
Lora Hollingsworth, Executive Director of Gift Planning , helps donors craft their philanthropic legacies
- August 14, 2024
Singing from memory unlocks a surprisingly common musical superpower
UC Santa Cruz psychologists studied “earworms,” the types of songs that get stuck in your head and play automatically on a loop, to show that highly accurate pitch memory is much more common than might be expected.
- August 14, 2024
Tech industry leader and UC Santa Cruz alumna Susan Wojcicki dies at 56
Susan Wojcicki, a visionary tech executive and former CEO of YouTube, passed away August 9, 2024, at the age of 56.
- August 07, 2024
Preparing California’s agricultural lands for climate change
Two UC Santa Cruz researchers won a total of more than $1.5 million in federal funding for their research that's helping to create sustainable "agroecosystems" in response to climate change and other increased environmental pressures.
- July 29, 2024
An overlooked side-effect of the housing crisis may be putting Californians at increased risk from climate disasters
In a new article for the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UC Santa Cruz researchers laid out the foundation for their highly-anticipated upcoming study of how lack of affordable housing in urban areas of California may be driving increased development in and near wildlands, leading to more severe climate change impacts.
- July 26, 2024
New grant funding will help UC Santa Cruz build and diversify a climate resilience workforce for the Monterey Bay region
UC Santa Cruz will receive more than $2 million in funding to support education and training programs for undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals as part of a larger $71.1 million federal grant to the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation and a host of local partners.
- July 17, 2024
The Humanities Institute receives Global Public Humanities Award
The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz was honored as one of the two inaugural winners of the “Public Humanities Award for Leadership in Practice and Community” at the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes annual meeting in May 2024.
- July 16, 2024
Professor Emeritus Daniel Friedman elected as Economic Science Association fellow
Professor Emeritus of Economics Daniel Friedman was among 18 esteemed economists in the inaugural class of fellows of the Economic Science Association (ESA). The designation recognizes his lifetime of contributions advancing the frontier of knowledge in economics through the use of laboratory and field experiments.
- July 16, 2024
In Memoriam: Jacob Michaelsen
Professor Emeritus of Economics Jacob "Jack" Michaelsen passed away on July 11, 2024. He joined UC Santa Cruz as an assistant professor during the campus’s founding in 1965 and served as chair of the Economics Department three times.
- July 08, 2024
Philanthropy in action: Alumna Roberta Gordon invests in students for Earth's future
Roberta Gordon bridges science, law, and philanthropy for environmental progress
- June 18, 2024
G. William Domhoff and Catherine Cooper receive Dickson Emeriti Professorships
Distinguished Professor Emeritus G. William Domhoff, who was a member of both the psychology and sociology departments at UC Santa Cruz, and Professor Emerita of Psychology Catherine Cooper recently won Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorships.
- June 18, 2024
New public archives will share wisdom, artifacts from Dolores Huerta’s lifetime of successful social change leadership
UC Santa Cruz received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to help establish new public archives documenting the legacy of social justice activist Dolores Huerta, through a partnership with the Dolores Huerta Foundation. UCSC will hire a project archivist and two new postdoctoral scholars to support development of Huerta’s archives and to produce related research and education materials.
- June 06, 2024
Balancing goals: Student athlete Camille Anneet excels in politics, legal studies, and soccer
Camille Anneet (Stevenson ’26, politics and legal studies), a second-year soccer player double majoring in politics and legal studies, has played soccer since she was six years old. As a student athlete, she balances it all.
- May 29, 2024
Fashion, community, and academics: First-gen student Izzy Zazueta’s path to graduation
Izzy Zazueta (John R. Lewis ’24, politics), a third year, dean’s honors, and first-generation student, will graduate from UCSC with extensive research experience, involvement with nearly a dozen organizations, and will be attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Sociology Ph.D. program.
- May 29, 2024
Researchers explain social media’s role in rapidly shifting social norms on gender and sexuality
A new paper by UC Santa Cruz psychologists describes how social media has supported an explosion of diversity in gender and sexuality in America by empowering authentic self-expression. However, these technologies have also equally enabled a cultural backlash.
- May 20, 2024
The UCSC Arts Division presents Los Mejicas annual Spring show ‘Grupo Folklorico’
As one of the oldest organizations on campus, Los Mejicas has over half a century of bringing people together to celebrate their Mexican heritage. Their upcoming annual spring show, which marks the 52nd anniversary of the groups existence, celebrates traditional dance forms from six different regions in Mexico.
- May 16, 2024
Compassion in action: Alumna Diane N. Nguyen leads with love through her philanthropic firm
From a young age, UCSC alumna and alumni councilor Diane Nguyen felt the desire to help others. Now as the founder of her own philanthropic firm, Lead with Love Consulting (LwL Consulting), Nguyen is at the forefront of impactful change.
- May 08, 2024
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Distinguished Research Professor Emerita of Anthropology Diane Gifford-Gonzalez was recently elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Gifford-Gonzalez is a trailblazer in the field of zooarchaeology, which uses animal remains to gain new insights into the deep history of humans and animals.
- May 07, 2024
California State Board of Food and Agriculture visits campus
On April 30, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross and members of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture held their April Board meeting at the Hay Barn on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus.
- April 26, 2024
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Three professors at the University of California, Santa Cruz were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
- April 25, 2024
Anthropologists document how women and shepherds historically reduced wildfire risk in Central Italy
Fire management lessons from the past could help to improve resilience as the Mediterranean faces increased fire risk from climate change. UC Santa Cruz Anthropology Professor Andrew Mathews and his research partners show how traditional land management practices once dramatically reduced fuel for wildfires, and how these practices were forgotten, in part due to historical politics of classism and sexism.
- April 22, 2024
New research center studies interconnections between urbanism and the environment, with a focus on lessons from the Santa Cruz region
The Center for Critical Urban and Environmental Studies tackles converging 21st Century urban and environmental crises—like climate change and housing affordability—to show how the pursuit of sustainability and social justice are often intertwined.
- April 18, 2024
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members named 2023 AAAS fellows
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members have been named 2023 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, emerita distinguished research professor of anthropology; longtime journalist Robert Irion, emeritus director of UC Santa Cruz’s science communication master’s degree program; and acclaimed paleo-geneticist Beth Shapiro, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
- April 11, 2024
UC Santa Cruz Digital Arts and New Media program presents the 2024 MFA exhibition: "Embodiments"
The Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) program is showcasing the students’ best work in its annual MFA exhibition. Entitled Embodiments, the show features multimedia exhibits including visual novels, games and virtual reality as explorations into identity.
- April 11, 2024
UC Santa Cruz expert helps to weigh costs and benefits of controversial research on a high-risk technology to fight climate change
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah recently wrapped up almost three years of work co-chairing Harvard University’s SCoPEX Advisory Committee, one of the world’s first efforts to design and implement a governance framework for an outdoor solar geoengineering experiment.
- April 10, 2024
The Institute of Arts and Science & the San Jose Museum of Art present "Seeing Through Stone"
The Institute of the Arts and Sciences at UC Santa Cruz (IAS) and San José Museum of Art (SJMA) are pleased to present Seeing through Stone, a multi-sited exhibition bringing together works by international artists whose works engage a history of struggle against prisons and their harms.
- April 09, 2024
Global social change leaders gather at UC Santa Cruz for Right Livelihood International Conference
From April 23 through 27, UC Santa Cruz will host social change leaders and student activists visiting from around the world for the Right Livelihood International Conference, which includes a series of public events and will launch a new international student network and international research partnerships.
- April 04, 2024
Santa Cruz County youth aim to improve community mental health through better support for immigrants
A three-year partnership between UC Santa Cruz and United Way to empower young change-makers is wrapping up this spring, with youth leaders from across Santa Cruz County preparing to distribute resource kits for local immigrants.
- March 26, 2024
New research reveals steps California must take to capture more jobs from lithium battery boom
A new study from the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, New Energy Nexus, and the UC Berkeley Labor Center demonstrates the need for strategic investments and policy approaches to encourage build-out of the lithium supply chain within California in an environmentally friendly and economically inclusive manner.
- March 20, 2024
Diana Hernandez: From Hartnell College to UC Santa Cruz
Meet Diana Hernandez, a student parent who transferred to UC Santa Cruz from Hartnell College. Diana is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in literature, psychology, and Latin American and Latino Studies. In this Q&A, she discusses how she balances academics and parenting while staying involved in research and the Student Parent Organization on campus.
- March 15, 2024
Shaping tomorrow: Earth Futures Institute’s Frontier Fellows program amplifies student-led innovation
UCSC’s Earth Futures Institute's Frontier Fellows Program, wrapping up its second year, supported six undergraduate students engaging in groundbreaking interdisciplinary research aimed at improving the planet's future. The program is made possible through the generosity of multiple donors.
- March 15, 2024
Frontier Fellows Program propels student's research, paving the way for sustainable solutions to carbon emissions
UCSC student Jennifer Valadez spearheads pioneering research on carbon sequestration in California coastal prairies, exploring the crucial role of restoration in recovering soil carbon stocks with the help of the Frontier Fellows Program.
- March 15, 2024
Student leads innovative campus composting initiative for sustainable waste management
UCSC student Gabriel Schiering, supported by Earth's Future Institute's Frontier Fellows program, leads the innovative Oakes Community Composting Project, demonstrating a model for decentralized composting systems on campus.
- March 15, 2024
Innovating agriculture for a greener world
UCSC's Earth Futures Institute's Frontier Fellows Program, wrapping up its second year, supported six undergraduate students engaging in groundbreaking interdisciplinary research aimed at improving the planet's future. Eric Vetha uses his passion for robotics to hone in on soil moisture management practices.
- March 15, 2024
Balancing carbon sequestration and community benefits
UCSC student Cole Seither addresses the delicate balance between agroforestry, carbon sequestration, and community benefits in combating climate change. His research is supported by the Earth Futures Institute’s Frontier Fellows program.
- March 14, 2024
Equity, civic-mindedness drive UC Santa Cruz’s Global and Community Health Program
Many of UC Santa Cruz’s core values are embodied in the Global and Community Health Program, which draws students who seek to study real-world problems encountered locally and worldwide, preparing them for a career in health care, policy, research or advocacy.
- March 13, 2024
Deep Read 2024 gears up
With book giveaways, email explorations, salons, community conversations, and more, The Humanities Institute is preparing an immersive experience with its latest Deep Read selection, the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Trust.
- February 29, 2024
UC Santa Cruz-based center leads system-wide commitment to White House food security initiative
The Center for Economic Justice and Action (CEJA) at UC Santa Cruz will lead the University of California’s participation in the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.
- February 29, 2024
Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu launches her new book: "The Movies of Racial Childhoods"
To celebrate, Shimizu will be hosting a book launch on the University of California, Santa Cruz Campus at the Sesnon Gallery, where the book will be available for purchase from Two Birds Books. The book will be discussed in conversation with Shimizu and the Sesnon Gallery director Valeria Miranda.
- February 26, 2024
Alumnus James Dawes thrives in sustainable contracting and remodeling business with focus on reclaimed materials
UCSC alum James Dawes, founder of the successful contracting, demolition, and remodeling business PlaceMakers, takes pride in utilizing reclaimed materials and minimizing waste. Dawes credits his environmentally conscious business approach to the mindset cultivated during his college years.
- February 26, 2024
The Center for Creative Ecologies presents "Nuclear Nows: Contemporary Art, Radiation, and Militarized Ecologies”
This two-part symposium is the work of Zoe Weldon-Yochim, a Ph.D. Candidate in Visual Studies, in collaboration with T.J. Demos, Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture and Director of the Center for Creative Ecologies, and will discuss the intersection of contemporary art, militarized ecologies, and nuclear nationalism.
- February 26, 2024
The UCSC Music Department presents "The World Making Aura of Sonic Blackness" with Moor Mother & James Gordon Williams
On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the University of California, Santa Cruz Music Department presents a very special performance by guest artist Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa) and James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of music composition at UC Santa Cruz in the Recital Hall of the Music Center.
- February 22, 2024
Kimberly Lau appointed provost of College Nine and John R. Lewis College
The Division of Social Sciences has selected Literature Professor Kimberly Lau as the new provost of College Nine and John R. Lewis College.
- February 20, 2024
UCSC student and two time scholarship recipient shares her transformative experiences
Lizeth Peña Sanchez (’24, education, democracy, and justice, Latin American and Latino studies, and sociology) received scholarships from The Institute for Social Transformation's Transforming Futures and Building Belonging Programs. She shares how those experiences prepared her for her future goals.
- February 17, 2024
Lessons from COVID reveal how monopoly power in the biopharmaceutical industry is evolving
In his latest paper, Politics Professor Matt Sparke and his coauthor use the case of COVID to demonstrate both the enduring problem of bio-pharmaceutical monopolies and the ways they have been extended and entrenched through complex market-state interconnections.
- February 07, 2024
To plan a sustainable future for seafood access in small island developing states, researchers highlight solutions hiding in plain sight
To better understand how fisheries-based food systems might respond to change, a research team led by UCSC Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Katherine Seto took a deeper look at the strategies that people in the small island developing state of Kiribati currently use to access seafood.
- January 30, 2024
2023-24 CITRIS UC Santa Cruz Tech for Social Good Program's student project teams kick off
The 2023-24 CITRIS Tech for Social Good program at UC Santa Cruz started in January with kick-off meetings with the winning technology development track teams.
- January 30, 2024
We are all in this together: Favianna Rodriguez and the ecology of social movements
The redwood trees that tower over the UC Santa Cruz campus are glorious manifestations of an ecosystem built on symbiotic relationships. The mighty redwoods, the iconic banana slug, the small sorrel are all interwoven in their existence and survival.
- January 30, 2024
Music Professor Russell Rodriguez wins the Américo Paredes Prize
The American Folklore Society awarded UC Santa Cruz professor Russell Rodriguez the annual Paredes prize in recognition of his work in the arts with the local community and his contributions to folklore and tradition.
- January 29, 2024
Do tree-planting campaigns follow best practices for successful forest restoration?
Environmental Studies Professor Karen Holl's latest research reviewed publicly available information to see if there have been improvements in recent years in whether tree-planting organizations apply best practices for successful reforestation.
- January 18, 2024
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience partnering with EY on Open Science Data Challenge on Coastal Resilience for students
Climate change is here, and so are its impacts on our communities. Globally, coastal hazards produce increasing costs, often to the most vulnerable populations. That’s why UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the University of California Disaster Resilience Network (UCDRN) are partnering with EY on its 2024 Open Science Data Challenge, focused on coastal resilience. CCCR will be hosting an event on campus on Jan. 25 for interested undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty to learn more about this significant opportunity.
- January 17, 2024
STEM Education Central Coast Conference connects teachers with each other and a wealth of local resources
UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff helped to organize an upcoming conference that will share strategies for student success in STEM and connect teachers from 11 local school districts and offices of education with more than 20 local organizations to exchange ideas on region-specific science topics to engage students.
- January 16, 2024
On the frontlines of change
David B. Goldberg solidified his passion for organizing at UC Santa Cruz. Now, he is the president of the California Teachers Association, the largest teacher’s union in the state.
- January 11, 2024
New director of Athletics and Recreation
Chris Spells has been named UC Santa Cruz’s new director of Athletics and Recreation. He brings a depth of experience overseeing daily athletic operations for NCAA varsity sports and recreational programming.
- January 09, 2024
UC Santa Cruz Division of Undergraduate Education appoints Shelly Grabe as new Provost of Rachel Carson College
The Division of Undergraduate Education at UC Santa Cruz proudly announces the appointment of Shelly Grabe as the new Provost of Rachel Carson College, effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Grabe, a Professor of Social Psychology at UC Santa Cruz, brings a depth of experience in research, activism, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- January 08, 2024
Global study shows extreme short-term drought has even greater impacts on grasslands and shrublands than previously thought
UC Santa Cruz scientists supported a new global study showing that the effects of extreme short-term drought have been greatly underestimated for grasslands and shrublands.
- January 04, 2024
Pioneering perspectives
UCSC alumnus Bob Dodge belonged to the inaugural graduating class of UC Santa Cruz. He attests that the time he spent at UCSC was among the most transformative periods of his life.