Humanities
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Distinguished Professor of Literature Carla Freccero dies at 69
Carla Freccero, distinguished professor and chair of the Literature Department and a beloved mentor to hundreds of graduate students, died this week at Stanford Hospital, surrounded by loved ones. She was 69.
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A vision of freedom: the overlooked Black women activists who rallied for the vote in the Pacific Northwest
Long before women gained the right to vote nationwide in 1920, Black women in the Pacific Northwest were already working to shape political life—organizing clubs, building party networks, and mobilizing voters. Assistant Professor of History Quin’Nita Cobbins-Modica’s research shines a light on these overlooked political strategists. Her scholarship has earned her the 2025 Judith Lee…
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Centering nourishment at The Humanities Institute
The Humanities Institute (THI) at UC Santa Cruz is exploring the theme of nourishment this year, inviting the campus and community to reflect on what sustains life, fosters connection, and makes flourishing possible. “What does it mean to be nourished in our bodies, our minds and our communities at a moment of profound social, political,…
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Shaping the future of artificial intelligence
UC Santa Cruz experts are working to guide AI in ethical, sustainable, and socially beneficial directions
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New book chronicles the life of an enslaved man on the run in the 1700s
David George was born enslaved in Virginia in 1742, but he never gave up on his fight for freedom. Running by night, fording rivers and crossing borders, George embarked on a decades-long odyssey in and out of captivity that carried him thousands of miles. Those repeated getaway form the heart of The Escapes of David…
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UC Santa Cruz Ethics Bowl team qualifies for national championships
A hard-working group of UC Santa Cruz undergraduate Ethics Bowl competitors is heading for the 2026 Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Championships in St. Louis, MIssouri, in March.
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Arts & Culture, Campus News, Climate & Sustainability, Health, Social Justice & Community, TechnologyNine major wins worth celebrating for 2025
From amazing research discoveries to high-impact new education and fundraising initiatives, UC Santa Cruz created significant positive change, despite headwinds
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Uncovering the troubling legacy of racism in fairy tales
In Specters of the Marvelous: Race And The Development Of The European Fairy Tale, Literature Professor Kimberly Lau reveals how “innocent” stories often encoded virulent prejudice.
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Celebrating the power of poetry: Ellen Bass draws large, enthusiastic crowd for Morton Marcus Poetry Reading on campus
Three hundred people filled the Merrill Cultural Center to hear celebrated poet Ellen Bass deliver the keynote presentation at the 15th annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading this month.
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PhD history student Linda Ulbrich helps bring Santa Cruz’s past to life in the city’s expanded online history page
Santa Cruz’s official government website now offers a brisk virtual tour through influential, intriguing, tragic and overlooked moments from the city’s past. The updated and lavishly illustrated Santa Cruz history timeline is the handiwork of history Ph.D. candidate Linda Ulbrich, whose work encourages further exploration.
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Connecting hearts, heritage, and higher education
By supporting The Humanities Institute and volunteering with Senderos, Carolyn and Curt Coleman help bridge campus and community—connecting students, families, and cultural traditions across generations.
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Using speculative fiction to fill the silences of Colonial history
In his acclaimed new book, First Contact, Associate Professor of Literature Zac Zimmer draws on the power of speculative fiction to revisit, question and upend stories and tropes about early contact between European explorers and Indigenous populations.