Humanities
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Thirty years of investing in communities: Alumna Shannon Lawder on language, philanthropy, and following your passion
UC Santa Cruz alumna Shannon Lawder (Kresge ’91, Russian studies) is the director of the Civil Society Program at the Mott Foundation. The Mott Foundation has supported communities worldwide for 100 years, and Lawder has been part of that mission for 31 years.
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What can you do with a humanities degree? A new UC Santa Cruz course has answers
Launched this spring by the Humanities Division, “What Can I Do with My Degree? Humanities-Powered Jobs” introduces students to the professional possibilities of a humanities education while helping them develop collaboration, leadership, and communication skills that extend far beyond the classroom.
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Celebrating the Humanities at UC Santa Cruz
The annual Celebrating the Humanities gathering was more than just a way to recognize excellence across the division. This event, which filled the Merrill Cultural Center, was also a strong reminder of the relevance and career power of humanistic studies in an era of artificial intelligence.
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Humanities students are rethinking incarceration through VAST and EXCEL programs
Humanities students at UC Santa Cruz are finding new ways to think about incarceration through art, literature, journalism, and community internships.
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Art, research, and Night at the Museum: The flourishing partnership between UC Santa Cruz Humanities and the Museum of Art and History
Over the past ten years, the Humanities Division and The Humanities Institute have had a unique and successful partnership with the Museum of Art and History, working closely on exhibitions, public programming, student fellowships, and research initiatives that connect the university with the broader Santa Cruz community.
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A path shaped by passion: Alumnus David Gleason’s lifelong dedication to Russian studies and supporting the Humanities
UC Santa Cruz alumnus David Gleason supports the university through charitable gift annuities. His philanthropic support of UC Santa Cruz is rooted in a deep gratitude for how his time there shaped the path that followed—working for Apple in the Soviet Union at one of the most pivotal moments in modern history.
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Alumnus John Kim receives multiple film festival selections for his debut independent feature film Reunion
John Kim’s (Porter ’84, creative writing and literature) debut independent feature film Reunion follows an Asian American funeral home worker who attends his high school reunion hoping to jump-start his life, only to be mistaken for a successful alumnus from another school—a billionaire whom no one has seen since graduation.
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A reckoning in fiction: Karen Tei Yamashita returns to Bookshop Santa Cruz with acclaimed new novel Questions 27 & 28
Bookshop Santa Cruz will host the celebrated novelist and Emeritus Professor of Literature Karen Tei Yamashita for the launch of her new book, Questions 27 & 28, in conversation with History Professor Alice Yang.
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The language of food: entrepreneur Kendra Baker (Crown, ‘01, language studies) is this year’s Humanities Alumni Award honoree
Kendra Baker, co-founder of the Penny Creamery and The Picnic Basket, is this year’s UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Humanities Alumni Award recipient, an honor that highlights a career shaped by the study of language and culture.
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Alumna and Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei and civil-rights activist Dolores Huerta named in Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2026
Daniela Amodei graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2009 with a B.A. in literature and a minor in politics. In 2022, UCSC’s Research Center for the Americas was renamed in honor of social justice icon Dolores Huerta; the university continues to collaborate with the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
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United by loss, a Palestinian and Israeli walk together on a path to peace
Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peacebuilder, and Maoz Inon, an Israeli entrepreneur and activist, will speak on Monday, April 20, in Santa Cruz about their work promoting understanding and reconciliation in the region.
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A Deep Read interview with Merlin Sheldrake, author of Entangled Life
The British biologist Merlin Sheldrake, this year’s featured author for The Humanities Institute’s (THI) seventh annual Deep Read, spoke with UC Santa Cruz about the strange, generative intelligence of fungi and what it can teach us about connection, creativity, and survival.