Social Sciences
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Philanthropy in action: Alumna Roberta Gordon invests in students for Earth’s future
Roberta Gordon bridges science, law, and philanthropy for environmental progress
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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.
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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…
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Social Sciences students receive awards to support their academics and research
21 students were recognized with awards from the Social Sciences Division and Division of Undergraduate Education.