School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Center Engages Campus, Community with Africa and its Diaspora

February 27, 2025

Two female standing in front of a poster

This story is part of a series for Black History Month. Read more stories highlighting Black excellence at UC Merced. The brutal deaths of African Americans George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others at the hands of police officers five years ago catalyzed for Black communities to unite globally and...

Surgeon General's Report: Cigarette Ads Cause Youth to Start Smoking

Cigarette advertising and promotion cause youth to start smoking and facilitate progression to regular use, according a U.S. Surgeon General’s Report released today. UC Merced Professor Anna V. Song...

Mayan Creation Myth the Focus of Upcoming Events

The Popol Vuh, the ancient Mayan creation myth, has permeated several classes at UC Merced this year, offering undergraduate students several ways to learn more about Mayan culture. The focus on the...

Graduate Student’s Research Examines Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism

Born in Nebraska to a Persian mother and a father whose military duty took the family to Europe for much of her childhood, Kandice Soraya Grote grew up speaking English, German and Farsi. Upon...

National Geographic Film Chronicles Highland Research

Watch Full Episode on PBS. See more from Cave People of the Himalaya. Mark Aldenderfer, dean of UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, is featured in a National Geographic...

UC Research Resource Center to Serve San Joaquin Valley

An innovative community-university partnership to empower San Joaquin Valley residents to analyze and communicate their most pressing challenges launches in Fresno this month. The Participatory...

Poli Sci Graduate Discipline to Debut in Fall

Graduate students interested in studying at UC Merced will have one more discipline to pursue this fall. The political science group will launch its doctoral degree track within the Social and...

Students Benefit from Professor's Costume Design Expertise

Dunya Ramicova's costume designs have enchanted audiences for decades, but some of her biggest fans now sit in UC Merced classrooms. Ramicova, the university's first arts professor and one of its...

Campus' Ties with Community Continue to Increase

The bond between the San Joaquin Valley and the University of California, Merced, continues to strengthen. This past year, UC Merced's ongoing research endeavors produced new knowledge...

Ancient Chinese Government Lends Perspective to Modern Challenges

Government, for better or worse, hasn't changed all that much in two millennia. China's government 2,000 years ago confronted the same kinds of problems as their modern counterparts — making...