School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

California is getting a closer look at exactly how workers in high-risk industries across the state have borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time, UC Merced's Community and Labor Center (CLC) has analyzed the increase in the number of pandemic-era deaths of working-age people.

A half-dozen UC Merced students and alumni are recipients of significant fellowships to help support their graduate education.

“We’re extremely proud of our undergraduate and graduate students and alumni who have earned prestigious fellowships,” Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Chris Kello said. “These awards will allow scholars to embark on or continue their graduate-level research opportunities.”

(Select the link below to learn more about the recipients.)

While this year's ceremony looked quite different from years past due to the coronavirus pandemic, the presentation of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance remained an important celebration.

Public health Professor Asa Bradman contributed to a new report that examines the relationship between synthetic food dye — found in everything from juice to cupcakes — and child development.

The report, released today by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), finds that current federal levels for safe intake of synthetic food dyes may not sufficiently protect children’s behavioral health.

Alicia Garza, civil rights activist and co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, will be honored as the 13th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance during a virtual award ceremony on April 20.

The Society of Behavioral Medicine Child and Family Health Special Interest Group has recognized Professor Deborah Wiebe with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to child and family health.

International Women’s Day is more than a day to celebrate the fantastic females around us. It is a day to reflect on the contributions women have made both socially and politically around the world. Women across the globe have used their gifts and talents to help others in myriad ways, and UC Merced is proud of the female faculty as leaders on its campus. Read on for just a handful of the intelligent and inclusive women who make UC Merced the special campus it is.

COVID-19 has left the food insecure population especially vulnerable. The pandemic has upset food supply chains and in turn, access to healthy and nutritious food has become even more difficult. A cadre of public health professors are lending insight into how the food shortage has specifically impacted the Latinx community.

Shakespeare can feel stuffy and difficult to understand. Native English speakers often struggle with decoding the Bard’s works, so imagine how difficult it would be to appreciate Shakespeare if you spoke another language.

This is the challenge UC Merced’s students and faculty took on with their bilingual production of “Ricardo El Segundo,” or “Richard II.”

The question: What happens when UC Merced holds Research Week in the middle of a pandemic? The hypothesis: An annual, weeklong presentation of ground-breaking work reaches a big, new virtual audience.

With the Research Week’s usual in-person seminars, tours and showcases untenable because of COVID-19, the event will be accessed primarily through Zoom. Instead of attendees coming to campus March 1-5, Research Week is coming to them.