Editor’s note: Only select programs are open for the extended
application period at Davis and Los Angeles.
MERCED - Students who want to get in on the ground floor of a
new UC campus with all its new programs and enjoy a world-class UC
education in a more intimate setting have even more opportunity
now, as the application deadline for UC Merced has been extended.
UC Merced will continue to accept applications through the spring.
UC Merced joins three other campuses - Davis, Los Angeles and
Riverside - in offering a longer application period to allow
prospective students a chance to learn more about programs. Those
include UC Merced’s newest majors, some just approved in the past
few weeks. For information about admissions, visit
http://admissions.ucmerced.edu/.
As of fall 2007, students will be able to earn bachelor’s of
arts degrees in political science and history, which were recently
added to the growing list of programs at UC Merced.
Already this fall, the university had added economics and
cognitive science, which means that next fall, students will have
at least 18 majors to choose from - double the number the campus
opened with in 2005.
And more programs, such as literature, are in the works.
As the school’s roster of prestigious faculty expands, so do the
number of course and major offerings. That draws more students,
Among this year’s new Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
faculty: Stephen Nicholson, whose interests are in American
politics, voting behavior, public opinion, political psychology and
direct democracy; Alexander Whalley, who studies the economics of
labor markets; and Thomas Hansford, who researches judicial
politics, interactions between the Supreme Court and Congress and
interpretation of precedent at the Supreme Court.
Faculty members work together to develop interdisciplinary
curriculum to benefit the students and create fresh opportunities
for learning.
For example, all history students will have an applied research
requirement in their junior years, and will each complete a senior thesis.
“That allows them to pursue their own interests in depth,
explore possible careers and graduate with a major piece of
original research,” said founding faculty member Ruth Mostern.
The school’s newest majors are housed within the School of
Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, one of the university’s three
schools. Engineering and Natural Sciences are the others.
UC Merced also added new minors this year, including political
science and anthropology.
“This is the natural evolution of the school,” said Hans
Bjornsson, interim dean of the School of Social Sciences,
Humanities and Arts.
Majors as of fall 2007:
Bioengineering
Computer science and engineering
Environmental engineering
Materials sciences and engineering
Mechanical engineering
Applied mathematical sciences
Biological sciences
Chemical sciences
Earth systems science
Physics
Cognitive science
Management
Psychology
Social and cognitive sciences
World cultures
History
Political science
Economics
Minors as of fall 2007:
American studies
Arts
Cognitive science
Economics
History
Philosophy
Psychology
Services science
Spanish
Writing
Anthropology
Political science
