Social Sciences

UC Merced Aerial Picture
UC Merced Arts Opens Season with East L.A. Band Las Cafeteras
October 3, 2025
UC Merced Arts has announced its 2025-26 season of performances, exhibitions and public art programs, beginning with the return of East L.A.’s electrifying band Las Cafeteras. The band’s Día de los Muertos-themed production, “Hasta La... Read More
Writer-in-Residence Mark Arax Chronicles California's Lifeblood: Water
September 18, 2025
UC Merced has debuted a writer-in-residence program with one of California’s premier chroniclers of its history, especially the titanic power plays for land and water that have shaped the state’s growth and loom over its future. Mark Arax... Read More
Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced
September 4, 2025
As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith... Read More
Study: Mexican American Millennials Link Success to Providing for Parents
August 4, 2025
For many first-generation Mexican American college graduates, the definition of success includes paying their parents’ bills or even buying them a home. Lifting the social or financial status of their elders is a goal that often defines... Read More
Humanities Alum Advocates for Student Parents
July 24, 2025
When Nicolette Lecy began her graduate studies at UC Merced, life was anything but typical. It was August 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lecy’s classes were held remotely, and she had limited access to campus. Another... Read More
Depression Due to Politics: the Quiet Danger to Democracy
July 7, 2025
On laptop screens, televisions and social media feeds across the nation, images and words fueled by a fractured political landscape spout anger, frustration and resentment. Clashing ideologies burst forth in public demonstrations, family... Read More
New Dining Space Mural Honors Native Heritage, Student Perseverance
June 6, 2025
Hidden for a year behind two large barn-style doors, a powerful new mural now adorns the walls of the Yablokoff-Wallace Dining Center. The latest piece of public art on the UC Merced campus explores Native past and future with themes of... Read More
UC Merced's CAPE Takes Extraordinary Steps to Prepare Legislative Interns
June 5, 2025
Mariel Garcia accepted a welcoming handshake from the chief of staff for state Sen. Tim Grayson. A large photograph of rolling hills at sunset near Walnut Creek, a city in Grayson’s district, dominated a wall in the compact reception room... Read More
UC Merced Alumna’s Legal Career Soars in Silicon Valley
May 13, 2025
Temnee Wright (’08) has realized a successful career as legal counsel at several Silicon Valley companies. Her interest in law was forged at UC Merced, where she made the most out of being a student in the university’s first undergraduate... Read More
Sociology Graduate Program Debuts Strongly in U.S. News Rankings
April 30, 2025
Only 10 years after it began, the Ph.D. program in UC Merced’s Department of Sociology made an impressive debut in U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings of graduate-level offerings. The Sociology graduate program tied for No. 64... Read More