Arts and Culture

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, a Fresno native, author and former Los...

Students Part of ‘Symbiotic’ Effort to Meld Art With Science

Graduate student Sabah Ul-Hasan translated her love of science into four separate college degrees. She holds bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, and environmental and sustainability studies,...

Campus Celebrates LGBT+ Culture During Pride Week

UC Merced’s Pride Week kicks off March 28. The weeklong celebration is hosted by Lambda Alliance and LGBTQ+ Initiatives in the Office of Student Life. It’s a collaborative effort to affirm the LGBT+...

Harvard Professor to Speak on How Culture Changes the World

Harvard University Professor Doris Sommer will present UC Merced’s fourth annual Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities at noon Feb. 22 in the California Room on campus. Sommer’s talk, “The Work of...

New Dean Inspired by Campus’s Innovative Spirit

With two decades of experience at prominent American research universities, Jill Robbins has a good feel for what works and what doesn’t in academia. That’s partly because change comes so slowly to...

Human Rights Film Series Marks 10th Anniversary

The UC Merced Human Rights Film Series celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with a series dedicated to the memory of Denard Davis, a Merced community advocate, educator, mentor and civil rights...

‘My Merced’ Captures Campus’ Spirit in Song

From the moment they step foot on the UC Merced campus, people often say they feel a sense of pride and belonging. Award-winning composer Jimmy Dunne has attempted to capture the essence of that...

Hmong Anniversary Celebration Kicks Off at UC Merced

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, and with it, the beginning of the Hmong, Lao and other Southeast Asian migration from Laos and Thailand to the United States. To...

Spanish, Arts Students Contribute to Cultural Exhibit and Celebration

The value of having a University of California campus in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley is that its students, staff and faculty can affect the community as much as the community affects them....

Love of Music Continues to Drive Alum’s Career in Social Media

Shavone Charles is combining her love of music and technology to blaze a new trail in social media. Charles graduated from UC Merced in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Literature and Cultures,...