Arts and Culture

Three-year Grant Lifts Joy Provided by UC Merced Children’s Opera

October 20, 2025

UC Merced Children’s Opera, a performance that delights and enlightens thousands of schoolchildren a year while giving Bobcat students experience in theater, has received support from a generous grant from the Central Valley Opportunity Fund. The three-year, $90,000 grant to the opera and...

Doctoral Student Researches Area History, Pursues New Career

An academic focus on the Central Valley region’s historically African-American communities brought Michael Eissinger to UC Merced. He decided the UC’s newest campus was the best...

'Ugh the Duck' to Entertain Local Youth

“Ugh the Duck,” a retelling of the classic tale, “The Ugly Duckling,” will be performed at UC Merced in May as part of an effort to expose Merced County youth to opera and theater. The project is...

Thirst for Knowledge Leads History Buff Back to School

Like many others, 38-year-old Micah Chandler of Merced found himself laid off and without options after the economy nosedived in 2007. When he couldn’t find work, Chandler’s wife suggested he...

Ph.D. Alum Applies a Scholar's Mind to Patriotic Service

When Trevor Albertson (’09) started as the California deputy secretary for veterans services last summer, his longtime focus on higher education came in handy right away. Considering his department...

Graduate Student's Urban Art Research has Global Reach

Graduate student Marco Valesi is turning a scholarly lens on an emerging form of expression. He searches cities for art that appears without the approval of authorities. Few scholars across the globe...

Library Digitizes Civil War Diaries from Valley Family

Diaries belonging to a Civil War soldier who witnessed the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln have been digitized and published by UC Merced’s Kolligian Library. Henry O. Nightingale was an...

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...

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...

New Art Gallery Showcases Student Photography

UC Merced can add another first to its list — dedicated space for an art gallery. The UC Merced Art Gallery is in the northeast corner of the Social Science and Management Building, which opened this...