Global Arts, Media & Writing Studies

Empathy is the Central Theme of Todo Cambia Film Festival

February 25, 2026

Brightly colored photo of Assyrian women from Miram Ohan multimedia project

em·pa·thy (noun): the ability to recognize, understand and share the thoughts, emotions and perspectives of another person. It is a means of connection, a path to understanding. Can you see where I’m coming from? Walk a mile in my shoes. Empathy is the keyword for the 2026...

Collage of historical Black figures: Lorraine Hansberry, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida Wells, Oscar Michaeux, Granville Woods

Spotlighting Black Trailblazers Whose Stories Deserve to be Told

Black History Month often honors familiar names, leaders whose courage and determination changed the course of a nation. But many others have made groundbreaking contributions that exposed injustice...

AI-rendered of hand emerging from a box, holding a pen pressed against paper

How Writing Rewires Your Brain to Face Everyday Challenges

Written words can do more than communicate. They can also unlock the writer’s ability to process distress, identify hurtful feelings and take control of personal conflict. Emily Johnston, a...

UC Merced artists in residence Ruben Aguilera Sanchez, Frank Ayala and Abel Corchado

Merced Trio to Share Knowledge, Visions as UC Merced Artists-in-Residence

Three Merced painters, united in friendship and in their steadfast determination not to compromise their creative values, are serving as UC Merced’s first locally based artists-in-...

Old Friends and Bold Art Inspire UC Merced Professor’s Latest Film

They are longtime friends, united by a passion for art and a stubborn determination not to compromise their unconventional styles. Their brushes paint scenes of fieldhands and crops coalescing in...

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

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...

UC Merced Arts Opens Season with East L.A. Band Las Cafeteras

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...

20th anniversary UC Merced architecture as art

20th Anniversary Exhibit Presents UC Merced Architecture as Art

Before the first walls were raised or walkways paved, UC Merced existed as an idea on paper. The vision consisted of a campus master plan, detailed architectural designs and artistic renderings that...

Writer-in-Residence Mark Arax Chronicles California's Lifeblood: Water

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...

Film Documents the Struggle of Growing Old Behind Bars

A UC Merced professor entered the bleak world of a fading, 64-year-old man in a Virginia state prison to illustrate the challenges of being elderly and incarcerated. “Where’s My Coffee...