Literatures & Languages

Central Valley Stories Seminar Connects Students to Community

March 18, 2025

Central Valley Stories event attendees and one painting

Among the UC Merced students’ impressive creations in the dimly lighted room — dioramas, poems, photo collages, paintings in bold colors — Derek Miller’s creation attracted attention. Because it gurgled. It was a tall box open on one side. Balanced on top was a...

5 Questions for Indigenous Author of Acclaimed Memoir Coming to UC Merced

Deborah Taffa, an Indigenous author and educator whose book about growing up in a mixed-race home and struggling with social acceptance was hailed as one the best memoirs of 2024, will make a...

uc merced standup comedy class performers and professor

In UC Merced Standup Comedy Course, Joy is the Punchline

Katherine Cai is on stage, reminiscing about high school. “My dad tried to teach me geometry. You know how that goes. The questions get more and more difficult and Dad gets more and more...

UC Merced Spendlove Prize Tsitsi Dangarembga

Spendlove Prize Winner Brings Spirit of Ubuntu to UC Merced

Tsitsi Dangarembga spread the spirit of ubuntu over UC Merced on Wednesday night, imparting its message of “how we can be good people who live well together.” Dangarembga, a Zimbabwean...

3 New Majors Meet at Crossroads of Communication and Science

Information – how it is shaped, delivered and received – is a thread that runs through three dynamic new majors at UC Merced. Communication and media; neuroscience; and science,...

Enthusiasm High for Debut of Environmental Humanities Major

More than 170 students have enrolled this fall for classes in UC Merced’s new environmental humanities major, a degree that will prepare them to be advocates and storytellers for the living...

UC Merced faculty and graduate students collaborate with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation to record rock art sites in Mariposa County.

Major Gift to Reimagine Humanities Research, Community-engaged Projects

Humanities education has been under fire on college campuses over the past decade. “There’s a lot of concern nationally about graduate education in the humanities. We’re...

UC Merced Professor Ma Vang and print of painting that is on the cover of her book "History on the Run"

Untangling Hmong History with UC Merced’s Ma Vang

Exploring sources of historical narratives can take you to places where walls seem to move and truth feels fluid and interchangeable. Ma Vang’s research has focused on how people narrate their...

Graduating students honored by UC Merced

SSHA Honors Outstanding Graduating Students

ul { font: normal .9em Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } ul p { font: normal .9em Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } Thirteen graduating students were honored by UC Merced’s School...

Shakespeare in Yosemite Goes Big for Magical ‘Midsummer’

There’s nothing small about this year’s Shakespeare in Yosemite production. It boasts the largest cast in the program’s seven-year history and, for the first time, features a full...