Politics & Society

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 nationally, sharing the position with UC...

UC Merced political science mock legislative hearing

Social Sciences Graduate Programs Shine in U.S. News Rankings

UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts made a splash in the latest rankings of university graduate programs compiled by U.S. News and World Report. The university...

A fluorescence microscope image of one kind of active matter being studied. Image courtesy of Amanda Tan, UC Merced

UC Awards Support Tackling Big Questions in Health, Physics, Agriculture and Climate

Faculty members at UC Merced are taking the lead on four Multicampus Research Program Initiatives (MRPI), working with colleagues around the University of California system to address challenges...

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,...

Graphic art of a person talking to a group

Study Examined How Jewish Israelis React to Human Rights Criticism. Then Oct. 7 Happened.

A UC Merced professor and his co-researchers set out to measure how Jewish Israelis react to different sources of criticism about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Does disapproval from...

AI generated illustration for UC Merced Tobacco Summit

UC Merced Hosts Tobacco Control Summit

The community is invited to an all-day summit where researchers will present cutting-edge information on the latest efforts to stem tobacco use in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills...

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...

Scholar Workshop Studies Genocide from Several Angles

An online workshop this week aims to deconstruct one of humanity’s most destructive traits: genocide. UC Merced’s Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences is bringing together...

Student Production of ’26 Pebbles’ Encircles Tragedy with Healing and Hope

It is impossible to avoid — the real-life event that frames the play “26 Pebbles” is disturbing. Heartbreaking. Which makes all the more remarkable the play’s uplifting...

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