School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced

September 4, 2025

This year's Hellman Fellows: Adeyemi Adebiyi, Qian Wang and Meredith Van Natta

As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith Van Natta and Earth systems Professor Adeyemi...

Statewide Coalition Forming to Bring COVID Awareness to At-Risk Communities

A new coalition of universities and community partners across the state — including UC Merced —aims to address the COVID-19 pandemic in communities that are disproportionally affected...

Political Scientists Study Effects of Affluence in Newest Nature Publication

How does socioeconomic inequality affect people? Seeing expensive items such as cars, which function as signs of social class, can potentially influence people’s political behavior according...

UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities graduate students and faculty will have the benefit of two additional years of funding from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Scholarship and Community Partnerships Continue with Renewed Luce Foundation Grant

It has been two years since UC Merced received the $280,000 Henry Luce Foundation grant, but its community engaged research endeavors are far from over. This fall, UC Merced Interdisciplinary...

Founding UC Merced Faculty Member Appointed to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery has announced that UC Merced Art History Professor ShiPu Wang has joined the museum’s Board of Commissioners for a four-year term. His appointment...

Public Health Ph.D. Student Wins CCAPW Scholarship

Shaina Santa Cruz, a graduate student in the Public Health Graduate Program, was awarded the Central California Asian Pacific Women (CCAPW) scholarship. The scholarship provides financial...

SNRI Sees a Leadership Transition

Change is everywhere at UC Merced this year, from hiring a new chancellor to the completion of a major campus expansion. The Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), an early hallmark of research...

More than 100 students participated remotely in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center's Summer Undergraduate Research Institute to develop critical research skills and prepare for graduate school.

Summer Research Program Continues to Serve Students Remotely

While the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most students and faculty mentors off campus, UC Merced’s commitment to providing research experiences to undergraduate students has not wavered. Over...

$3.5 Million Hellman Endowment Expands Future of Research at UC Merced

Since 2011, the Hellman Fellows Fund has provided close to 60 UC Merced assistant professors with much-needed research support in the form of seed funding. The prestigious Hellman Fellowship has...

Low-Wage Work Is Linked to Spread of COVID-19, Study Finds

California counties with high numbers of low-wage workers are seeing higher incidence of COVID-19, suggesting a link between so-called “worker distress” and spread of the virus, according...