School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

UC Merced Scientists Among Global Elite Shaping AI, Climate and Health

January 26, 2026

UC Merced continues to demonstrate its growing influence on the global stage. Several faculty members landed on Clarivate’s 2025 list of the world’s most‑cited researchers. The honor is reserved for the top 1% of scholars whose work has shaped their fields over the last 10 years....

National Writing Project Kicks Off Under New Leadership

It’s a new school year, which also happens to be a new chapter of the UC Merced Writing Project. The UC Merced Writing Project is a local affiliation of the National Writing Project, which...

Visiting Behavioral Economist Honored with Distinguished Cognitive Scientist Award

Imagine blending economics, psychology, and neuroscience to pioneer new ways to think about human behavior. Behavioral economist Colin Camerer does just that and was honored as the recipient of...

Cognitive Scientist Shows How Culture Shapes Personality Traits

Complex societies produce people with more varied personalities. That’s the surprising finding of a cognitive science study that attempts to understand how people develop into who they are:...

Hellman Family Recognizes Young UC Merced Faculty Projects and Careers

Six faculty members have been named this year’s Hellman Fellows — two from each of UC Merced’s schools. The 2019-20 winners are: • Professor Anna E. Beaudin, Department...

Outgoing Chancellor Dorothy Leland cut the ribbon to signify the opening of the second phase of the Merced 2020 Project.

UC Merced Unveils Second Phase of Merced 2020 Project, Says Thank You to Leland

Two simple words, “Leland Legacy,” captured the significance of Wednesday’s opening event for the second phase of the Merced 2020 Project, an event that doubled as a goodbye and...

A grant from the Henry Luce Foundation is already making an impact on the Merced area through humanities community-engaged scholarship.

Humanities Grad Students Drive Community Engagement, Public Understanding Through Research

Since his undergraduate days in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University, Ivan Soto has aspired to produce research with a positive impact on the public — not just to benefit the...

Zanzucchi Appointed Associate Dean for Student Services and Academics

Anne Zanzucchi has worn many different hats in her 14 years at UC Merced and now she is preparing to enter her newest role as associate dean for Student Services and Academics for the School of...

Public Health Ph.D. Student Earns Fellowship to Study Health Equity

Fourth-year Public Health doctoral student Tashelle Wright won UC Merced’s first Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) Predoctoral Fellowship to examine tobacco use and oral health...

Movements Can Lead to Lasting Change, New Sociology Book Demonstrates

A social movement’s cause can be as diverse as the people who spur it in the first place —examples abound, from community organizations initiating struggles for neighborhood sidewalks and...