School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Fall Commencement Graduates Urged to Write Their Own Story

December 22, 2025

Student speaker at 2024 UC Merced Fall Commencement

A beaming Jesus Cevon-Gonzalez stood on Merced’s Main Street, surrounded by his mom and dad, grandparents, sister and other loved ones. He clutched the proof of a freshly bestowed bachelor’s degree in computer science. “I’m just trying to make my parents proud,...

Guatemalan Nobelist Announced as This Year’s Spendlove Prize Recipient

Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum, recognized for her work in social and ethno-cultural reform, has been selected to receive the 2018 Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice...

To Be or Not To Be a Philosophy Major, that is the Question Bobcats Face

According to a recent Forbes magazine article, tech companies throughout the U.S. have discovered something universities have known since they began: Liberal arts thinking makes employees stronger...

A woman holds a broken cigarette in her hands

Multimillion-Dollar Grant Brings Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center to Campus

UC Merced has been awarded a $3.8 million grant to establish the UC Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC), positioning UC Merced and the San Joaquin Valley region as a leading center for the...

Humanities Project Launching Community Collaborative for Graduate Training and Research

A new two-year project at UC Merced aims to bring academic and non-academic researchers together to recast the role of the humanities in public policy and, ultimately, improve the lives of San...

Sifuentez Appointed to Head Center for Humanities

As new director of the Center for the Humanities, Professor Mario Sifuentez ’ sights are set on a fuller understanding of rural communities and how best to help them. He’s got a...

Drawing Graphic Lessons: Comics Teach, Evaluate Difficult Concepts

Though illustrations have been used to convey ideas and information since before language existed, after Benjamin Franklin published the world’s first editorial cartoon in 1754, comics emerged...

Engaging with Spiritual Allies Increases Confidence in Conflict, Studies Show

A new Pew Research survey shows that one-third of Americans have trust in a higher power or spiritual force, whether they call it “god” or not, and two new studies show that people who...

Outstanding Student Awards Celebrate the Cream of the Crop

Verenize Arceo of Winton has represented UC Merced at the state Capitol, but her most recent achievement is closer to home. The history major is among the 20 graduates in the Class of 2018 honored...

Grad Students Shine on the International Humanities Stage

UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities doctoral students made a splash in Spain this summer, presenting papers at the XXXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) in...