School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Her UC Merced Path Changed But Stockton Student Stays on Track

March 25, 2026

UC Merced student Taliyah Miller poses for photo

Taliyah Miller would be the first to tell you she arrived at UC Merced with an unwavering, long-range goal: become an anesthesiologist. What she could not have predicted was that a difficult roommate, a therapist’s question and a job she forgot she applied for would upend that goal and leave...

Psychological Sciences Grad Group Provides Diverse Research Opportunities

Graduate students Kristynn Sullivan and Chris Fradkin took distinctly different routes to UC Merced. Sullivan left northern Virginia for the University of California’s newest campus after...

Acclaimed Authors to Speak at Symposium, Conference

A pioneering American novelist and a former California Poet Laureate will be the keynote speakers at two April events being organized by graduate students and faculty in World Cultures. John Rechy...

Research Week Highlights Cutting-Edge Work

Researchers at the university in your backyard are delving into issues of great importance to the San Joaquin Valley, the state, the nation and the world. You can learn more about their work at the...

Russian Student Gives U.S. a Second Chance, Finds Niche at UC Merced

Vadim Gassiy was in eighth grade when his mother encouraged him to leave Russia for a taste of American life, culture and education. But the small town of Niceville, Fla. proved too sharp a contrast...

Undergraduate Applications to UC Merced Surge 14 Percent

Editor’s Note: As of mid-February, UC Merced’s graduate student applications increased by 6.6 percent over last year. This press release reports a 41 percent increase, which at the time (Jan. 18) was...

Parents' Financial Help Linked to Lower GPAs, Higher Graduation Rates

College students who aren’t studying hard may have their parents’ financial support to blame. A new study by University of California, Merced, sociology Professor Laura T. Hamilton found that...

Professor Awarded National Grant for Research on Moroccan Literature

University of California, Merced, literature Professor Cristián H. Ricci has received a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities award to write an in-depth analysis of Moroccan literature....

Historian Uses 'Big Data' to Study World History

The path from ancient China to information science might seem like a long one, but Ruth Mostern is walking it. Mostern, a history professor in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, is...

Professor: In Politics, It’s Not Just What You Say, It’s How You Say It

In an election year, as people are being machine-gunned with millions of dollars’ worth of political messages from all sorts of sources, it might be re-assuring (or distressing) to discover that even...