School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

First-generation Students Shine at UC Merced. This Week Celebrates Them

November 3, 2025

UC Merced Professor Rose Scott, student Narciso Martinez Solorio

More than six in 10 UC Merced undergraduates are the first in their families to attend a university. The national average for four-year universities is about two in 10. Opening doors to opportunity for first-generation students is infused into UC Merced’s DNA. Young people who had little...

Racing Team Puts Classroom Lessons to the Test

UC Merced’s Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team built its first racecar and exhibited it at a national competition last June. The student club has crafted a more advanced machine this...

Campus' Annual Celebration of Research Continues to Grow

From the campus’ own undergraduate and graduate students to distinguished faculty members from here and abroad, Research Week at the University of California, Merced, will offer a wide range of...

Graduate Student's Urban Art Research has Global Reach

Graduate student Marco Valesi is turning a scholarly lens on an emerging form of expression. He searches cities for art that appears without the approval of authorities. Few scholars across the globe...

Leading Voice of the Armenian Genocide to Receive Spendlove Prize

Peter Balakian, an award-winning author and a leading voice of Armenian Genocide recognition, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy...

Surgeon General's Report: Cigarette Ads Cause Youth to Start Smoking

Cigarette advertising and promotion cause youth to start smoking and facilitate progression to regular use, according a U.S. Surgeon General’s Report released today. UC Merced Professor Anna V. Song...

Mayan Creation Myth the Focus of Upcoming Events

The Popol Vuh, the ancient Mayan creation myth, has permeated several classes at UC Merced this year, offering undergraduate students several ways to learn more about Mayan culture. The focus on the...

Graduate Student’s Research Examines Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism

Born in Nebraska to a Persian mother and a father whose military duty took the family to Europe for much of her childhood, Kandice Soraya Grote grew up speaking English, German and Farsi. Upon...

National Geographic Film Chronicles Highland Research

Watch Full Episode on PBS. See more from Cave People of the Himalaya. Mark Aldenderfer, dean of UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, is featured in a National Geographic...

UC Research Resource Center to Serve San Joaquin Valley

An innovative community-university partnership to empower San Joaquin Valley residents to analyze and communicate their most pressing challenges launches in Fresno this month. The Participatory...