School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

UC Merced Sees Strong Gains in U.S. News Grad School Rankings

April 7, 2026

Top 100 Best Graduate Schools ranking, two students in a lab

UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile. UC Merced’s School of Engineering broke into the top 100 in the rankings...

W.E.B. Du Bois and 1900 information graphic

Project Positions W.E.B. Du Bois as Inspiration for STEM Students

Editor's note: In honor of Black History Month, the UC Merced newsroom is highlighting some of the organizations, services and people who serve or represent the Black community on campus. We...

Human Rights Film Festival Shows the Faces of Injustice

The unflinching demand for justice drives the moving images and impassioned ideas packed into the agenda of this year’s UC Merced Human Rights Film Festival, presented by the university’s...

Journal Published UC Merced Public Health Professor's Study on Violence and Suicidal Behavior

A study conducted by a UC Merced researcher found that people injured through violent acts have a substantially higher risk to die by or attempt suicide. The study, conducted by public health...

Images from left to right: Hisako Hibi, “Study for a Self-Portrait,” ca. 1944.; Miki Hayakawa, “Untitled (Woman with Blue Hair),” ca. 1930s; Miné Okubo, “Portrait Study,” ca. 1937.

Wang Curates New Traveling Exhibition of Three Trailblazing Japanese American Women

A new art exhibition curated by Professor ShiPu Wang is reintroducing the diverse art of three California painters to a national audience by bringing representative works from each together for the...

UC Merced graduate student Karla Seijas siting on concrete wall.

Ph.D. Student Pushes for Better Education Benefits for Veterans’ Dependents

A new state law will make a difference in accessing education for the dependents of disabled veterans in California, thanks to the initiative of UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities graduate...

New Study Suggests Chance Plays a Bigger Role Than One Might Think in Faculty Promotion

For professors, it’s up or out when it comes to tenure and promotion: After five years on the job as assistant professors, junior professors’ promise is evaluated by their more senior...

Researcher Among the World's Most Highly Cited for the Fourth Straight Year

Distinguished Professor Martin Hagger from the Department of Psychological Sciences has been awarded one of this year’s Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher awards. He is one of four...

Study of Racial Effects of University Funding Cuts Wins $100,000 Education Prize

A $100,000 award will fund a UC Merced researcher's work into determining how the nation's public universities can do a better job educating students of color. Sociology Professor Laura...

Members of UC Merced's Theater and Ecology class are pictured.

Public Invited to Environmental Humanities Play that Examines Vital Ecological Issues

In 1623, William Shakespeare proclaimed, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." That is, in the eyes of the playwright, every aspect of the world, and that...