Social Sciences

Humanities Grad Student Advocates for Student Parents

July 24, 2025

Interdisciplinary Humanities Ph.D. graduate Nicolette Lecy and her 4-year-old son, Alejandro

When Nicolette Lecy began her graduate studies at UC Merced, life was anything but typical. It was August 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lecy’s classes were held remotely, and she had limited access to campus. Another challenge that could have hindered Lecy’s...

Dedicated Student Breaks Ground With Ph.D., Autism Research

When Nikko Da Paz decided to go to graduate school, she didn’t limit herself to one degree — or even one campus. The mother of two young children with autism enrolled at UC Merced in 2011, and in May...

New Book Shows Pros and Cons of Helicopter Parenting

So-called “helicopter parents” — those who hover over their children even into and through their college years — are often criticized for creating overly sheltered, unprepared young adults who...

Study: For Moms and Teens, Emotions Matter During Conflict

Parents who reciprocate their children’s negative emotions are less likely to find satisfying resolutions to conflict, according to new research from the University of California, Merced. In a study...

Psychology Student Earns Ford Predoctoral Fellowship

Doctoral student Patricia Cabral, who studies adolescent health risk behaviors in the Psychological Sciences graduate group, recently won a highly-competitive Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship...

Downtown Center Focuses on Child Development

Parents, caregivers and community members in the Merced area have a new resource for information about childhood development and disorders. The UC Merced Alliance for Child and Family Health and...

For GradSLAM Champion, Research Is Personal

Arturo Durazo, winner of this year’s UC Merced GradSLAM! competition, has a personal connection to his research. The fifth-year Ph.D. candidate studies the psychological effects of debilitating...

Symposium Features Faculty Research on the ‘Developing Child’

UC Merced will host its third annual Symposium on the Child and Family on April 30, offering hours of talks by researchers on the theme of “The Developing Child in a Developing World.” The symposium...

Sociologist Shows Human Side of Deportation in New Book

A single mother in Guatemala works at a factory owned by a U.S. company, but doesn’t make enough money to support her family. She immigrates to the U.S. and finds a low-paying job with no benefits...

Study: In-Home Parent Training Levels Field for Low-Income Kids

Home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in playful interactive learning activities can close the cognitive development gap between disadvantaged children and higher-resource...