Social Sciences

Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced

September 4, 2025

This year's Hellman Fellows: Adeyemi Adebiyi, Qian Wang and Meredith Van Natta

As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith Van Natta and Earth systems Professor Adeyemi...

Study: Infants Recognize Surprise in Others Before Age 2

Infants as young as 20 months of age expect adults to display surprise when discovering a false belief, according to a new study from UC Merced Professor Rose Scott. Previous research suggested that...

Cognitive Scientist Earns Early Career Impact Award

UC Merced Professor Rick Dale is a recipient of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Early Career Impact Award from the Society for Computers in Psychology. Dale...

Study: Early High-Altitude Settlers Were Hunter-Gatherers, Not Farmers

A new paper by UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer begins to settle a longstanding debate over when people began permanently occupying higher elevations of the Tibetan Plateau, and shows communities...

Researchers to Discuss Strong Family Relationships in Symposium

UC Merced will host its fourth annual Symposium on the Child and Family from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 28, offering a day of talks by researchers on the theme of “Strong Families: Fostering Healthy...

Will Shadish Memorial Fellowship Announced for Giving Tuesday

During this year’s Giving Tuesday — an international day of giving held each year on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving — UC Merced will honor Professor Will Shadish with a new graduate student...

Grad Students Help Begin Academic Exchange With Honduras

Four UC Merced graduate students got a rare opportunity to establish and strengthen relationships between the campus and the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) this summer. The...

Campus to Celebrate Spendlove Winner Anita Hill

UC Merced will honor Anita Hill as the 10th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance in an Oct. 24 ceremony at the Art Kamangar Center at the...

Future Public Servants Get a Boost From UC Fellowships

UC Merced student Stephanie Maldonado was excited when she earned a slot in the University of California’s public service internship program in Washington, D.C., this fall — then came the financial...

Campus Awarded $500K for Undergrad Research, Support

Undergraduate humanities students at the University of California, Merced, will gain valuable research opportunities and support for their transitions into graduate studies and scholarly careers,...