School of Social Sciences Humanities and Arts

Sociology Graduate Program Debuts Strongly in U.S. News Rankings

April 30, 2025

Only 10 years after it began, the Ph.D. program in UC Merced’s Department of Sociology made an impressive debut in U.S. News & World Report’s latest rankings of graduate-level offerings. The Sociology graduate program tied for No. 64 nationally, sharing the position with UC...

Marcus Shaw will celebrate his dream of earning a Ph.D. in sociology at the university’s first Fall Commencement ceremony Dec. 16.

Former Street Kid Fulfills Educational Promise with Ph.D.

As a teenager in Merced, Marcus Shaw lived a life marked by poverty, poor choices and indifference to education. The idea of college — especially at the new UC Merced campus — seemed...

Sociology Faculty, Students Gaining National Recognition

With race, immigration, rising inequality, gender discrimination and collective mobilization grabbing current headlines, the work of the UC Merced sociology unit — always relevant locally...

Sociologist to Discuss Hate Speech and Free Speech

The Bias Incident Response Team at UC Merced presents sociology Professor Nella Van Dyke, speaking on “Hate Speech and the Limits of Free Speech,” from 3-5 p.m. Nov. 29 in the California...

Graduate Dean Honored for Work in Criminal Justice

Outstanding contributions in service to professional organizations, academic institutions and the advancement of criminal justice have earned Graduate Dean Marjorie Zatz the Julius Debro Award from...

From White House to Campus, Labor Economist Digs Deep into Data

Professor Laura Giuliano isn’t the only female economics faculty member at UC Merced, but she is the only faculty member who worked in the Obama administration before joining the campus. As a...

A man in a blue button-down shirt stands on a balcony in front of a concrete wall.

Prestigious Fellowship Furthers Grad Student’s Asthma Research

Very few people will admit to an abiding love of statistics. But Emanuel Alcala, a second-year public health doctoral student, believes statistics are key to solving many of the San Joaquin Valley...

Campus Efforts Improve Community’s Access to Healthy Foods

Hunger is a critical issue facing most of the nation and the world, but it’s even closer to home than some might think. At UC Merced, it's an issue that many students face, and one that...

New Center, Conference Focus on Mesoamerican Studies

Topics ranging from ethnobotany, public health and feminism to agriculture, urban growth and social movements are among the highlights of the Mesoamerican Studies Center’s upcoming conference...

Grad Student Researches Biology Behind Political Views

If you’ve ever wondered why people stand where they do on the political spectrum, science might have at least part of the answer: People can be biologically predisposed to certain feelings...