Hundreds of accomplished students walked in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) commencement earlier this month, proudly wearing their cap, gown and stole. Among them were a handful of students wearing one additional item: a gold medal hung on a blue and yellow ribbon inscribed with the UC Merced seal.
These were the recipients of the SSHA Outstanding Student Awards.
A decade has passed since Sam Fong (’09) crossed the stage to get his diploma and walked through Beginnings for the first time as part of UC Merced’s inaugural graduating class, and a lot has changed.
For one, the student population has quadrupled to nearly 8,000. The campus is in the midst of a massive expansion. But the 2019 commencement ceremonies provided a pause and a perfect opportunity for Fong and other first graduates to reflect on the university’s early days.
Parents don’t have to venture to San Francisco to give their children a taste of opera. With UC Merced’s Children’s Opera, little ones can have a unique cultural experience without straying outside city limits.
The Children’s Opera is geared toward children ages 3 and older. Just like the audience members, the performance is mini in size — just 45-minutes long — and features classical music coupled with an engaging story.
When Anna Ocegueda walks across the stage at UC Merced’s 2019 commencement, it will be not only a powerful moment for her, but for her family, too — and for the thousands of people who identify with her story.
Ocegueda is the daughter of migrant farm workers from Mexico and as one of five children, is the first in her family to graduate from a four-year university. This weekend, she receives her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in Spanish.
Where do Shakespeare and swing dancing collide? At UC Merced’s Global Arts, Media & Writing Studies (GAMWS) Spring Showcase.
For the second time this academic year, students, faculty and community members will gather to enjoy the culminating work of UC Merced’s GAMWS students. Unlike other art departments, UC Merced’s GAMWS work is unique in that the coursework intentionally blends a range of art forms to provide students a holistic understanding of the arts.
Finals are a busy time for students, but that didn’t stop UC Merced’s sociology undergraduates from kicking off their first annual Alpha Kappa Delta Research Symposium on April 19.
Alpha Kappa Delta is a nearly 100-year-old honor society for students with a focus in sociology.
A handful of UC faculty received the 2019-2020 University of California President’s Faculty Research Fellowship. Among them is Aditi Chandra, an assistant professor of global arts, media and writing studies at UC Merced.
Fourteen students, faculty and staff members drew upon their artistic skills to create an array of art pieces to showcase at UC Merced’s Night of Community Art on April 19. The event is the culmination of third-year undergraduate Valerie Moss' Student Success Internship through the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students. Her aim was to find creative ways to spotlight the campus’s community principles.
Unlike traditional theater productions, there was no red curtain, special lighting, microphone feedback or elaborate stage makeup at Shakespeare in Yosemite.
Instead, squirrels scurried across the stone stage and among the audience members’ feet. Birds cawed in the nearby trees, as the last of the winter leaves fell between the wooden bench seats of Lower River Amphitheater near Yosemite Falls.
It really feels like you’re a world away, but that’s the goal.
The number of people being deported from the United States is at a historic high and one UC Merced professor is on the ground-level, meeting with family members of those affected to better understand the traumatic consequences of deportation.
